jx305
December 5th, 2007, 23:27
Mummies Tunnel, as its known locally is actually just a tunnel going under a field and is apprx 1050 feet long (320 meters or 0.2 miles) on a long since abandoned rail link between a closed and demolished colliery some miles away and a main line power-station link between all but 1 still remaining collieries in the Nottinghamshire area. Odly the remaining mine has to take a long route to its power-station via the midland main-line going up through worksop because the track it uses would have served the now demolished High Marnham Power-Station and as such all those lines are now defunct and pointless :tumbleweed .The mining industry may be long gone but the tracks are still there, everywhere if you look hard enough.
This particular tunnel interested me as iv only ever been through it once, some 25+ years ago, when I was just 7 or 8 and back then the rail was live and very dangerous, clear and pristine and shiny and well used. Today however things are very different. Time, nature and chavs have had their go. The rails are rusted to the point they look like they are painted with sand textured masonary paint, trees and bushes hide most of the tracks length, the side drains have lost their covers and are open to fall down (not good). Beer cans, burned out mess, graffitti, household rubbish litter the main run up to the tunnel but once inside its like a time capsule. Clean, quiet, dark and eerie...
Under a small bridge before the tunnel entrance..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1141.jpg
Just inside the tunnel entrance looking out..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1105.jpg
Looking down the tunnel, reminds me of a huge drain pipe..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1135.jpg
One of the many safety zone alcoves, still reflecting :)
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1058.jpg
The tunnels identifyer ( i think :confused: )
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1057.jpg
I like the way the bricks just end and then the natural cut into the sandstone..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1066.jpg
Looking down the tracks..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1088.jpg
Pretending to be a train..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1091.jpg
A marker..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1086.jpg
Playing with light..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1109.jpg
Saw this done in a drain, loved the effect..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1118.jpg
I found this long dead creature, maybe a rat. The only dead thing I found remotely mummified lol
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1081.jpg
The tunnel exit..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1052.jpg
Back into the night near my entry point to the track, the night sky was just too beautiful to ignore..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1145.jpg
To round off, a few points. I hate bushes, I was slapped in the face by more brambles than I care to mention, I tripped over more loose metal than enough, and to top it off, the thing that REALLY made me almost CACK my undercrackers, while I was setting up a shot I thought I was going to die because what can only be described as someone hitting the track with a large metal stick broke the silence only meters in the dark from where I was!:eek: I have no idea what it was, there was no-one there. I can only assume some kind of expansion due to the cold was making the links holding the track down crack and split, there were broken links all over the place showing bad signs of fatigue.
I rest my case .. lol :cool:
This particular tunnel interested me as iv only ever been through it once, some 25+ years ago, when I was just 7 or 8 and back then the rail was live and very dangerous, clear and pristine and shiny and well used. Today however things are very different. Time, nature and chavs have had their go. The rails are rusted to the point they look like they are painted with sand textured masonary paint, trees and bushes hide most of the tracks length, the side drains have lost their covers and are open to fall down (not good). Beer cans, burned out mess, graffitti, household rubbish litter the main run up to the tunnel but once inside its like a time capsule. Clean, quiet, dark and eerie...
Under a small bridge before the tunnel entrance..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1141.jpg
Just inside the tunnel entrance looking out..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1105.jpg
Looking down the tunnel, reminds me of a huge drain pipe..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1135.jpg
One of the many safety zone alcoves, still reflecting :)
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1058.jpg
The tunnels identifyer ( i think :confused: )
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1057.jpg
I like the way the bricks just end and then the natural cut into the sandstone..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1066.jpg
Looking down the tracks..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1088.jpg
Pretending to be a train..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1091.jpg
A marker..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1086.jpg
Playing with light..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1109.jpg
Saw this done in a drain, loved the effect..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1118.jpg
I found this long dead creature, maybe a rat. The only dead thing I found remotely mummified lol
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1081.jpg
The tunnel exit..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1052.jpg
Back into the night near my entry point to the track, the night sky was just too beautiful to ignore..
http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee82/jx305_2007/DSC_1145.jpg
To round off, a few points. I hate bushes, I was slapped in the face by more brambles than I care to mention, I tripped over more loose metal than enough, and to top it off, the thing that REALLY made me almost CACK my undercrackers, while I was setting up a shot I thought I was going to die because what can only be described as someone hitting the track with a large metal stick broke the silence only meters in the dark from where I was!:eek: I have no idea what it was, there was no-one there. I can only assume some kind of expansion due to the cold was making the links holding the track down crack and split, there were broken links all over the place showing bad signs of fatigue.
I rest my case .. lol :cool: