This hasn't been posted since 2020, and is a decent explore, so here's my take on it. I've done many a tunnel, but this one is by far my favourite, it's a great all rounder, decent length, curved, air shafts, rusted out cars, it's so photogenic, I've been back 3 times
The history -
The Morlais (or Miler) tunnel was opened in June 1879 by the London and North Western Railway. It was built as part of a connection between Penywern Junction on their own line from Abergavenny, and the line around the western side of Merthyr Tydfil owned by the Brecon & Merthyr Railway, joining near Vaynor.
The line was less than 1 ¼ miles long, half of this length being the tunnel itself. It was driven through limestone and millstone grit using dynamite and an Ingersoll drill, which worked using compressed air, and was found to be at least 3 times as fast as hand drills, boring holes into the rock at a rate of 19 ½ inches in ten minutes. 3 shafts were sunk to expedite progress, and once the pilot tunnel was finished, work on digging out the full bore of the tunnel progressed at a rate of 20,15 or 12 feet per day, depending on ground conditions.
The tunnel closed on the 6th January 1958, with both portals subsequently being walled off to prevent access after multiple cars were driven into the tunnel and torched.
History taken from Morlais Tunnel
I've seen a few different dates for opening floating around (mainly 1874) but going from the link, 1874 was the passing of the Act of Parliament to build the line, and the theft of the two waistcoats by Rees Jones occured in December 1876 whilst working on one of the shafts, so I'd assume the tunnel was still under construction at that time. Correct me if I'm wrong though!
The explore -
Technically, I've made 4 visits here, but the first one I only had 1 torch, and the damn thing died in my bag on the way there. Easy enough access with waterproof boots, although there's plenty of bricks to use as stepping stones at the West Portal, and a path of pallets at the East portal, so you can keep your feet dry regardless. Been back with 3 different groups, as it's a decent all rounder to try and infect people with the tunnel bug.
I love the various calcite formations, really adds some decent colours to the tunnel, although no tunnel I've done beats Mapperley on colour...
The view up the various air shafts is decent, although generally rather wet, definitely not the tallest I've looked up, with the tunnel only being 80ft underground at its deepest point, but still makes for some cracking photos!
The first visit was a very misty affair...
Rusty cars
Some strange effects on the camera
Tunnely goodness
Thanks for looking
The history -
The Morlais (or Miler) tunnel was opened in June 1879 by the London and North Western Railway. It was built as part of a connection between Penywern Junction on their own line from Abergavenny, and the line around the western side of Merthyr Tydfil owned by the Brecon & Merthyr Railway, joining near Vaynor.
The line was less than 1 ¼ miles long, half of this length being the tunnel itself. It was driven through limestone and millstone grit using dynamite and an Ingersoll drill, which worked using compressed air, and was found to be at least 3 times as fast as hand drills, boring holes into the rock at a rate of 19 ½ inches in ten minutes. 3 shafts were sunk to expedite progress, and once the pilot tunnel was finished, work on digging out the full bore of the tunnel progressed at a rate of 20,15 or 12 feet per day, depending on ground conditions.
The tunnel closed on the 6th January 1958, with both portals subsequently being walled off to prevent access after multiple cars were driven into the tunnel and torched.
History taken from Morlais Tunnel
I've seen a few different dates for opening floating around (mainly 1874) but going from the link, 1874 was the passing of the Act of Parliament to build the line, and the theft of the two waistcoats by Rees Jones occured in December 1876 whilst working on one of the shafts, so I'd assume the tunnel was still under construction at that time. Correct me if I'm wrong though!
The explore -
Technically, I've made 4 visits here, but the first one I only had 1 torch, and the damn thing died in my bag on the way there. Easy enough access with waterproof boots, although there's plenty of bricks to use as stepping stones at the West Portal, and a path of pallets at the East portal, so you can keep your feet dry regardless. Been back with 3 different groups, as it's a decent all rounder to try and infect people with the tunnel bug.
I love the various calcite formations, really adds some decent colours to the tunnel, although no tunnel I've done beats Mapperley on colour...
The view up the various air shafts is decent, although generally rather wet, definitely not the tallest I've looked up, with the tunnel only being 80ft underground at its deepest point, but still makes for some cracking photos!
The first visit was a very misty affair...
Rusty cars
Some strange effects on the camera
Tunnely goodness
Thanks for looking
