History:
Grove Tunnel is 183 yard, single track tunnel cut into the sandstone in Tunbridge Wells near the historic Pantiles. The tunnel was cut by London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) to serve Tunbridge Wells West station and opened to passenger traffic on 1st February 1876.
Line closures by British Rail in the 1960’s resulted in a reduction of services on the line which led to the progressive closure of certain sections. The last train through the tunnel ran to Eridge on 6 July 1985.
Visit:
Today, Peregrine is elsewhere so I have brought my son (10) who wants to come for his first urbex experience which is surprising as he hates the dark! We climb down the bank from the main road into the cutting. The approach to the western end is around 100 meters in length and concealed on both sides from houses and their yards which have been built above on either side. It is a brilliantly sunny day. I have bought along my new torch, an Anker LC90 LED, which I want to try in the tunnel. The opening is partially concealed by hanging ivy which looks great for pics, although the Sainsbury’s trolley (which was still here when I visited last in September 2016) remains, embedded in the mud at the entrance.
The tunnel is lined with five courses of red brick (which can be seen on the exterior), 15’7” high and 13’9” at the base. Refuges for railway workers, outlined in white, are provided every 22 yards on alternating sides of the tunnel. The threshold is almost knee deep in water and I have alternatively wade and use various pieces of debris (whilst carrying my bootless son on my back!) to traverse the distance. After 15-20 feet the surface level raises over the waterline but it remains very damp, albeit nice and cool, inside. Over the last 36 years the flooding has carried all sorts of flotsam from the approaches into the tunnel to be deposited once the waters recede. As a result, a veritable ‘ball cemetery’ amounting to what must be hundreds of items can be seen here including, I note, a World Cup USA ball which has possibly been here for a quarter of a century or more since 1994!
The brightness of the sun against the greenery outside the tunnel entrance creates an eerie, almost sickly toxic impression in the photos, reflected in the damp walls. The torch performs well which I hope comes through. It has various levels of luminosity but is not so dazzling as to blur detail. It was even dropped in the rubble in the tunnel with no ill effect and scarcely a mark on the surface. A pile of bricks at the inner most course at the eastern end shows that the tunnel is beginning to decay. The mud at the entrance/exit here is thick and deep to the point that once or twice I feared I might not be unable to get out! Be very careful on entry and exit and don’t even think about coming down here without a pair of boots unless you hate your trainers and never want to see them again!
Grove Tunnel is 183 yard, single track tunnel cut into the sandstone in Tunbridge Wells near the historic Pantiles. The tunnel was cut by London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) to serve Tunbridge Wells West station and opened to passenger traffic on 1st February 1876.
Line closures by British Rail in the 1960’s resulted in a reduction of services on the line which led to the progressive closure of certain sections. The last train through the tunnel ran to Eridge on 6 July 1985.
Visit:
Today, Peregrine is elsewhere so I have brought my son (10) who wants to come for his first urbex experience which is surprising as he hates the dark! We climb down the bank from the main road into the cutting. The approach to the western end is around 100 meters in length and concealed on both sides from houses and their yards which have been built above on either side. It is a brilliantly sunny day. I have bought along my new torch, an Anker LC90 LED, which I want to try in the tunnel. The opening is partially concealed by hanging ivy which looks great for pics, although the Sainsbury’s trolley (which was still here when I visited last in September 2016) remains, embedded in the mud at the entrance.
The tunnel is lined with five courses of red brick (which can be seen on the exterior), 15’7” high and 13’9” at the base. Refuges for railway workers, outlined in white, are provided every 22 yards on alternating sides of the tunnel. The threshold is almost knee deep in water and I have alternatively wade and use various pieces of debris (whilst carrying my bootless son on my back!) to traverse the distance. After 15-20 feet the surface level raises over the waterline but it remains very damp, albeit nice and cool, inside. Over the last 36 years the flooding has carried all sorts of flotsam from the approaches into the tunnel to be deposited once the waters recede. As a result, a veritable ‘ball cemetery’ amounting to what must be hundreds of items can be seen here including, I note, a World Cup USA ball which has possibly been here for a quarter of a century or more since 1994!
The brightness of the sun against the greenery outside the tunnel entrance creates an eerie, almost sickly toxic impression in the photos, reflected in the damp walls. The torch performs well which I hope comes through. It has various levels of luminosity but is not so dazzling as to blur detail. It was even dropped in the rubble in the tunnel with no ill effect and scarcely a mark on the surface. A pile of bricks at the inner most course at the eastern end shows that the tunnel is beginning to decay. The mud at the entrance/exit here is thick and deep to the point that once or twice I feared I might not be unable to get out! Be very careful on entry and exit and don’t even think about coming down here without a pair of boots unless you hate your trainers and never want to see them again!
