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Report - - Standedge Tunnels - 25/12/08 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Standedge Tunnels - 25/12/08

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Q

quosh32

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Guest
Hi all...

The three of us arrived at the tunnel RVP at Diggle at about midday. We took our time to make sure that the coast was clear before the mad dash to the entrance. Once inside the tunnel we kept right for a while so as to hopefully see any engineering trains approaching. I'd heard from a signalman that there was nobody operating points on that stretch on the 25th which essentially meant no trains. I'd be pretty comfortable with doing it when they were running actually as you could nip in straight after a Manchester bound train emerged and then cut through the first adit into the original tunnels, would take 2 mins max. You could virtually walk the full distance within the original tunnels and see most of the sights, rooms and adits - excluding the huge braced base section of one of the vents, which you would probably want to do. The terrain within the live tunnel is chunky ballast that is a proper slog, like walking on sand barefoot. There are numerous signs directing you to the nearest emergency phones which can be found in the middle railway tunnel. The canal tunnel is accessible through most adits, you can lean right out over the water and if you turn your head torch off it's possible to make out the ends in parts. Most adits are constructed in brick or stone and some have huge wooden boards underfoot. Tread very carefully on these as some of them are seriously unsafe, you'd be fucked if you fell into canal and had to swim in total darkness to the next adit along. It would not be pleasant. The PIR sensors are only present in the more modern access points to the canal from the original tunnel, you wouldn't see these if you stuck to the live tunnel so there are basically good bits to miss if you use one tunnel exclusively, it really is worth spending time to explore this place and we definitely missed some stuff. In the photo of the base of the vent (shot prior to vent outlet) you can see the contrasting colours of the iron ore (I think) and the millstone grit - this is really deceiving as the metal platform thing is about 1.5 metres high. Standing on this looking up the vent outlet must have been 100 metres high to daylight, you had to squint due to the amount of water pissing in, no shots I'm afraid, possibly one for Summer. It's basically all quite interesting and there are loads of little 'mess rooms' that the original miners would have used no doubt containing small caves that may be worth further exploration? The trip through to Marsden took approx 3 hours but that was taking lots of shots and a spam picnic half way ish! There are several phones located in the original tunnel with distance information etc which come in handy when the entrances are obscured. Exiting at Marsden is a bit dodgy as you are overlooked by a couple of roads and this was the dodgiest part for me personally. We had intended to walk over the hill back to Diggle but after a few pints we opted for the direct route back through. this time we travelled through the old tunnels which are nice and flat with no tracks or sleepers to trip over. We were back through in 1hr 40mins and I was having my Chrimbo dinner a little after that!

Hope this helps,
QUOSH

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A few more here: www.quosh.com
;)
 
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