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Report - - The Barnsdale tunnel, S Yorks, Nov '09 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - The Barnsdale tunnel, S Yorks, Nov '09

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boxfrenzy

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
The Barnsdale tunnel is a very straight 1226 yards in length, and was opened in the 1880's. The last passengers would have peered out into the dark in 1932, although trains steamed through here until 1959.
A walk through an overgrown cutting and the south western portal appears through the trees.
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Like most railway engineering from Victorian times, it was built to look impressive.
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This is part of the Hull and Barnsley Railway. You may know know this railway from other tunnels, such as Weedley, Sugar Loaf and the big monster Drewton Tunnel, all nearer to Hull. It's a nice one as local residents objected to it being fenced off. At the bottom of this snap is the remains of the barricade. The dot in the middle of the black is the other end.
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Don't be fooled for one minute, looking at tunnel snaps, that all is bright and cheery. Theses fellas are dark places to hang around in. A jumbo torch and big exposure lights them up nicely but it doesn't look like this when you are down there.
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Although it is a fairly dry one, at least the western end, there are a few colours to be seen. Clacites have leached through the wall.
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We arrived at our main destination, a popular tunnel explorer's favourite; an airshaft.
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There are three of them in the Barnsdale tunnel. This one is a dry one, and capped high above in the south Yorkshire countryside. I don't know how deep it is I'm afraid.
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Many of Yorkshire's long tunnels are pretty damp, with drains throughout, either through the middle or along the edge. I didn't see any here, although at the other end is a trickle of water coming into the tunnel, possibly from the long lost Robin Hood's Well.
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Most of the brickwork in here is in fairly good nick, although in parts bricks have fallen away. In some parts, they have been replaced, in others, like this refuge, they haven't.
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Remains of the soot on the roof of the tunnel.
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Top tip for wannabe tunnel explorers : Take the big torch for lightpainting and a smaller torch for lighting the way/fiddling with camera etc. The big torch (unless modified) only lasts 20-30 mins, fine for painting railway tunnels like this, but not long enough to light the way. A picture of the reporter carrying the two torches to demonstrate the above fact.
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