Finally, Crigglestone Tunnel - 11 images

Finally managed to get up there after months of waiting. I took an alternative access route in which seemed a damn sight easier as we didn't have to navigate the steep embankment. There were two guys in orange Railway Hi-Vis clothes and piss pot hats coming out from the embankment so we hid among the trees till they'd gone. Someone had lit a fire too which was still burning away, tyres by the look and smell of it.

Its one of those moments where as the portal comes into view you're just in awe of its size! I found it a bit surreal, that i never knew it was there yet it curves under the road beside the pub and under the High Street.
On the street above, there is just road. But there are new houses between old ones. Obviously this is the section of the tunnel which was filled in prior to building those new homes. The tunnel (from what i've read) is between 250 and 300yds in length. It's hard to calculate while on the street above, where the wall is beneath you, though from looking round the whole area i reckon there's a good further 150yds of tunnel which was filled in to allow development.
I shot everything with a 50mm prime and it was my first attempt painting with light so the pics are a bit sketchy. You get the idea though.

It was fun, spooky, wet and a bit on the dangerous side if you're a shit climber. The brickwork is amazing, you have to remind yourself that the tunnel was built in 1906.

The only casualty of the day was a small rip in my Berghaus as i climbed back over the fence

Some photos:

External Shot


Man to Bore hole scale:


Over the fence


Inside the tunnel




Some lovely colours on the walls and on the floor...






Looking round the curve to the sealed Eastern end


and again...


...and finally, the wall. (courtesy of my mate)

That's a great report mate, really good. It really is a big portal isn't it? Wonderful pictures too. It's a good one to take pictures of, with the calcites and the iron ore leeching into the bore. Well done mate.

Rich wrote:

That's a great report mate, really good. It really is a big portal isn't it? Wonderful pictures too. It's a good one to take pictures of, with the calcites and the iron ore leeching into the bore. Well done mate.

It's the first tunnel i've been in so i've not got anything i can gauge it against. Its still huge though. I was unsure 2 tracks would've fitted in there but my mate seems to think so.
Calcite? I always thought the orange stuff was iron in the water? Kept thinking we weren't alone as the slightest noise carries all the way down the tunnel, and with us seeing those Jarvis blokes earlier we kept thinking they'd come back or summat.

I made an ace makeshift logtyrebreezeblock stepladder!

By the way, did you see that tree house overlooking the portal? Looks brilliant.

the makeshift logtyrebreezeblock stepladder never get enough regognition, sometimes the ninja skills that are required to access places are just pushed away to make way for the great pictures. Tis a shame really because a lot of effort and ingenuity go into these things.
Oh and by the way great report, good pictures cool light painting, nuff said.

The tree house was fab. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was living there! I always think I should deserve a prize for ingenuity. Most casual readers just think that you walk into these places. I been into a few tunnels now, and this is a real monster! That stick in the middle of the third picture down is into the drain, and I was impressed to see the drains still working. Oh, and by the way, Iron ore is the orange, and calcite is the white.

Rich wrote:

The tree house was fab. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was living there! I always think I should deserve a prize for ingenuity. Most casual readers just think that you walk into these places. I been into a few tunnels now, and this is a real monster! That stick in the middle of the third picture down is into the drain, and I was impressed to see the drains still working. Oh, and by the way, Iron ore is the orange, and calcite is the white.

I did have a nosey into the drain but its had all sorts thrown down it and it wasn't really what i was there for. I did come across a gun though, i never touched it, just left it where it was. My mate left his lights in so we're gonna do a revisit to retrieve em. I might try a 35mm lens though.