Bilboro-lad 294 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 I went out there today to see if it was still there and it is. It was rather muddy getting there and I had no torch. I'll do the exploring when it dries up a bit. http://postimg.org/gallery/6b27003i/ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,684 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Great photos . Brings back memories of playing down there when I was a nipper ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilbraborn 1,594 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 I now wish even more that I'd found time to walk down there in the 60s. Between playing Rugby, cross country training, chasing diminishing steam trains and of course girls. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bilboro-lad 294 Posted January 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 It seemed really odd revisiting somewhere that I last visited in 1969 when I was 16, so about 45 years ago. It's a lot more overgrown now and the cutting is less deep. There is virtually no clearance under the bridge today. I guess it will soon be filled in when the country park goes ahead, so if you want to see it before it's gone I'd do it this year if I were you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,470 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 A nice set of photos Bilbro-lad. One of them reminded me of something I'd seen in a book showing the same scene when it was still operational. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 I can't place it CT where is it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,470 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Easiest way to check it out is to go to Old Maps and in the Coordinates boxes put these figures 459925 and 344220 Then you can zoom around at your leisure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
banjo48 928 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Brings back teenage memories of when we used to dare each other who could get from one end to the other on a dark night without using a torch ! Then in later life I used to shoot rabbits on the farm adjoining it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,684 Posted January 12, 2014 Report Share Posted January 12, 2014 Thanks for the map Cliff Ton it reminded me that when probably only junior school age we would go over a gate from Digby Avenue and down the hill probably by the golf course into a valley . At the bottom were some ponds where we would try and find newts and tadpoles . Strange because in my brainbox, I imagined the tunnel was in that area . Didn't realise we had gone beyond that and crossed Arnold Lane to get there . We did the typical kids thing of putting half-pennies on the line though have no memory of actually seeing a train . I also have a memory one cold winters day when I was probably not much more than 7 or 8 , of going down from Digby and crossing the golf course and then going up the other side to the football field ( back miners welfare ?) and getting my wellies stuck in the thick mud in some gateway . Couldnt move and one of the bigger kids had to rescue me ! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob.L 1,090 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Which is a bit different from my main memory of the golf course... Walking on it in the snow of 1963, only to see my older brother drop up to his shoulders into a snow drift where the ground level changed. Still laugh about it now. Or sledging down the hill. You had to aim for the narrow footbridge over the stream, or else you got wet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 I can't place it CT where is it? If you get an old 1" O.S. Map (112) or the metricated version(129) and go to grid references SK5944 & SK6044 will give you were the tunnel was. If you can get a pre 1960 1" map the rail line is still in there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,470 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Just in case anyone still isn't certain. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fynger 841 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Can you pinpoint it on a modern map ?? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,470 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 The crossroads in the middle is the same place. http://goo.gl/maps/ga6hF To the east of the crossroads, you can still see the cutting into the tunnel. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fynger 841 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Nice one....cheers Kev. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 The grid references I gave apply to a modern map too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BulwellBrian 107 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 The old map at #12 also shows the colliery line which ran to the landsale on Plains Road. It reached there by a rope worked incline. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 The old map at #12 also shows the colliery line which ran to the landsale on Plains Road. It reached there by a rope worked incline. There is an article on this in "Railway Bylines" Volume 6 Issue 11 October 2001. pages 522-525. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carni 10,094 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Cliff Ton, I just had a look at the map on #14,and as it is the area i grew up in I couldn't resist having a look at the house i lived in before I left Nottingham. When I looked at Berry Hill Grove, Phoenix Estate on the Map, I saw that the pink flowering Cherry tree in the garden was in full blossom and the fence, garage and veranda were not built, but when I went onto street view, they were all there, so there is some time difference on the maps. I thought i would mention it in case it makes any difference to your research. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob.L 1,090 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 By strange coincidence, this appeared in my Facebook timeline today. I'll forgive the mis-spelling of Mapperley! "Ghost Train of Mapperly Tunnel Two school children playing in the tunnel heard a steam engine rapidly approaching them – terrified they ran out into the fresh air. A few seconds after their escape they realised that the train could not have existed, as the north end of the tunnel was barricaded" http://nottinghamhiddenhistoryteam.wordpress.com/2012/09/03/ghosts-of-nottinghamshire-railways/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Just curious. How long is that tunnel? On Cliff Tons photo at #5 there looks like a dot of light in the distance. Other end of the tunnel or an approaching train? :-). Wouldn't want to walk in there. Isn't it prone to roof collapses? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob.L 1,090 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 1,132 yards. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottingham%27s_Tunnels#Great_Northern_Railway 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 Thanks Rob. That must qualify for the fastest response on Nottstalgia Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrea 5 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 I am quite amazed that you can still access this tunnel, the poor condition of it was one of the reasons the line was closed, I've never been inside but suspect it is rather dangerous! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StephenFord 866 Posted January 13, 2014 Report Share Posted January 13, 2014 ...and of course, being bunged up at one end, it doesn't even lead anywhere ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.