Whats this tunnel for..??


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Who's up for it then? We could go down the lift, along the tunnel and head north under mansfield road.

Maybe finish up under the Poacher.

I'm up for it! !bravo!

i've got two maglite touches we could use if theres no lights down there,...hmm interesting exploraton!

if only we knew who to get in touch with....the person with the keys?...i wonder if they would let us explore down there??...

ok i'm getting carried away now, sorry...LoL wereno1 Nottstalgia Ra Ra Ra!! doh! we need a meet up! then we can tackle then tunnel together! ROFL :yahoo:

By the 'eck, I think Den has hit on it! The tunnel is just a method for the council members to secretly nip out for a pint of HP between making historic decisions regarding the city!

Brilliant! ;)

so the tunnels and carpark? are still used then? hmm..that would be a great way to sneek important people in... cool2

Peering down below the lift I could clearly see several vehicles parked up down below in what looked a sizable car park. The locked doorway to the left had steps leading down below. The door looked like it had decades of dirt and cobwebs on it.

I noticed also those grates in the centre of the road along King and Queen Street looking down into the tunnels. Impossible to see anything though.

thats sounds really interesting..i wish we could all explore the tunnels..:)

you know if someone got a powerful touch and shone it down the grates, do you think you'd be able to see down them? hee hee...

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Can you imagine the elf & safety requirements to go down there nowadays. Lamps + emergency lamps, safety ropes + emergency safety ropes, hi vis jackets and trousers, hard hats, gas detectors and

Under the Shakespeare Street Police HQ was 3 levels of caves. The fire brigade had a key and I explored them a couple of times. The Civil defence had an emergency HQ , WW2 era, and there was  a joint

you know if someone got a powerful touch and shone it down the grates, do you think you'd be able to see down them? hee hee...

Quite possibly, Sam. The main problem is standing in the middle of the road to look down there! The grates are very narrow though and go up the centre of both streets.

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Quite possibly, Sam. The main problem is standing in the middle of the road to look down there! The grates are very narrow though and go up the centre of both streets.

ah yes sorry, the road would be a problem..lol silly me. :)

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ah yes sorry, the road would be a problem..lol silly me. :)

It's not really busy at certain times. You could get away with it later in the evening if you were smart about it. I got a few funny looks peering down a hole in the middle of the street though!

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Ok let's go exploring!.... but i have no idea what buses go from where i live? lol.. !bravo!

(joking!)

but i would like to explore the tunnels..but i doubt it will ever happen..and i still forgot to ask my dad about asking the counceller(sp?) he knows..doh!

i'll ask him on sunday when everyone comes over! mum,dad,big bro,sis in law,nephew,niece,poss dog,poss rats!?..LoL

There coming up for the easter break (bro&family-i havent seen them since dec07) so it should be good. :D

but i will remember to ask my dad to ask the bloke if they know who owns/looks after the tunnel? if he knows. (i'm prob clutching at straws here, but theres no halm in asking :)

at least the rattys are chilled out abit more tonight than they were the other night when i was on here..LoL and not climbing up my legs! and walking on the keyboard...

sam.

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Daft question but did anyone think to write to the council and ask them??

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I sent an email to the Notts Archives, this is what they say..

Thank you for your email of 25 Mar 2008.

It has been suggested that the tunnels were those created for a passageway under the road of Upper Parliament Street where there was a roundabout. At one time there was a kiosk underground in the middle of the tunnels.

Probably the best place to begin your search would be by looking at back copies of the Evening Post which are held at the Local Studies section of the Central Library:-

Local Studies Library

Nottingham Central Library

Angel Row

Nottingham

NG1 6HP

Tel: 0115 915 2828

Fax: 0115 915 2840

E-mail: local_studies.library@nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Web Site: http://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/libraries

Any articles accompanying the photograph may give you a date for their creation which could lead you to research other documents such as Nottingham City Council minutes and possibly plans. For details of our opening hours, reader's ticket system and times of ordering original documents please see our website (address below).

The Local Studies Library also holds the main collection of photographs for the county of Nottinghamshire and may have additional prints of the same tunnels.

We hope this information will be of assistance to you.

Yours sincerely

Jo Peet

Archivist

Nottinghamshire Archives

So i'll be off to the library sometime this week..

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I too have just recieved a nice reply from the council wallah in charge

Dear Mr Sheppard

In the late 19th century slums in several areas of Nottingham were cleared and new highways re-built which included tunnels in the centre of the new streets. These service tunnels are at the following locations:-

The full length of the Market Street,

King Street, and Queen Street. These two tunnels join.

Victoria Street, and a short distance along Fletcher Gate.

Wheeler Gate)

Albert Street ) One continuous tunnel

Lister Gate )

None of the tunnels extend under the Old Market Square area; the only remaining underground structure in this area is the plant room for the water feature that was formally the Gents public toilets.

I have copies of inspection reports of the service tunnels that include photographs. In addition we have the original construction drawings of some of the tunnels entitled "removal of unhealthy areas". If you wish to inspect these drawings or inspection reports, feel free to make an appointment with me when you are next in Nottingham.

Yours sincerely

[/color]

Chris Capewell

Team Leader (Bridges and Drainage)

Nottingham City Council

Environment and Regeneration

Tel 0115 9156045

Fax 0115 9156731

I have replied that I would love to take him up on his offer and that there may be others coming along too

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Was just walking up Victoria Street like I do most days, and it has ventilation grates just like King/Queen st, a bit bigger about every 20ft in the centre of the road, curves slightly to the right at the top.

I also went down Wheeler Gate but I got distracted and forgot to look, I'm guessing that is where they had the leaking sewage problem a couple years ago. Used to stink around there.

Now to find out how they get into these tunnels..

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well done guys! !clapping! !congrats!

sorry i havent been on here for ages, been sorting the new flat out :)

that's amazing.. i wonder if we can get into them? :D

that's our next goal! LoL!

mm shall we all meet up in town for a pint? lol then we can all have a look together...he hee

bye for now from Sam.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 8 months later...

In early summer 1964 I was working for Young Austin and Young and was sent to the Council House to join a gang changing the central heating boilers. There were 6? Beeston Boiler Colonels to be replaced.

Myself and another teenager were tasked with the job of taking the old boiler parts up to street level after they had been broken up into pieces. We struggled with them out of the boiler-house up a long narrow staircase up to the next level, there we put them on the lift in question to get them to street level.

I can't remember seeing anything of note down there, but I think the lift only went down one floor, and that floor may have been Burton's store room.

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I did get quite a concise reply from a council whallah, and I never pushed it further. I think if (And when ) I've got a few minutes I'll see if I can find it again.

see post 35 on this thread.

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That reminds me Oldace, I worked for the Beeston Boiler Company for a short time in the early 70's. All their boilers were "ranked" after army officers ranks, as the company was owned by ex army officers. I don't recall the family name now. Too long ago.

But there was the Major, Colonel etc etc.

During my short stay with them, they were in financial difficulties mostly through the fact they didn't have a decent R&D department. We were running a modified Belgian designed boiler through the plant, design stolen with a couple of differences to satisfy the patents office.

Remember back to the schools before the 60's???

All had Beeston Boilers in them with the Robin Hood Radiators in the classrooms. Beeston Boiler Co, bragged there wasn't a school built without their boilers and radiators in them.

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I wondered why they were named as they were, the biggest I worked on was Brigadier.

During the summer of '95 I was involved with changing the boilers at several schools, I can remember doing Whipple, Crane and was there a school named after someone called Sharp, there were more that I can't remember.The school boilers were usually Captains, although I can recall one was Majors and another was Cadets.

I think it was at William Crane that we put the old asbestos outside the boiler house, where it got wet, the kide were at school and were rolling it into balls and throwing it at each other.

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  • 5 months later...

Hey everyone, went for a wonder with a mate yesterday. Pretty sure we've found a way into them, next to the Lace Market tram stop ;) involves popping a fairly serious manhole right under a cctv camera so it could be amusing.

Also, I've made a map of the roads in which we found similar rectangular grates, underneath these (we lay down and shone a torch down them) are tunnels with pipes either side like in the photos - they run under most of the city centre.

I've made an appointment to view the 45 odd documents relating to service tunnels in Nottingham at the archives and I will make digital scans of all of them and post them up.

servicetunnellayout.jpg

I'm also wondering if they link into the Weekday cross tunnel, not only are they pretty much on top of each other, but the train tunnel is also used for service pipes ;)

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Now don't go doing anything illegal !! (But keep it coming !!...............LOL)

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