Victoria Tunnel, Newcastle

My brother & his wife gave us vouchers for a tour in the Victoria Tunnel last Christmas...it's been a busy year so we have only just used them! It was an excellent present!

The Tunnel is fascinating. It extends 2 and a half miles from the northwest of the city to the River Tyne, and was constructed by a team of 200 men between 1839 and 1842 for transporting coal across the city for export from the Tyne. As it followed an old subterranean glacial riverbed it did not go through rock, so no explosives were needed to carve it out. The lining bricks were made locally from clay dug from the tunnel - a good example of recycling. Unfortunately, 18 years after it was completed the mine went broke and it fell into disuse!

In WW2 however it was rediscovered, and converted for use as an air-raid shelter for up to 7,000 people. After the war it was left unused until 2006 when lottery funding allowed half a mile of it to be opened to the public. This photo shows a typical section of the Tunnel; it is taken looking along a replica of one of the 3-tier wooden bunk beds which were originally placed all along the Tunnel.

Best viewed large.

There's more photos on Flickr here and more info about the Tunnel here; the history link there is the most interesting.