I’ve known about this place for about 2 years and have been meaning to go check it out ever since. It’s one of the few remaining train tunnels in Nottingham, not filled in or blocked up..
Click below to read about this little adventure..
To start of with, here’s some copy pulled from Wikipedia about the location..
Mapperley Tunnel is a 1,132-yard-long tunnel, built for the Derbyshire and Staffordshire Extension of the Great Northern Railway. This line ran from Colwick Junction in Nottingham to Egginton Junction in South Derbyshire. The route planned took the line through Mapperley via the Mapperley Tunnel built to avoid attempting to get the railway over the ridge. The tunnel was in use by 1875 but suffered a roof collapse due to mining subsidence on January 23, 1925. A length of roof about 12 yards long collapsed blocking the line with approximately 150 tons of rubble. Whilst repairs were undertaken traffic was diverted along the Nottingham Suburban Railway. The tunnel was repaired but the continuing effects of subsidence resulted in speed restrictions in the 1950s and closure on April 4, 1960. The Eastern Portal is still open and accessible and the tunnel itself is open to a point just West of the second air shaft (counting from the East). Beyond the second air shaft the tunnel has been filled with earth. The tunnel portal is on private property and permission should be sought from the owner before entering. A large quantity of rubbish has been thrown down the second air shaft creating an unstable pile in the tunnel which may collapse in the future causing injury to anyone present.
Train going through the old tunnel on the last day of operation.
Here’s the location of the tunnel if any one’s interested.
Me and my mate Greg rode out towards Mapperley and along Arnold Ln. We walked across a couple of fields eventually coming to the old train route. We walked along where the tracks would have once been and came across this old bridge.
A bit further on we walked down into the valley leading to the tunnel entrance. There was this old burnt out car slowing being taken back by the elements.
Arrived at the tunnel entrance. The crumbling brick work was slightly worrying. I sent out a couple of texts, just to let people know where we were, in case this thing collapsed and we got trapped inside…
We used my 160 LED camera light to lead the way. It was pretty cold down here.
Ahead of us we could hear a strange noise, we discovered it was only a stream running under us.
Water coming through the old brick work.
A bit further a long I set up my tripod and got the Spyder Laser out.
We then came across an airshaft leading to the surface. Standing under it you could get a sense of how deep under ground we were. I finally made use of my Panosaurus 2.0 and took a stereographic projection. Using the LED light I ‘painted’ the tunnel while the shutter was open.
Eventually we came to the end. Someone had used the other airshaft as a bottomless pit. Although it wasn’t bottomless and the crap built up, until reaching the roof. The way it stacked up in such a neat pile was quite odd.
On the other side of the rubbish was a huge mound of rubble that led nearly to the top. I climbed up and walked along the narrow gap until reaching a dead end.
We then turned around and headed back out towards the light, which by this point (535 meters away) looked very distant!
Over all it was a fun adventure. I’m glad I finally got round to checking it out. If you fancy going here I recommend you bring a bright torch and expect to get your shoes muddy 🙂
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