# Curious Tunnel - March 2012



## PaulPowers (Mar 24, 2012)

Originally I was looking at a Derp above Buxton 
but it was sealed on the ground floor and the flood lights shining onto it made the second floor access a bit dodgy 
so I resigned myself to not getting in 

Shortly after I spotted this in the side of a hill and decided to have a look.







I'm not actually sure what it is, there are no buildings around and it just suddenly ends, all the walls are brick with a couple of small side arches which go back about a foot possibly for passing other people but as it's all brick I can't see how it could be a mine 






The water inside is only what is leaking from the roof and I imagine having a couple of steps inside wouldn't be practical for carts






Another side arch this time taller than the first






Close to the end is soil piled up at the side






And then it just ends 






Any ideas?​


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## nelly (Mar 24, 2012)

Wow, thats strange Paul, is it not on no old maps?


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## PaulPowers (Mar 24, 2012)

Nope, I almost fell into a dry underground reservoir on the way back to the car as someone had nicked the manhole cover but it was quite a distance away


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## st33ly (Mar 25, 2012)

Nice find and pictures mate!


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## Landsker (Mar 25, 2012)

Nice that, reckon its a collapse or just the end of the tunnel?


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## UEP-Wales (Mar 25, 2012)

Fantastic as always Mr Powers! Love the right light shot


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## flyboys90 (Mar 25, 2012)

Great photos.


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## PaulPowers (Mar 25, 2012)

walsh said:


> Nice that, reckon its a collapse or just the end of the tunnel?



It seems to be just the end

The brickwork stops nicely and everything


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## Catmandoo (Mar 26, 2012)

Great find!


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## godzilla73 (Mar 26, 2012)

Looks too narrow for standard gauge rail. Narrow gauge/light railway -maybe thats a rutway in the middle of the second pic (for horses)? How close is it to the bits that are left of the Monsal Dale/ Chee Dale railways? (Just a long shot, mind)

GDZ


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## derelicthunter (Mar 26, 2012)

awesome pics


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## PaulPowers (Mar 26, 2012)

godzilla73 said:


> Looks too narrow for standard gauge rail. Narrow gauge/light railway -maybe thats a rutway in the middle of the second pic (for horses)? How close is it to the bits that are left of the Monsal Dale/ Chee Dale railways? (Just a long shot, mind)
> 
> GDZ



It's next to RAF Harpur hill so it's quite a way


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## caiman (Mar 31, 2012)

First iteration of the Cromford and High Peak Railway. Abandoned when converted to a conventional railway in around 1890 and subsequently quarried away, hence the collapse.


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## Landsker (Mar 31, 2012)

any mines nearby?


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## PaulPowers (Apr 1, 2012)

No mines in the area but it's buxton and I'm pretty sure you could dig anywhere in the area and hit a mine or cave.

I've followed the 1890 cromford line and it would have run over this :S

I think it would be too small to get a horse into it

Here is the location
http://g.co/maps/h23b8


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## alex76 (Apr 1, 2012)

Very nice mate


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## Landsker (Apr 1, 2012)

PaulPowers said:


> No mines in the area but it's buxton and I'm pretty sure you could dig anywhere in the area and hit a mine or cave.
> 
> I've followed the 1890 cromford line and it would have run over this :S
> 
> ...



very strange! really is a mystery


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## crickleymal (Apr 2, 2012)

Strange. I've seen a similar tunnel near Mitcheldean which took a tramway through a hill to a quarry. Could this be the same thing? I see there is another quarry where Grinlow Caravan Club site is. Perhaps they're connected.


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## DegenerateBum (May 18, 2015)

PaulPowers said:


> Here is the location
> Google Maps



You can see the track of the Cromford and High Peak Railway line on the map. I reckon the tunnel must be part of the RAF complex.


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## Linton (May 27, 2015)

This whole area to the south was once lime works, so maybe the intention was to mine down for new chalk instead of open-cast' extraction that we've seen evidence of down here in Kent... just a though.


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