# Kettleness tunnel-The devils head portal



## phill.d (Aug 11, 2008)

Me, Ultrix and Awwrisp headed off for the North Yorkshire coast for a bit of tunnel bashing. We decided on Kettleness while we were there. We hadn't planned on this place, but our original target was as elusive as last time. Luckily I'd looked on google earth at kettlenes a few months ago. I was pretty certain how to get there. Not wanting to carry a load of gear across farmers fields if I was wrong, we decided to travel light and come back for the gear once we new for certain. It was half way across the farmer field that we had our first encounter with the mad Bull. More about that beast later :icon_evil





Kettleness station was on the Whitby Redcar and Middlesbrough Union Railway. It was opened on the 3rd December 1883, and served the remote village of Kettleness. It closed on the 5th May 1958. The track bed has since been been lifted and the station canopy removed.




The very muddy North portal. You need wellies for this one!




Kettleness tunnel was built by the North Eastern railway in 1883 and closed in 1958. It was situated on the Middlesborough-Whitby coastal line. Kettleness is a relatively short tunnel at 308 yds long, It is however steeply curved and excellent for photography. You can get plenty of shots without any entrance in view. kettleness is in good condition and litter free.




A unique feature of Kettleness is this construction/escape passage that runs away from the main bore. The passage extends 20' further down and then runs parrallel to the main bore. Most of the side passage has been filled in, leaving only a few feet of headroom to navigate. This in not a place for people having a fear of enclosed spaces. 









When you've done a few tunnels they can get pretty much the same photography wise. When we found the side passage we played about with lights for something a bit different.














Approaching the South portal. my camera was playing up and i fluffed the portal shot. Me and Awwrisp decided to go back through the tunnel for some more shots. Ultrix beat a path through the udergrowth to Sandsend. It was on our way back we heard a deep rumbling sound coming down the tunnel. We couldn't see were it was coming from until we rounded the curve, and saw these 2 devilish eyes lit up at the tunnel entrance. OH NO! It was the mad snot snorting Bull & a posse of cows trapping us in there.




Well this is certainly a first for me! 
A great deal of effort is usually put into keeping people out of tunnels. However on this occasion I was slighty perturbed to find a mad, snorting 2000lb menacing Bull blocking the only way out. If the Bull wasn't bad enough, a crowd of equally sized cows had joined the gang. 
Huhm...Time to make some plans ;-)









As me and Awwrisp daren't go out there Ultrix saved the day, Back From Sandsend he chased those beasts like a man possesed. Me & awwrisp made our run to saftey then. If ever there's a war on I want to be on his side lol. 




To say Kettleness had it's own station there is very few dwellings there. I think most of it washed into the sea during a bid landslide years ago. A bit further in land was this strange looking building. It's not connected with the railway but I liked it.





My other tunnel stuff is here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phill_dvsn/collections/72157600204027395/

Ultrix's Sandsend report is here
http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=6471


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## sqwasher (Aug 11, 2008)

Really nice report & photos! That side passage is an added feature. Glad to see you escaped from the tunnel guards!


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## ultrix (Aug 11, 2008)

Nice photographs. I liked the side passage. Yeah, I was a bit possessed by the time I got back to you and Awwrisp and the cows. I wasn't going to let them stop me getting back to to chocolate biscuits in the car.


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## BigLoada (Aug 11, 2008)

Brilliant! Wish I could have come to meet you Phill, looks like a good one. I love the way you get those mad colours in your photos, are you using coloured gels over remote flashguns?


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## phill.d (Aug 11, 2008)

Thanks Sqwasher 

Your a great guy to have on the team Ultrix. Fearless indeed lol 

Hi Lithium. No mate I don''t use any filters, gels, camera flash, flash gun. photoshop e.t.c
i just use normal halogen million+ candle torches. My camera is set to vivid and I use wacky long exposure times to exagerate the torches, and suck any available daylight into the tunnel.


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