Helmshore Park Tunnels, Lancs - Oct 08

[CHEWY]

Went to investigate some old tunnels in our local park i got told about recently.
I never knew they existed before, and i've lived in the area for 38years

The 2 tunnels run parallel to each other.

I think they could be water outlets for the old mill, then ran into a lake where the park is located now.
Very stonky in places, and averaged about 3foot in height throughout ( went as low as 18inches in one part),
except the entrance part - that went to about 10foot high.
Plenty of spiders were inside, and freshwater shrimpy things in the water.

i didn't get to any of the ends due to time, but will find out where it comes from / leads to proper another day.

A Few Pics

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[crickleymal]

Some nice pictures there. The roof looks interesting in places.

 

[CHEWY]

Thanks Mal
It was nicely built for such a small tunnel.
Only one minor collapse in what i saw. (pic 4)

That was probably due to a water monitoring device installed by the river not long ago.
( was about the same area )

 

[Foxylady]

Agree about the roof...the arch work is great. Love your spider web pic.

 

[LiamCH]

Very interesting. How old do you think it is?

 

[CHEWY]

Thanks Foxy
the spider web pic was at the lowest point.

not sure about age Liam
i'll have a guess at 1850ish.

the tunnels seemed to be pretty level, but outside it's a hill that gets higher.
must've took some digging

 

[BigLoada]

Very interesting. They look similar to the northern lead mines. I wonder if they were meant to be that height or if as sometimes happens in mines, the sides have bulged, caved in, thus raising the floor level , as happened in Smallcleugh (if anyones ever been through the Ten Crawls they'll know what I mean!)
Classic archwork though, I love to see drystone work like that.

 

[CHEWY]

Hmm.. not sure Lithium.

i think they are original height still.
although you can't see it on the last pic, but the river was directly behind me through a square hole.
you can see a tunnel to the left and right of me.
the river bed and tunnels were all at the same height (river is only ankle deep here)

i'm itching to get back through now, and see where they come from / go to.
i've got a friend looking at the nearby river bank for any more evidence right now

 

[BigLoada]

Culd be right there mate, come to think of oit, the floor looks a bit good for it to have suffered collapsed walls. I love a mystery like this, hope you can find out what is!

 

[CHEWY]

I'm hoping to find out this weekend if not flooded out.

My mate went down to the tunnels last night to try and find anything in the bank that looked like an exit.

The only thing he found was a manhole cover in a seating area.
The manhole and seating area are right next to the river, and the tunnels went in the same direction.

Why have a manhole in a disused tunnel that's barely 3foot high?


The quest continues

 

[DigitalNoise]

I love that stonework, picture 5 is particularly spooky, good luck finding out the score!

 

[CHEWY]

Not looking good at the moment DN..

the river is high, and they'll be flooded
i'm not giving up on them though.
found at the nearby textile museum (up river 1/2 a mile) had 3 tunnels for the water wheels.
one of these tunnels still gets used for the water wheel display when the museum is open, which leaves 2 redundant tunnels.
doubt they would've built run offs that long though

 

[DigitalNoise]

Yeah, thats gotta be some mystery, Id love to investigate and find out where they went! Its gonna be a dirty job but someone's gotta do it, eh?!!
Ive got a situation similar, my old secondary school was rumoured to have been a hospital during the war. The legend is that there were tunnels leading down to the river thames for the casualties to be brought along. Its well over a mile from the river though. I know the doorway at the school where the tunnels were supposed to come out but Ive been trying the other end. Discovered an underground, vaulted chamber last time I was there though. Now Ive just gotta grow some balls and jump in!

 

[CHEWY]

Get it done

i got my Mum to get me waders and knee pads for my birthday for this.
she gave me a funny look

here's a cack map of so far..

the entrance is by the river, then you have 2 tunnels left and right.

here's another map..

yellow = the textile museum
green = where one mill was (no water wheel was here)
blue = another mill (this is way up the hill from the river)
red = tunnel entrance

nothing fits to what the tunnels are for

 

[DigitalNoise]

You should set up your own mapping website Chewy, very detailed, lol! That seems odd, and all the more interesting! Looking at the distance, how have you not got a bad back?!

 

[CHEWY]

i barely got out of the red dot last visit, i'll probably be in A&E next visit with backness crampiness syndrome

they seemed to lead to the houses just above the red dot on the map, but they'll be more twists and turns further on than what i got.

 

[CHEWY]

Flooded halfway up every tunnel today.. Gaa

 

[DigitalNoise]

Typical mate, I bet youre going to have to wait another six months now!