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2 hours... seriously thats how long it took me to "sort things out" after this one, but more about that later.
Visited here with @Down and beyond & THAT light as demonstrated in my first pic & what a laugh it turned out to be.
Not much to tell about the history really, this is just another railway tunnel opened in 1882, and closed in 1964.
516m long, the tunnel has been filled at the second air vent & though we didnt check the far portal the other side of this but am assuming this is also filled.
Original cable hangers are still visible on the walls
Some calcium build up mid tunnel
So we get to the backfill at the far end & decide to have a nosey at the top of this, why? the best feature bay far & missed by most lays at the top. there is some superb stalactites forming & a lovely ribbon of curtain stalactites, but this is where things wend a bit bad!
Stalactites are formed by water ingress right? well so is mud. Down and beyond goes up first & skirts round the worst of it, I go up then move across to get a better pic & I get stuck. I mean proper fkin stuck.
Iv always thought "Im strong enough to get out of mud / quick sand situation" but when there is simply nothing to push against other than more mud it dosent matter how strong u are.
Picture the scene, I have my camera & tripod in hand, torch in other hand my 600mm zoom round neck (took this to look for rarities on the walk to tunnel) & camera bag over other shoulder & Im stuck fast!
Fortunately Down & Beyond was still free & able to do shuttle runs till all our kit was safely down to terra firma. I then had no choice but to decant out of my wellies & stand past my knees in it in my socks. At least I could now move without the suction of my wellies. It then took the both of us some time to dig them out with our bare hands!
It was hysterical fun but also a bit scary thinking that that could happen somewhere a lot less accessible so a lesson learnt. as my initial statement the rest of the day was spent meticulously cleaning camera & equipment,
Anyway this is what all the hassle was for, photo credit for some of these is with Down & Beyond too.
The bank of doom
Thanks For Looking
