Sutton Lodge Farm, Derbyshire, May 2015

[Sarah Waldock]

there's supposed to be a tunnel from Erwarton House as well.... I suspect if every tunnel story were true, the entire of Britain would be as riddled with holes as a Swiss cheese. But the concept is fun....

 

[colz]

Thats true think it is the romance of finding a tunnel thats full of hidden treasure, suits of armour, knights swords ect that keep some rumours going, more likekly to find a goverment base if conspiracy theorists are right.
Thats the trouble with a lot of the youth today they have no interests or dreams in finding pirate treasure etc, just the latest pokemon hiding behind a bin lol.

 

[Sarah Waldock]

Thats true think it is the romance of finding a tunnel thats full of hidden treasure, suits of armour, knights swords ect that keep some rumours going, more likekly to find a goverment base if conspiracy theorists are right.
Thats the trouble with a lot of the youth today they have no interests or dreams in finding pirate treasure etc, just the latest pokemon hiding behind a bin lol.

I suppose seeking pokemon is treasure of sorts, but it does seem so weird that they can be enthralled by a little world a few inches square. I went on archaeologic digs all over the garden - found a victorian midden but never managed to find the nissen hut supposedly under our beans and peas, and had my ears clipped by the antiquities chief at the local museum for teaching myself flint-knapping and presenting him with my replicas of the neanderthal tools supposedly found locally. And of course, all the best stories involve pirates, knights, or Cossacks. And I might have taught myself swordplay to fight against the aggressive and heavily armed shrubs who were the minions of Prince John/Cardinal Richlieu/Napoleon etc....my son is now in broadsword competition so I must have done something right bringing him up.

 

[Mearing]

nd

I was speaking to the proprietor of the camera shop in Bath, the one near the cathedral, and he said there's something similar in his cellar, which he never quite dared knock down, but that Bath is said to be riddled with tunnels, and a heap of rumours surrounding them. I suspect the most mundane reason that they were shortcuts for the toffs to go to church when it was wet.
I know the odd cataphile - the name for those who explore Paris underground - and the whole concept is fascinating. If we have any cataphiles on this forum, I'd love to see your posts! I've used the tunnels in a couple of novels, from photos and descriptions of others, but I'm severely claustrophobic and I don't think I'd even manage the public parts. But for a claustrophobe, I am fascinated by tunnels. I wonder if the bricked up doorway in this cellar was in any way connected with smuggling, or was just an extensive cellar? another tunnel there is said to exist is in Blytheborough, Suffolk, between the White Hart on the river and the church on the hill. That one would have been about smuggling, a national sport in the vicinity.

There is a great deal of information about the quarries and tunnels under Bath and Combe Down in a book recalling the life of Harry Patch the last known fighting Tommy of the first world war. He recalls as a lad growing up before that war he would explore the tunnels dug to extract Bath stone for building purposes. It was a dangerous game and it was not unknown for people to become completely lost, on one occasion for three days! Apparently undergrond Bath and Combe Down is a maze of tunnels sometimes causing subsidence above.
The book is entitled 'The Last Fighting Tommy' ISBN-978-0-7475-9336-2

 

[Sarah Waldock]

nd

There is a great deal of information about the quarries and tunnels under Bath and Combe Down in a book recalling the life of Harry Patch the last known fighting Tommy of the first world war. He recalls as a lad growing up before that war he would explore the tunnels dug to extract Bath stone for building purposes. It was a dangerous game and it was not unknown for people to become completely lost, on one occasion for three days! Apparently undergrond Bath and Combe Down is a maze of tunnels sometimes causing subsidence above.
The book is entitled 'The Last Fighting Tommy' ISBN-978-0-7475-9336-2

Many thanks! I just secured myself a coppy. That should be a fun read, and useful to me as an author!

 

[colz]

Sounds interesting, will also take a look thanks.

 

[Hayman]

nd

There is a great deal of information about the quarries and tunnels under Bath and Combe Down in a book recalling the life of Harry Patch the last known fighting Tommy of the first world war. He recalls as a lad growing up before that war he would explore the tunnels dug to extract Bath stone for building purposes. It was a dangerous game and it was not unknown for people to become completely lost, on one occasion for three days! Apparently undergrond Bath and Combe Down is a maze of tunnels sometimes causing subsidence above.
The book is entitled 'The Last Fighting Tommy' ISBN-978-0-7475-9336-2

There used to be - maybe it is still there - at the Quarryman's Arms at Box a plan of all (!) the stone tunnels in the area. A real jumbled maze of long and short diggings.