First up, Hi-5 to King Elvis himself for the info here. Mucho gracias amigo, and sincerest apologies for an unannounced phone call at work :thumb
Today finds me on a solo adventure to the Greenside Tunnel, in Pudsey, West of Leeds to tick off another West Yorkshire tunnel.
On arrival, it was clear that the cutting was overgrown and neglected, and a stream of muddy water ran down from the tunnel's western portal, just visable in this shot.
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I slipped in, and set up. It was nice to get the iconic grafitti that appears on all reports under my belt early on.
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The tunnel itself is in very good shape. The straight tunnel walls are lined in Yorkshire sandstone, and the roof is bricklined. Inside is virtually dry.
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In 1892 16 trains a day steamed through here, yet by 1900, this had risen to 60. Many of these would have been wagons loaded with bales of wood for the great mills of Bradford and Leeds. Inside the tunnel are generous refuges. Here is another one of them.
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Some railways tunnels have lots to see; others less so. Greenside doesn't have many features, but it was good to spot an airshaft, now capped in concrete somewhere above.
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Around this point I could here voices, and pick out a weak torch at the end I was heading towards. I took a shot, and moved on.
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A group of five chavs appeared a minute later, all Burburried and tracksuited. They looked terrified as I emerged from the darkness. And blinded after five million candlepower in the face. "Oops, sorry lads..." I wasn't.
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As I walked back through a while later, I met another group, this time dad, kids and a dog, wandering through. "Are you one of them people who puts them up on the computer?" I nodded, spoke for a couple of minutes and I left. How good to have your dad take you on an adventure like this as a kid?
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The eastern portal, overgrown, and partially covered by a landslip and tipping. There are plans to fill in this end of the tunnel, and to tip landfil into the deep cutting. At present, these proposals are being met with huge local objection due to the lorries, noise dust and other issues. At the moment the Greenside tunnel remains passable, but for how long?
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