Visited along with jb28


Think alot of people are familiar with this one, but it was my first visit of this ol' tunnel.

Bit of background information for those not aware of it:

On 7th July 1873 an Act was passed authorising an amended route with the WRMRU now branching from the Whitby – Grosmont line just outside Whitby Town station. The link to the proposed Scarborough line at Larpool Wood was dropped. By 1874 the construction of the railway had stopped and the contractor had gone into liquidation. Two of the
contractors locomotives which had been taken over by the WRMUR were sold. On 1st July 1875 the North Eastern Railway took a perpetual lease over the WRMUR and employed another contractor, John Waddell of Edinburgh, to complete the line with a completion date of 13th July 1881. The WRMUR Act ratified the arrangement on 19th July 1875 and the NER agreed to complete the line in a substantial and satisfactory manner.

The new contractor found the previous work to be unsatisfactory and in the short period whilst work was suspended part of the cliff route north of Sandsend had collapsed into the sea. The new contractors drove the railway through the headlands rather than go round them. Two tunnels were constructed, Sandsend tunnel (1652 yards) and Kettleness tunnel (308 yards);
between them a short stretch of the original course along the cliff edge remains.
We took the route from the south at Sandsend, and made our way up.This popped into view after 15mins:



Inside, a mile's journey into the darkness awaits...



The first airshaft



The sidetunnel runs at this point were the vertical shaft is too


Looking back from the sidetunnel



2nd airshaft



2nd sideshaft. The fragrance of oily old timber was around here




Looking back to the south at the curve in the tunnel



Mineral deposits




Northernmost shaft rubble



Kettleness tunnel south



Inside Kettleness



The side shaft in Kettleness is Navigable, prompted by a fresh breeze, i hobbled through it...

hastily built brick arch of the refuge


after the first hump



and the second



is the exit, emerges onto the failed 1870's railway trackbed along the cliffedge, a seagull breeding colony now resides here




More at flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1247043...7619202478486/

& at Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RVxf...e=channel_page