Ballingham Tunnel - Hereford
History
The railway between Hereford and Gloucester was incorporated in 1851. This line crossed the Wye four times between Hereford and Ross and so four bridges had to be built. Four tunnels also needed to be driven - Dinedor, Ballingham, Fawley and Lea, the first three between Hereford and Ross. The line proved difficult to construct and in January 1853 work was delayed because of extremely wet weather which flooded the tunnel at Lea. On 16th April the Hereford Times reported that a workman had received fatal injuries at the Strangford cutting and on the 30th July that a collapse of earth at Dinedor had killed sub-contractor John Baker.
Ballingham Tunnel was opened on the 1st of June 1855 and was part of Brunel's broad gauge Hereford Ross and Gloucester Railway. In 1862 the HR&G Railway was merged with the GWR and in 1869 the line was converted to standard gauge which only took a very short five days to complete.
The tunnel is situated between Ballingham bridge, now long gone but the supports are still visible above the water, and the old station which has now been converted into a private house although the platform has been retained.
The tunnel at 1208 yards is the longest in the region (32nd longest disused tunnel in the UK) and is nearly completely straight other than a slight turn to the east near the southern portal. The line reaches its summit somewhere in the middle of the tunnel. The north end has been patch repaired with brick and strengthening rings inserted into the original lining. The tunnel walls have also been strengthened with bricks at various spots through the length.
The line and the station were finally closed in 1964 as they were never well used and only ran a limited service.
Today the tunnel is still in pretty good nick but the calcite deposits are beginning to build up inside due to water seeping into the tunnels and it is only a matter of time before it becomes unsafe.
The Visit
Nice easy one to finish off the glorious Easter weekend, What a beautiful day it was which begs the question what the hell were we doing in a tunnel? After parking up; the entrance was found in about five minutes and with no climbing, crawling, sliding or any of the usual crap to get somewhere we just walked straight on up the cutting and in. We were intending to go and have a look at the bridge as well but the southern cutting was so overgrown and wet that we decided not to bother. it would be possible to do this from from the south portal but I really wouldn't recommend it without wellies and a stout stick.
Light painting was a real bitch as this tunnel just eats light for breakfast!
Visited with @TallRich, FIX1T and Carole.
The Pics
Northern Portal
Just inside looking in
^ (C) Tallrich ^
Looking out of the Southern Portal
Looking into the Southern cutting, Bollocks to walking through that.
Nice easy one to finish off the glorious Easter weekend, What a beautiful day it was which begs the question what the hell were we doing in a tunnel? After parking up; the entrance was found in about five minutes and with no climbing, crawling, sliding or any of the usual crap to get somewhere we just walked straight on up the cutting and in. We were intending to go and have a look at the bridge as well but the southern cutting was so overgrown and wet that we decided not to bother. it would be possible to do this from from the south portal but I really wouldn't recommend it without wellies and a stout stick.
Light painting was a real bitch as this tunnel just eats light for breakfast!
Visited with @TallRich, FIX1T and Carole.
The Pics
Northern Portal
Just inside looking in
^ (C) Tallrich ^
Looking out of the Southern Portal
Looking into the Southern cutting, Bollocks to walking through that.
Thanks for looking!
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