real time web analytics
Report - - Drewton Railway Tunnel - East Yorks 13.12.07 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Drewton Railway Tunnel - East Yorks 13.12.07

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

MADMAX

Member
28DL Full Member
After seeing antpant7's rookie report on this the other day, Squirrell911 and I decided that this one needed to be done asap.
We'd done Donington on Bain tunnel last week, but that was a baby compared to this one.
Thanks to antpant for access details, we could have wandered around for hours in the dark otherwise :thumb

Firstly here's some info on Drewton Tunnel -
The first goods traffic pressed the sleepers on 20th July 1885 with the passenger service welcoming customers a week later. One of the last substantial pieces of Britain’s railway jigsaw was in place.
The 12 mile section through the Wolds was a back-breaker and contributed significantly to the line’s steep average cost of £59,000 per mile. Cuttings and tunnels had to be excavated, but the area’s loose chalk proved difficult and frequent landslips occurred. More than 8,000 men helped build the line, living in camps and rioting regularly. The largest of these temporary communities - boasting shops and a mission chapel - was at Riplingham on top of Drewton Tunnel.
Hull-bound trains emerged from 2,116 yards of gloom at the line’s summit, whilst an 83 feet deep cutting - known by the navvies as ‘Big Hill’ - concealed their passage down the other side. Little Weighton sat proudly between these two immense achievements.
Like many tunnels, Drewton had a climate of its own. It could be very wet and perishingly cold. During the winter, icicles would form - often several feet long - and the first train through on a morning would collect a batch in its tender. One loco had its cab window smashed.
But a bigger shake-up was on the cards. Hull’s coal commitments were waning and, during the 1950s, British Rail hatched a plan to divert all remaining traffic over the easier NER route. The Hull & Barnsley’s decline was swift. Little Weighton’s passenger service bit the dust on 1st August 1955.
Through freight traffic ended in December 1958, marking the tunnel’s retirement. A shuttle service from Hull fed the coal yard until 1964 but, that summer, Little Weighton’s rail connection was finally severed, having survived less than 80 years.
Despite forty years of neglect, Drewton still exudes magnificence. Chalk-falls have almost engulfed one entrance but the eastern portal sits proudly at the head of its cutting, resisting encroachment by landfill. It’s a different story east of the village. Half-a-million cubic metres of household and industrial waste are slowly consuming Little Weighton cutting. Within a decade, all traces of it will be gone.


As I've already hinted, access is reasonably straight forward as long as you know where you're going.
So we scaled the frozen mud slide (it was a cold night) that almost fills the east entrance of the tunnel to the roof.
Once on the level we came across a long section that was only be described as one foot deep muddy clay.
There's no easy way of crossing this as I found out, ending up splashed with thick mud up to my waste :rolleyes::D
A suggestion for anyone attempting this - boots are a must, wellies would probably not stay on and waders might seem overkill but wouldn't be a bad idea.
So we were finally in and decided to walk all the way through and shoot on the way back.
It goes without saying that the more torchlight you've got the better, because it's as dark as it gets down there.

The One and a half mile long tunnel is evenly marked out by the large brick air shafts that lead to the surface.
As you'll see in the photos, the chalk has started to take over again in many parts of the tunnel; but other than that its reasonably structurally sound.

The West Entrance
DSC_0001.jpg


The only sleepers left are in a pile under the 1st air shaft
DSC_0008.jpg


Passing Arches - the only place in the tunnel with two side by side
DSC_0006-2.jpg


Floor to Ceiling with Squirrell in the distance
DSC_0018-1.jpg


The Chalk taken over again - this used to be all Brick
DSC_0011.jpg



Staring up into the abyss - all the shafts are capped with a wooden cover
DSC_0016.jpg


Leeds Uni have geological experiments in the tunnel - drip drip
DSC_0013-2.jpg


Finally, tonights group shot
DSC_0021.jpg


Before we knew it, we'd been in there three hours so called it a night.
Squirrells pics will follow this afternoon.
 

Squirrell 911

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Didnt we have a giggle down there :)

Getting in was straightforward like Madmax said but the sea of mud was something like Glastonbury but without the music.:eek:

The sheer size of it was something else and it was all bricks too. No wonder it took so long to construct. This picture only shows a tiny part of the tunnel.

008-4.jpg


The west end lit up a bit brighter thanks to a large torch from work. :thumb

003-3.jpg


Madmax looking out of the West end.

004-2.jpg


Boffins use this place too.

020-1.jpg


013-2.jpg


And as Madmax said take some wellies if you go because this is what happens if you dont. :p

026-1.jpg
 

Scottash

28DL Member
28DL Member
00000000drewton.jpg
20150920_123858.jpg
20150920_123903.jpg
20150920_124835.jpg
20150920_124909.jpg


DREWTON TUNNEL 20/9/2015

Simply go on a Sunday and access the Western Portal which is situated in Riplingham Quarry, which is operated by Stoneledge
 

Attachments

  • 20150920_124945.jpg
    20150920_124945.jpg
    115.3 KB · Views: 136
  • 20150920_125846.jpg
    20150920_125846.jpg
    87.3 KB · Views: 117
  • 20150920_125922.jpg
    20150920_125922.jpg
    95.7 KB · Views: 138
  • 20150920_132337.jpg
    20150920_132337.jpg
    72.6 KB · Views: 126
  • 20150920_132350.jpg
    20150920_132350.jpg
    110.9 KB · Views: 138
  • 20150920_130725.jpg
    20150920_130725.jpg
    82.2 KB · Views: 142
  • 20150920_131456.jpg
    20150920_131456.jpg
    83.7 KB · Views: 141
Top