Drewton Tunnel is a disused and dismantled railway tunnel that is in the Drewton/Riplingham area of East Yorkshire. Originally built as a part of the Hull and Barnsley railway line, it served as both a passenger and freight service from 1885 and closed in 1958 (though the passenger service ended in 1955) as British Rail decided to divert all traffic through the easier North Eastern Railway route. The main tunnel is 1 mile and 354 yards long, with a shorter tunnel and bridge further along the line.
I and two non members decided, on a foggy Saturday afternoon, to venture out and see if we could find said tunnel having seen a few reports on here and some photos on Instagram.
With no clue where the entrance to the tunnel actually was, I consulted good old OS Explorer 293 to see if I could find any more details, as Google Maps was proving unsuccessful and it was about 3PM at this point. Having found a marker for 'Drewton Tunnel' situated on top of a quarry (matching up what we had seen from reports), we set out to find somewhere to leave the car. Using my excellent knowledge of the roads, we easily found where we needed to be and left the car in some sort of car park-esque passing place at the side of the road, where a few dog walkers had left their 4x4s.
We walked about 200m along the road and found the gate we needed to be over. Using the principle that the farmer 'didn't know that it wasn't going to happen' (to quote an old teacher), we presumed that as there were no signs he wouldn't mind us hopping the gate, and so we did. We walked along a track for about half a mile, and then hopped another gate into a field of sheep.
The fog wasn't so bad at this point, and we could see what looked like a quarry not too far away. We walked along the perimeter fence of the quarry until we found a suitable place to get over the fence (barbed wire and all), and until the last minute were none the wiser that the tunnel was so close to us.
We came across the shorter tunnel, which is at the bottom of a large gravel path in the quarry, and is completely open to access.
After getting a few photos from the outside we ventured through this tunnel, about 100m long, and after a bit more walking after the tunnel found the bridge I mentioned before.
At this point the fog was really starting to set in, but we still managed to get a few photos. Somehow, we managed to arrive ourselves on the top of this bridge, and precariously climbed across it to find a fence, which led us back into the second field we got into on the way there.
Thankfully we had our bearings, otherwise we might have been a bit more lost due to the bad weather, so we headed back the way we came to the car, and vowed to return another time to find the longer tunnel, although we are going to return in the daytime when it is a bit lighter!
Hopefully you enjoyed my report, first one so not sure whether I have included too much/little detail and too many/few photos. Feedback would be appreciated!
EDIT: Thanks to new member JXM3ST for the photographs!
I and two non members decided, on a foggy Saturday afternoon, to venture out and see if we could find said tunnel having seen a few reports on here and some photos on Instagram.
With no clue where the entrance to the tunnel actually was, I consulted good old OS Explorer 293 to see if I could find any more details, as Google Maps was proving unsuccessful and it was about 3PM at this point. Having found a marker for 'Drewton Tunnel' situated on top of a quarry (matching up what we had seen from reports), we set out to find somewhere to leave the car. Using my excellent knowledge of the roads, we easily found where we needed to be and left the car in some sort of car park-esque passing place at the side of the road, where a few dog walkers had left their 4x4s.
We walked about 200m along the road and found the gate we needed to be over. Using the principle that the farmer 'didn't know that it wasn't going to happen' (to quote an old teacher), we presumed that as there were no signs he wouldn't mind us hopping the gate, and so we did. We walked along a track for about half a mile, and then hopped another gate into a field of sheep.
The fog wasn't so bad at this point, and we could see what looked like a quarry not too far away. We walked along the perimeter fence of the quarry until we found a suitable place to get over the fence (barbed wire and all), and until the last minute were none the wiser that the tunnel was so close to us.
We came across the shorter tunnel, which is at the bottom of a large gravel path in the quarry, and is completely open to access.
After getting a few photos from the outside we ventured through this tunnel, about 100m long, and after a bit more walking after the tunnel found the bridge I mentioned before.
At this point the fog was really starting to set in, but we still managed to get a few photos. Somehow, we managed to arrive ourselves on the top of this bridge, and precariously climbed across it to find a fence, which led us back into the second field we got into on the way there.
Thankfully we had our bearings, otherwise we might have been a bit more lost due to the bad weather, so we headed back the way we came to the car, and vowed to return another time to find the longer tunnel, although we are going to return in the daytime when it is a bit lighter!
Hopefully you enjoyed my report, first one so not sure whether I have included too much/little detail and too many/few photos. Feedback would be appreciated!
EDIT: Thanks to new member JXM3ST for the photographs!
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