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Report - - Greywell Canal Tunnel (Eastern Portal), Basingstoke, Hampshire – July 2016 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Greywell Canal Tunnel (Eastern Portal), Basingstoke, Hampshire – July 2016

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Bertie Bollockbrains

There is no pain
Regular User
Visited with @Oort, who didn’t actually enter the water as he’s a bit more sensible than me. Anyways after swimming the Sapperton Canal Tunnel last year, I thought it would be a good idea to give myself a second dose of hypothermia and repeat the foolish stunt.

The 1125m long Greywell Tunnel was opened in 1794 and was the longest tunnel on the Basingstoke Canal and the 12th longest canal tunnel in the UK. It was closed in 1932 due to a roof fall.

HISTORY

The Basingstoke Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1778. The route was 44 miles long running from Basingstoke to the Wey and Godalming Navigations near Weybridge. Originally the canal was planned to loop around Greywell Hill. However Earl Tylney who owned the land around these parts objected to the planned route and so after a bit of a rethink and this tunnel was built instead.

The canal opened in September 1794, but sections of the bank soon collapsed and parts of the canal were temporary closed in 1795. Flaws in the construction of the tunnel were quickly identified.

Trade on the canal was never as intensive as predicted, and several companies running the canal ended up bankrupt. The last commercial passage through the tunnel was probably in 1914 by the barge Basingstoke owned by Mr A J Harmsworth. The tunnel was closed in 1932 when part of the roof collapsed. Canoeists were still able to pass through the tunnel until the 1950s, but the blockage is now total.

Today the tunnel is open for 800m at its eastern end and for 140m at its western end. The 180m in between is completely filled with soft clay.

The Basingstoke Canal itself has been restored since the 1970s and has now been reopened for a distance of 32 miles. The length of the canal around the Greywell Tunnel remains disused.

REPORT

Photos were all taken handheld without a tripod, whilst standing in water up to my chest and whilst shivering uncontrollably. So apologies for the photos not being too good.

The canal here is neglected and overgrown
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Here we see the portal
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This gate prevents boat entry. I guess with a bit of effort a small dingy could be got in but it was a warm day and I needed to cool off
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Inside the tunnel was brick lined all the way through, and distances from the portal were marked on the wall, measured in feet
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About 2500ft in we see the roof fall
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It was possible to land on the beach, but you couldn’t walk far
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The portal 2500ft away
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Time to make my exit. Apparently my shivering could be heard long before I reached the exit
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The joys of hypothermia
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Thanks for reading
 

Lord Oort

Fear is the little death
Regular User
You got some great shots there Bertie! particularly considering the circumstances.

For me it was less about being sensible and more a case of not bringing the right kit, my chest waders were woefully insufficient and I would like to apologise to Mrs. B. for unnecessarily putting bumps in her wet suit where there shouldn't be any!

Luckily I managed to steal Berties camera off him so no pictures of that horror exist.
 

Wheaters

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thanks for posting. I used to live in Odiham (22 years ago now) and walked/ran past there many times, although it's a bit sad to see how overgrown it's become. There's supposed to be one of the largest UK colonies of bats in the tunnel and some chap used to stand outside with a listening device, counting them in and out.

The water is so clear because there are chalk springs bubbling up from below, just outside the tunnel entrance.

You obviously didn't encounter the very large pike I used to see nearby in the canal, towards King John's castle. My dog was a collie cross and one day he stood parallel to the canal, nose down sniffing something. The pike was right next to him and was longer than the dog, including his tail!

My son, then aged about five, caught a five and a half pound Bream in that stretch, too. He still remembers it well and he's now just coming up to his thirty first birthday!
 

Lord Oort

Fear is the little death
Regular User
I think its the other end that has the bats, its all (properly) gated off with no access.
 

lincstunnelexplorer

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
You're alot braver than me that's for sure although I can do an amazing impression of a brick in water!!! Hoping to buy a canal boat this year so this place will be on my list to get to at some point.
 

Žilina

28DL Member
28DL Member
I've peered into the Eastern entrance to the tunnel so many time over so many years and always wondered what's in there... and now I know... thanks!
Looking at previous comments have you entered the Western entrance?
 

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