Manshead Tunnel, 53°41'09.1"N 2°00’51.0"W
Well I've searched for, and can find no mention of Manshead Tunnel on this forum so here goes!
Manshead Tunnel entrance is in quite an isolated position in the hills above Mytholmroyd, near Hebden Bridge. It was built back in the early sixties by the Wakefield & District Water Board to divert water from Turvin Clough and the adjacent moorland to Baitings reservoir. In 1961, one man was killed and 3 injured by an explosion whilst the tunnel was being constructed. If you stand at its entrance and look down it you see a tiny point of light. This is the tunnel exit and it is over a mile and a half away. Being so long I had a great idea. Go down it on mountain bikes. Obviously progress was quite slow as there could be holes in the floor or objects in the ceiling to decapitate
an unsuspecting head. Anyway with powerful lights two of us went down. The further you progress the wetter the tunnel becomes as water from the moors above seeps in. About two thirds of the way down it does get quite noisy as quite a large waterfall comes in from a leak in the roof. As I said it is quite a long tunnel and the point of light at the far end seems to take an age to start getting any bigger. Finally journey's end and you are met with iron gates barring an easy exit. Now if you aren't on a bike and you want to get very wet, the bottom of the gate is hinged so you could probably slide under it. We just turned the bikes round and cycled back much faster this time as now we knew what to expect. Pictures from the other side of the gates (53°40'02.9"N 1°59’37.0”W) are taken from an earlier recce and show the outflow down some small steps and under the A58 into Baitings.
Well I've searched for, and can find no mention of Manshead Tunnel on this forum so here goes!
Manshead Tunnel entrance is in quite an isolated position in the hills above Mytholmroyd, near Hebden Bridge. It was built back in the early sixties by the Wakefield & District Water Board to divert water from Turvin Clough and the adjacent moorland to Baitings reservoir. In 1961, one man was killed and 3 injured by an explosion whilst the tunnel was being constructed. If you stand at its entrance and look down it you see a tiny point of light. This is the tunnel exit and it is over a mile and a half away. Being so long I had a great idea. Go down it on mountain bikes. Obviously progress was quite slow as there could be holes in the floor or objects in the ceiling to decapitate
an unsuspecting head. Anyway with powerful lights two of us went down. The further you progress the wetter the tunnel becomes as water from the moors above seeps in. About two thirds of the way down it does get quite noisy as quite a large waterfall comes in from a leak in the roof. As I said it is quite a long tunnel and the point of light at the far end seems to take an age to start getting any bigger. Finally journey's end and you are met with iron gates barring an easy exit. Now if you aren't on a bike and you want to get very wet, the bottom of the gate is hinged so you could probably slide under it. We just turned the bikes round and cycled back much faster this time as now we knew what to expect. Pictures from the other side of the gates (53°40'02.9"N 1°59’37.0”W) are taken from an earlier recce and show the outflow down some small steps and under the A58 into Baitings.
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