Exploring Oxendon and Kelmarsh Railway Tunnels. (All Four).
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- In this weeks video we explore four tunnels which make up Oxendon and Kelmarsh Tunnels on the Brampton Way.
This week we take a look at the beautiful architecture and railway infrastructure that surrounds the abandoned railway tunnels i n Northamptonshire (Although two are now a cycle route). Built by George Stephenson's nephew.
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Music:
Travellers - Ran the Man
Valium - nothanks
- Via - Epidemic sound, paid license
Links:
www.paulwhitewick.co.uk
Thanks
www.railmaponline.co.uk
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Twitter: @PaulWhitewick
@RWhitewick
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When asked by the police why she had strung Paul by the toes from the top of the rail tunnel Rebecca replied calmly, now he knows the difference between up and down !
😂😂😂🛤️🛤️🛤️😂😂😂
LOL. And I really did laugh out loud.
Funny, but she loves him too much for that.
One of my old playgrounds (oxendon)..so many memories.
As kids in the 70's we used to walk through those tunnels while the tracks were still down and in use!
Brickwork at the bottom of those shafts is always impressive to look at.
Such a beautiful way to finish a functional ventilation shaft.
John Clark: My cousin is a retired bricklayer and I showed him this video and he said "my old boss once did work like that but since we never had to do it I never learned the technique". So true and so sad, you rarely see this kind of work anymore because it's labor intensive and thus very expensive. When I worked as a carpenter my boss was very talented and we tried to do fancy work when ever we could, but most home owners just wanted a nice looking house at cottage prices. Today's architects are designing the old styles back into new homes, but the result are homes only the rich can afford.
Wow....I've walked through Kelmarsh tunnel but never realised there were 2 portals 😯🤩. That's awesome 🥰, I'd have never of known if I hadn't stumbled across this gem, thanks x
Another superb production showing locations that most of us are very unlikely to get to (it’s miles away from my neck of the woods). They look like they wouldn’t take a lot of recommissioning if that day ever comes. I love Rebecca’s expressions when she takes up the position of flank. They range from “agree, partially agree, not got a clue to definitely don’t want any part of this statement! From experience, I know that lot of pulling these things together is the effort it takes to go and get the footage. I can get quite (no sure if excited or enthusiastic is the right word?) about the architecture and detail in railway structures. Whatever the word is! Really appreciate your efforts and look forward to the next video.
Thanks Don. I've not had the privilege of being inside an active tunnel (Obv) to compare, but I am sure you are right, these go look in very good condition! The tunnels certainly take longer than any other aspect of filming as the time taken to get to them kills the day! And yup, as you know the editing saps time like nothing else!
These tunnels are on my doorstep and I love poking around them. The southern portal of the up kelmarsh tunnel has a nasty large crack in the brickwork. This line was closed in 1981 which is a pity because if open to passenger traffic now it would possibly ease the morning traffic on the A508 towards Northampton which is a nightmare ! Love your videos, keep em coming.
Thank you. Loved this little explore and as you say seems like a sensible route, surprised it was lost.
Love you guys, your characters make your videos all the more fun x
Great video, loved the tunnels. Also underneath that shaft was amazing 👌
Cheers Martin 👍👍
The haunches have to be strongly built to withstand the sheer weight of the column of bricks above. The tunnel roof and walls at that point would be substantially more reinforced than the tunnel itself, the weight of the shaft being distributed around the tunnel and into the foundations and ground beneath.
@@peebee143 cheers Peebee. I read that the reinforced the roof of the tunnel around 5m in either direction to take the weight.
Went Kelmarsh tunnel today, fantastic icicles hanging down from the shaft. Quite an attraction
Thanks for sharing this with us.. My girls only learned to ride a bike this year, so a good excuse to get out for a half term trip. Wouldn’t’ even thought about abandoned railways but this is only 40 min away so we gave it a go!!!
Definitely a worthwhile trip. Just take a torch!
I thought we had!!!! I was wrong;-)) we still had fun
Cobblers - best joke yet - love you both so much. Just the right balance, humour fact and lovely people = good watch as always. Keep it up
These arched brickwork portals and tunnels are works of art. Thanks for filming them for us.
Cheers Ross. It was quite a surprise to see them. We had no idea they were designed like this.
Greetings from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland Australia!
Love following your 'adventures' with my copy of Ian Allan's British Railways Atlas 1947.
Rebecca has such a lovely expressive face always providing humour to Paul's commentary!
Cheers
Bob Neil
Like an earlier commenter, I came across your videos via Geoff Marshall. Now I've got another lot of interesting railway videos to catch up on and the housework will have to wait yet again!
Haha. Thanks Carolyn. Definitely postpone the housework!
The brickwork around the shaft entries, those engineers and bricklayers were right at the top of their game 👌
Absolutely. Building the tunnel near the shaft also meant reinforcing the tunnel itself 5m in either direction.
Glad I found your channel. Really enjoy watching your videos. Great work you two.
Welcome aboard!
Said it before and I'll say it again. I never cease to be amazed by the exploits of the Victorians - the trial and error, their indefatigability, their sweat, injury and death. No excavating machines, no real technology. Thanks to you two for your considerable part in bringing to the rest of us.
Always a pleasure. Indeed the feats of engineering are always a sight to behold.
Just found your videos recently through your collaborations with Martin Zero. Enjoying them and working my way through your past ones.
Cheers, get binge watching!
What a brilliant way to end the week. Take away, glass of wine and a tunnel vid with bonus flip chart action! Please be careful on those embankments!!
Cheers Russ. Always love a little flip chart action!!
Great video Paul and Rebecca. Today my wife and I went for a walk to Marton junction in Warwickshire and came across a lovely iron bridge. This bridge is right near the junction and surprisingly is still intact. Hope you two can make a video about it in the future.
I,m only here for the tea as well! Agghhhh Home ! my old stamping ground used to walk down there every day even before they ripped the lines out and remember the trains running! maybe one day the brampton and pitford steam guys will get enough money to push right through to market harborough , Thanks for the Video guys takes me back a few years ,and last trip back home last year walked the Brampton way! julian germany Thanks for taking me home ! thanks for the memories!
Cheers Julian. We would love to see heritage peeps get moving too. Sadly we arrived on this summer Saturday and it was surprisingly closed.
Hi Paul & Rebecca, l live in Southport & 14 miles away from me is Preston, there is a line & tunnel called Miley End, used for passenger & freight upto 1989, the tunnel is haunted by the ghost of a girl who fell under the wheels of a train, love for you both to visit this tunnel
Entertaining and informative at the same time.That brickwork at he tunnel portals has stood the test of time. Over 150 years old. A good power wash and they would probably come up like new. Keep going you two.
Cheers Andrew. Yup, interestingly the unused tunnels were both inveru good condition too.
Yep, they proudly built them to last forever in those days. Modern concrete tunnels and bridges are ugly and barely last 50 years. We should build with brick again.
Fascinating - and testament to the architectural pride Stephenson took in designing the tunnel portals! You took some great shots inside the tunnel, especially using the natural lighting and shadows of the vent shaft. Thanks for another interesting programme.
Thank you Richard.
Another good 'un ! I do like tunnels, there's something a bit otherworldly about 'em . The sense of trains long gone,the men and machinery , the toil and the skill ,the art of running the train, heeding the nuances of the road, the mood of the engine. Men and machines long gone. Who were the men? What else filled their lives? What moved them ,what were their passions? Where are the machines? I often sensed them in tunnels , was it down to the usually cool draughts even on a flat-calm day? Or the always silvery light, flashed briefly that freeze-framed the falling water and your passage under the vents? Who cares? It was , and always will be , atmospheric in the exreme.
Srange thing is, a lot of the abandoned tunnels appear in MUCH better nick than some still in use ,especially on my old turf in the Peak district. You'd need a snorkel some days...........
Very well sad Harold. Rebecca especially loves the person lives side of things and will often do some genealogy before we go out exploring.
@@pwhitewick Forgot to mention....those stills of the vents were rather tasty ,too. Almost abstract ,but still architectural . Bit haunting , too , sez I.
Awesome job I used to live near here and it's weird seeing it again. Those voices in that shaft would make a really cool film idea. Wicked video. I hate it when they block the tunnels off and at least we aren't the only ones who forget our torches lol.
Cheers Guys. Yup this was quite a fun explore.
Your a great couple.furlong,length of furrow.There are places where you can see very old furrows from when people were cleared off the land.The land owners did this for more profitable sheep farming(&probably just because they felt like it on a whim).
cheers.
Ah thanks Mike. Much appreciated.
Another great video guys very interesting :-) looks a great walk too !
By the way Shoreham to Horsham is a great walk and lots to see apparently...;-) you did ask if there was anywhere lol
Haha... Thanks Simon. Noted.
Welcome to Northamptonshire .. yet another great vid
Cheers Colin. We will of course.... be back!
top video, thank you very much
Nice tunnels
O level history 1982 furlongs furrows correct. Really appreciate and enjoy your adventures. When you guys get round to the missing Addingham station on the Skipton-Ilkley line don't miss the Lob wood viaduct, it's where I spent my childhood we had the best rope swing in Britain under that old bridge. 40 foot up sat on a stick attached to an old wagon rope happy days.
Phew... we love the viaducts as much as the tunnels so we definitely won't miss it. Cheers for the tip.
HUGE HI to you both from Australia. Thank you for yet another fantastic upload. All the best to you and your channel.
Hello Aus!... Thanks for watching.
in the mid 70s we used to sit on the parapet of the north down tunnel and when a train was approaching the rails would sing n ping as the train approached from the curve to harborough station
Another fine piece of videography from Paul and Rebecca, it's north of the Northampton & Lamport Railway where I had my DMU
Ah we did have a peak in the Heritage Centre on the Saturday, but surprisingly it was closed!
Another great adventure, I enjoy your videos, cheers. John
Thanks John. Glad you enjoy them.
Brilliant video! There's something I love about twin bore tunnels!
The still photos from the bottom of the shaft are really beautiful and sum up the art and skill of the bricklayers so well., great share and one I would never have had the chance to see. Thanks again.
Cheers Chris. Lovely little adventure this one, really pleased you enjoyed it.
What a cracking pair of portals!!!! Once again a massive engineering feat quietly mouldering in the undergrowrh waiting for the new comedy duo to discover!!!👍👌🔦🔦🔦🔦
Cheers Bob.
@@pwhitewick What I should be saying is how the Victorian railway architects and engineers went to such great lengths to promote their lines by building such fine edifices both internally and externally. All you'd get today is perhaps some iron girders and a handful of brieze blocks. You know I'm always loving your vids and enthusiasm, keep up the good work but try and suit up appropriately please, boggy ground and nettles not good for trainers and bare legs!!!!!
Yes I grew up near these cycling through them often..glad you could start moving up north...
0:47 - The rare sight of old railway tunnel gates/grille being open :)
Yup, more and more these days are being closed off. Completely appreciate that the land owners have a duty of care, so it is a tricky balance. That said we prefer gated then bricked up!
The problem with gates is that the gap between the bars can easily be adjusted with the aid of a car scissor jack, as seen at 6.40.
@@lfewell2161 very true.
Love your videos.
Ah thank you. Much appreciated.
Another great video Paul and Rebecca. All railway architecture is brilliant. The brickwork at the bottom of the shaft is awesome.
I went through Mossgeil tunnel, on the G&SWR route from Kilmarnock to Dumfries, standing on a wagon, running cables out on the Moleplough train many years ago.
It's a pity you didn't make it to Scotland this summer.
In Scotland, we have the four seasons in one day!
By the way, Mossgeil tunnel, is named after the nearby farm that Robert Burns, our great Scottish poet worked. He wrote the poem, To a Mouse at Mossgeil!
Cheers Alistair. We were gutted we missed Scotland too. Sadly we only had a week's window and it was hellish weather not ideal for filming.
Amazing architecture in these old tunnels. They took a bit of pride in their work, apparently.
Most certainly did yes.
Really interesting 👍
Thank you Matt. A fun adventure for us.
A tunnelfest! Fantastic really enjoyable video thanks guys.
Cheers Johnny. 👍👍
Great footage of this routes tunnels. This is a railway that would be a great candidate for reopening in my opinion. As the route has already been 'modernised' so to speak, double track all the way.
Soounds good to me Jon.
I'm sure each tunnel you visit is trying to outdo each other, (meaning they get better and better when you go out and exploring them) another amazing video.
Cheers Simon. Ha yes, you know what's it's like with UA-cam, you feel you always need to do better than the last video!
It's nice to see someone doing a video related to my 'local' disused railway.
Cheers Matt. Lovely little line.
Very interesting video so much history thank you from NZ
Cheers Terry.
Hi Paul Rebecca, very interesting video beautiful tunnels, love the blue brick shame they are not used for what they were built for, nice countryside .thank you both. xx
Cheers Colin. Yup a nice treat indeed when we saw the I side of the shaft
A covert is like a drain under a road or path.found you through Google about Bulford railway signal as my old nan bless her soul remember the railway well as her garden backed on to it.sorry to be nosey but I think you live in my area near WinchesterWinchester got the little bell to tell my when your blog is out love every one you are both brilliant
Ah thanks for commenting. Yes we are Hampshire based. Always nice to know where our followers found us.
You are talking about a CULVERT not a covert
A great vlog.
Ah thanks Peter
My local tunnels, great to see them on here, thanks!
👍👍
I really enjoyed this vlog guys - thanks a lot. The state of the brickwork in the tunnels (both internally & externally) was pretty amazing especially in the ventilation shaft.
Cheers Stephen, it is something else isn't it!
As usual another interesting explore. Thanks 👍👍😎
Cheers David. Yup certainly was an interesting one.
Another great vid !! thanks for making and sharing ......we are growing old together thru the medium of you tube ! and disused stations etc !
Thanks Merv, indeed we are!
Great video, and a brilliant way to begin the weekend! Thanks!
Cheers Toyk, glad you enjoyed it, this was a nice little explore for us. Good fun. More from this line one day soon!
Great video guys
Thanks Chris.
One of the local running clubs organises a race through the Great Oxendon tunnel in November. We did it a couple of years back and it’s amazing!
Slick editing, loved the stills from the vent. Interesting comment about the shafts...I had never considered this and always assumed it was ventilation, but it is so obvious when its pointed out.
Cheers Garry. Have a peek at the forgotten relics UA-cam channel, a few nuggets of information on there which is where we learnt about the Queensbury Tunnel.
An old 'trick' from the canal building tunnel pioneers.
@@YellowPinkie ah yes that would make sense.
Wonderful video, thank you both. I love tunnels, fascinating structures.
Thanks Mike. We love them too!
There is a book. I do not know if it is fiction or fact? I suspect fact? It is called "The World From Rough Stones", by Malcolm Macdonald. It is a romance that is set during the construction of the railway tunnels in the UK in the era around 1839. I loved that book so much that I have kept a copy of it all these years since I read it. I do hope that you enjoy it.
Thanks for sharing Khadijah. We will take a look when we get a moment.
Spooky green light at the end of the tunnel when you were stood under the shaft. Also the aquaducts much more impressive than the primitive one at Pencader!
Yup, oddly strange built in one's, not seen anything like them before.
very interesting video regarding British industrial/railway heritage, as always.
Thanks Nick. One of our most enjoyable explores.
Loved the sound coming up the shaft
A spooky tunnel
Another belting upload guys ,keep 'em coming x
Thank you. 👍👍👍
Another great video Paul and Rebecca, Would love to see a vlog on the Stainmore line and stations, Kirkby Stephen and Warcop running small heritage lines with some of the most greatest scenery around. Many thanks guys keep up the great work 👍
Cheers Grant, so much to explore indeed!
Wasn't disappoint great video.will look forward to your next adventure.
Cheers Roberto
Here via Geoff Marshall, great content
Thanks Nick and of course thanks Geoff and Vicki
The music reminds me of "Song for Whoever" by The Beautiful South.
Just noticed that Nodrog is undertaking a similar exercise with abandoned railways and stations in the north west of England
Yup. Love Gordon. Aiming to get up to see him as soon as we can.
And what a brilliant diversionary route it would make if still there today.
That's very true. Quite the scenic line
@@pwhitewick Thinking more along the lines of getting from / to the MML to / from the WCML. Nothing South of Leicester, not even freight only routes, until you hit the North London.
Those tunnels are amazing! So far watching your videos of all these abandoned tunnels I've gotten the impression that England is riddled with many such tunnels. Some body has got to come up with an idea to use them for something. This latest tunnel and abandoned rail bed makes me think a commuter line of some sort could be built there.
There are indeed quite a few....
@@pwhitewick I kinda hate to admit it, but I'm very jealous seeing you with your wife on these outings. I used to wander about in Western New York tracking down old rail roads but my wife was never enthusiastic about my hobbies of rail roads and gardening. I miss her badly but sometimes I wonder if our life together couldn't have been better. The two of you are building lasting memories and they will live on forever in your minds and on UA-cam for your grand-children to admire, and hopefully emulate!
@@bullettube9863 thank you, a very kind comment. Half of the appeal for us in creating these videos is to act as a diary. We often watch them again and it always brings back the memory of the respect trip in a way no written diary or photo can. As you say, perhaps creating a little legacy along the way.
Nice video🚂
Nice to see you've been in my local area! My Dad used to take me on bike rides along the Brampton Valley Way when I was a kid, and I've been up there loads of times by myself and with my own kids, but it wasn't until about six years ago that I realised there was a second bore for each tunnel! The gate on the northern (I think) portal at the second Oxendon tunnel was left open for quite a long time so it was possible to explore. I liked how the curve in the tunnel meant there was a point in the middle where it was completely dark, no light visible from either entrance.
I saw someone left a comment suggesting you look at Catesby tunnel, which is huge... double track and almost two miles long. Built because the local landowner didn't want trains going past his house! It's being put back into use as an aerodynamics testing facility, for racing cars I think, so it should be considered occupied... could make for a very interesting visit if you could persuade them to show you around. You can get pretty close to both portals on public right of way and the southern portal is visible from the road. There's also a viaduct not far from the northern portal, visible from the Jurassic Way close by - which also interestingly passes very close to the Oxendon tunnels further north.
One frosty morning a few years ago, having been there and shown around by someone else, I decided to take a friend of mine to have a look at the northern portal and perhaps the viaduct. We walked along the footpath from Upper Catesby, passing the house on our left, saw nothing, and continued to trudge around in the cold for probably about an hour trying to work out where on earth we were before giving up and going back the way we came... Only to find the portal was exactly where originally I thought it was, but I hadn't seen it because it was down the embankment and I didn't think to look behind me. To make matters worse we realised the elusive viaduct was also clearly visible, impressively so, from further up the hill where we started the walk, but again I hadn't noticed it because I wasn't paying attention to the view in the distance and hadn't considered how it would look when viewed slightly end-on!
Cheers Ben, thanks for sharing. We have emailed the business at the southern end of the tunnel and asked if there was a possibility of a visit but sadly no reply at all. We will try again perhaps this summer. There is nothing quite like the feeling of wondering around an embankment looking for those elusive clues. Such a buzz.
A very informative and enjoyable video. Thank you from Canada.
Ah thank you Canada. Glad you enjoyed it.
Great explore, plenty to see and you had good weather for it. Nice walk to/past camera cuts and good use of maps. "Quite a tall shaft" (arf, arf), "such a child" - lol
Lol. Cheers Dave. 👍👍
Sweet
Nice video team
Thank you. 👍👍
MORE BRILIANT STUFF GUYS
Cheers Robin. A fun little place to explore.
Great video, loved the editing ,loved the tunnels and would love to cycle along there one day. Thanks.
Thanks Hayley. We enjoyed making this film a lot, good fun which always makes the edit easier.
hi paul and rebecca , another great video , i love the tunnel ones , really intersesting :)
Cheers Davie, Tunnel ones always seem to be popular! We try and offer a nice mix otherwise we might run out of tunnels!
Have you explored the lost railway line at Forest Row in East Sussex? I don't recall any tunnels, but there are many abandoned/repurposed stations and railway buildings between Three Bridges and (Royal) Tunbridge Wells. I was born and grew up there, but the line was closed more about thirteen years before I was born. I recall my grandparents saying when Dr. Beaching closed the line the villages along the route were cut off from each other until they eventually began a bus service from Hartfield. I would love to know more of the history of the line.
Not as yet, but we are certainly always interested to hear stories from lines that would be of good value for us to visit.
Love the stills photography ... really enjoying your content! :-)
Cheers Paul. All done on our phones too!
Cool and creepy tunnels
Yup, no lights in this one despite being open to cycles.
Great video Paul and Rebecca,looked like an amazing railway walk,and amazing tunnels,you should keep your disagreements in would of been great viewing 👌😀👍
Hahaha..... 3 minutes of waffle.... Not so sure.
@@pwhitewick remember woman are always right 😉
both tunnels reffered to by engine drivers as the rat- holes , one shaft is always dry and the other one wet + the brickwork is amazing
I can see why!
Thanks for the video guys very interesting. Stumbled across your channel and like yourselves I find old railway architecture fascinating and in fact history in general. Just subscribed so will catch up on some old videos and looking forward to some new ones.
Cheers Roger. Yup sums up exactly what we like, whether it's the landscape or the architecture, it is all steeped in history.
When me and my partner went for walk to kellmarsh tunnels the first tunnel we came to we could hear singing there was no one in the tunnels
Haha..... We heard all kinds of noises. Presumably the wind?
Perhaps a consultation about up and down with Dark Helmet is in order? "He's got the upside, I got the downside. There's two sides to every Schwartz."
That was fantastic thanks
Thanks Linda.
Wow, awesome to be able to get inside an old tunnel and look up at the vents! There's a mile long tunnel near me, Drewton Tunnel, where you can squeeze into the western entrance, but I'm not brave enough to attempt that!
Ah yes, I've seen pictures of that entrance. A foot or so clearance at the top!!
@@pwhitewick That's the one! A brisk scramble down a spoil heap into a pitch black quagmire!
@@hullhistorynerd yeah.... I might take a raincheck on that one for the moment.
@@pwhitewick Don't blame you one bit! Up close it really does look even more foreboding than the pictures, like the old myths about entrances to the underworld.
Very Good 🙂🚂🚂🚂
Northampton old Bus Depot still has tram rails in its floor.
Ah brilliant. We will take a look one day.
I love your films Paul & Rebecca, great banter, and really interesting explorations. I noticed in one of your more recent films you talk about researching the Speyside line. It's my home area, and a great line to walk, with some lovely places to stay, and eat in along the way. Come the end of the COVID19 lockdown we might meet you there one day on of one of our own walks along it. Best wishes ! K 😃
Hi guys your doing what I've been doing for years, exploring old railway tunnels, and canal tunnels as well, there's still many of them around and of course even older than the railway tunnels, we're doing a trip through Standedge canal tunnel in October, longest in the country, and do you know about a railway tunnel in Kent that was once a canal tunnel, 2nd longest in the country and by far the largest bore, it was on the Thames & Medway canal that linked Gravesend and Strood, anyway getting carried away now, keep up the good work.
Cheers Peter, yup me too, in fact since i was able to ride a bike I would get a map out and go explore something. Tell me more about the Kent tunnel Sir!
Well it was built by the canal company in 1824, as said 2nd longest canal tunnel in the country,
A few years later a 100 yard gap was made in the middle and the canal widened at that point so barges could pass each other, then the railway company built a single track through the tunnel, so canal and railway shared the tunnel for a while, then a 2nd line was layed and the canal closed, so today it is a live railway tunnel, well 2 tunnels as the gap is still in the middle, one is called Higham tunnel and the other Strood tunnel, Strood is slightly longer than Higham, a few years ago it was closed for many months to fit concrete sections in it to make it safe, it was built through calk hills.
I know you've got plenty on your plate with the old railway station's, but if you ever got into canal tunnel's that's a whole new world, there are 46 navigable one's with a further 30 or so closed one's that there's still something to see, I know of some little gem's scatted about country.
@@pwhitewick There is a little bit about the now two tunnels between Strood and Higham on the Kent rail website under kent infrastructure index. The tunnels are still used by four trains an hour with more using them during the rush hour. Paul
@@petergrant2366 I really really need that lottery win...😅
Nice video again
Thanks Michael