What we found Inside Nottingham's Mapperley Railway Tunnel | Axed by British Rail due to Collapsing

There are many railway tunnels in the city of Nottingham, they were largely built by three railway companies in the late 1800’s. These companies were the Great Northern, Great Central and the Nottingham Suburban railways.

Thank You to Ant from @TrekkingExploration for meeting me and showing around.

In this video we are going to visit Mapperley Tunnel, completed in 1875 and at 1044 meters or 1132 yards is a substantial link in the Derbyshire and Staffordshire extension of the Great Northern Railway.

The tunnel nearly collapsed in 1925 when the nearby Gedling Colliery mined a little too close to the tunnel roof. This was repaired and the tunnel put back in to use the same year.
Twenty-five years later in 1950, a structural survey conducted by the newly formed British Railways found the tunnel to be subsiding.

An immediate speed restriction was put in place and passenger trains were diverted from the now dangerous tunnel. The subsidence continued and the decision to close the tunnel in 1960 sealed the fate of this magnificent Mapperley tunnel.

Above ground, a new link road is being constructed and will pass over the top of the Mapperley Tunnel, the single carriageway Gedling Access Road will link the A612 Trent Valley Road and Nottingham Road to Mapperley Plains. The road will run parallel with the A6211 Arnold Lane and through the centre of the old Gedling Colliery site to serve the vast, £140m Chase Farm housing estate.

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Chapters;

0:00 Drone Footage
1:50 Meeting Ant
5:17 The Tunnel Portal
6:40 Beams
19:05 Buffer
22:58 Crap Stack
27:30 Infill

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Thank You for Watching :)

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[themondalorian]

Hi there bud thanks alot for the footage of the disused underground, very interesting things you said, the blue brick has to been the strongest that was used to build those magnificent tunnels.

There is also one under Thurland Street, with the craziness going on decided to watch these, you gave a more detailed view, its a real shame these couldn't have been revamped for an underground tram system. It is possible with the markers it could be under planning who knows. excellent footage 💯

[cypher]

Part of the reason I love videos from creators like you is that you treat the subject with a sort of dignity. No need for "majestic" music or over-enthusiastic voice overs...the subject is intriguing enough. You are doing a great service to the heritage of 19th and 20th century English Industrial history with these videos.

[karatedave]

Those tubs that you mentioned were part of a rifle range, you stand on the tubs, at that time their was a wooden roof over the tubs and a shelf half way up to rest on, the tubs are facing long ways that's the way you shoot no trees then just a bank of spoil and a wall of sleepers, beyond that was a rail line where they used to pull 5 rail coal wagons to the top of mapperly plains coal yard by wire rope, tip em then send them back down, that cut out that you mentioned was the stock yard for empty and full rail wagons, it looks small now with all the trees but I would say about 8 lines went in their in its day, it used to be my playground when I was a kid, good ole days eh ! Cheers Dave A

[pwhitewick]

Nice one Team. I came here a couple of weeks ago.... seemingly very foggy throughout! When I got to the stack, looking back at the portal it was a faint blur.

[willnorrisurbex]

Probably one of the best videos of Mapperley Tunnel yet.

[berwickspotter]

The metal things that the rail sits on are called Rail Chairs big shout out to Ant.
Excellent video by the way loved it 👍👍

[gurdittsingh]

They are called sleeper chairs into which the rail is fitted and securely locked in

[martynd]

Do you have a link for that torch at all?

[MoeLarrycurly]

That sure is neat that they put that gap right there in that fence lol😮😊🖖🏼🏍🍺

[eddiek]

Good video and explore,
It must have been an amazing tunnel in it's day.
An unbelievable amount of rubbish and backfill !! ...
😀👍

[elliotpayne]

I was there yesterday they fix the Fences so there is no hole anymore

[LEWISWATSONVLOGS]

Nice drone footage bro! Very cool .and good info too 👍 😎

[abandonedexploringmike]

Reminds me of the place I went to on my last video nice one buddy

[stephenhadley]

The rails were located in CHAIRS which were secured to the sleepers.

[ThatBritalian]

Went in here today but what is beyond the infill?

[DavidWhitley]

natural selection from nature at work here, this tunnel wasnt meant to be, nature decided that

[mikespikeey]

no they was not pepper pot wheels off a XR2 cos XR2 wheels was alloy

[richarnold]

wouldnt take much to take all that rubble and shit away. get t'other end of t'tunnel

[Hard-Boiled-Bollock]

The amount of infrastructural waste in this country never ceases to infuriate me