Firstly props to soylent green, bauhausgirl & kevin arnold for this one.
We have done a fair few of these tunnels now and they just keep turning up, infact I have a map of some others that need attention ;)
Really though I have been spoilt with this one, and it's fully appreciated!
I hastily met up with GE one shitty night in LON and hopped on the Vespa for missions, soaked to the skin we motored on, all told it was a pretty decent mooch.
Essentially a 24" gas mains which feeds Hampton, Teddington etc since British Gas re-arranged it's regions some decades ago.
Originally the pipe used to run along the barge walk, but due to stress and corrosion over the years a decision was made (circa 1950) to sink 2 shafts and bury it under the Thames.
There is a mushroom shaped breather adjacent to Hampton Court (sadly I don't have a pic) but lol at some of the explanations given :D
"I reckon it's a ventilation shaft for an air raid shelter/tunnel for Hampton Court Palace, with the addition of a disk thingy to stop people climbing up and gaining access"
"A modern druid alter, complete with blood catching device from the poor souls previously sacrificed on it?"
^^ Sorry to disappoint, it's just a 110m tunnel connected by 2 x 20m pre-cast bolted shafts, still it's pretty cool and the lights work, sort of...
A non descript utility hut gives way to the Ditton Shafthead.
A rather elaborate looking metal staircase allows one to descend the 20m shaft and onwards into the tunnel.
It stinks of GAS, hardly surprising as a major mains runs through, stuff gives me a headache unlike fresh so I didn't hang about in here.
110m of bolted concentric ring is home to the mains pipe, and allows access under the Thames - take wellies or prepare to get wet!
On the Hampton side, A.N Other 20m laddered shaft leading to the surface.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.