Forest of Dean Tunnels (Not Wye Valley)

Brinchcombe, Bradley Hill, Bullo, Purton, Boxbush

Brinchcombe

Opened : ?

Closed : ?

Engineering code : FOD

Length: c170m

Bradley Hill

Opened : ?

Closed : ?

Engineering code : FOD

Length: c250m

Bullo

Opened : ?

Closed : ?

Engineering code : FOD

Length: 1064 yds

All three tunnels in the Soudley valley (on the GWR Cinderford branch) are bricked up. This includes the 1064 yard Bullo Tunnel. Fortunately, not too much time was wasted walking between car and tunnel. It's a real pisser to walk a long way to get thwarted. I managed to get one interior shot of the Brinchcombe tunnel from a tiny hole in the brickwork at ground level. The wall is amusingly daubed with 'DANGER' but examination of the pic shows no evidence of collapse. There are a total of fiv tunnels on the Cinderford Branch. Bullo - 1064 yards, Bradley Hill - approx 250m, Brinchcombe - approx 170m, Drybrook - approx 150m (this one is completely backfilled) and Puddlebrook - approx 550m.

Tunnels on FOD line - 6 images

Purton

Opened : ?

Closed : ?

Engineering code : COL

Length: 506 yds

After a short walk from a parking sapace down the end of a really narrow lane, I found the entrance to the Purton Tunnel.This tunnel was on the GWR/Midland Joint line between Lydney and Sharpness. This line ran over the now-demolished Severn Viaduct. Admitteldy, I was pleasantly surpised to find that it was open. As it happened, the farmer who owns the land uses the tunnel to transfer equipment through. Also, unexpected was the fact that it was a twin-track tunnel. Once passed the thoroughly Hammondised caravan (see Brainiac for a fuller explanation) and a wrecked lorry trailer,l I entered the tunnel. The tunnel portal is attractively finished in sandstone. The interior of the tunnel is a mixture of stone and brick-lined. Stone is used for the walls and the roof arch is brick. On both sides of the tunnel at regular intervals are refuges. Some of them are rather short. In parts of the tunnel roof were wooden slats (that had seen better days) held against the brickwork by rusted iron brackets. Whether these are original to construction or due to repairs is unclear. Typically, with a borad tunnel, it appears darker as less of the torch-light reflects offf the walls (especially then one's batteries are running a bit low). On egress form the eastern end of the tunnel, the portal is also attractively finished in sandstone. However, the keystone is engraved with the date '1878', presumably that of the beginning of construction. I had to return tha way I came, however seeing no point in taking more photos on the way out.

Opened : ?

Closed : ?

Engineering code : ?

Length: 700m

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