Inside What Was the World’s Longest Railway Tunnel - Alex Watkins & Max Jones

It may look like nothing more than a black hole but when it was built this curved stone arch was a major feat of engineering because it was the longest rail tunnel in the world. The Haie is one of many railway tunnels running through the hillsides of the Forest of Dean which was once a hive of industrial activity. It was built so that horse-drawn wagons could haul the coal, iron and stone hewed from the ground to the docks on the side of the River Severn.

Once considered ahead of their time, the mouths of these tunnels now are often fenced off, bricked up or hidden in the undergrowth waiting for an ever-growing band of enthusiasts to discover them. People like Alex Watkins, 23, from Whitecroft and his friend Max Jones, 20, from Lydney who decided to spend lockdown seeking out the abandoned tunnels which were once at the cutting edge of the industrial revolution. Their list included the 1,083yard Haie tunnel, which was built in 1810 for the horsedrawn Bullo Pill tramway that went from the hamlet at the side of the Severn to Soudley. It was later enlarged for broad gauge by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and is said to be the oldest tunnel ever to be used by passenger carrying trains.

These days it’s not that easy for anybody who is not in the know to find the tunnel that eventually closed in the 1960s and which was said to have been a shortcut for Bullo Pill children to reach their school at Soudley. According to local legend the children had to carefully time their walks to avoid the trains that hurtled through the tunnel near Newnham which is on a steep gradient.

But, during lockdown, Alex found some old railway maps and worked out by the gaps where the tunnels from the three main railways in the Dean would be so that he and Max could go exploring. Their first outing was fruitless because the tunnel entrance near the Rising Sun pub at Moseley Green near Parkend was completely bricked up and impossible to get inside. But they were luckier with the Haie tunnel which comes out near Soudley and were thrilled to be able to climb in and walk the tracks that once would have once transported stone, iron and coal to the tidal inlet at Bullo Pill.

“It’s quite hard to get into and you can only do it from one side,” said Alex who was a maintenance engineer at Tenco in Cinderford until the pandemic when he was made redundant. “From the inside it looks just like any other tunnel but, when you see how deep it goes under the hillside, you realise the ridiculous amount of work that would have gone into making it back in the day. I don't get frightened of the dark and I’d worry more about being out in Gloucester on a Friday night than being in a railway tunnel, but you can imagine how creepy it must have been if the kids really did walk through it to get school.”

Haie, also known as the Bullo Pill tunnel, held the longest tunnel record for six years until it was taken by the Pwll Du Tunnel near Blaenavon which was an astonishing 1,875 metres long. These days the record is held by the Gotthard Base Tunnel in Switzerland which is over 35 miles long.

But the records do not bother Alex and Max who say they have no fear of the 18th century structures collapsing or running out of air despite being hundreds of years old. “For us it’s the thrill of finding them rather than what is inside,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to find the entrances in the woods and they are partially or completely bricked up. Then you have to find a way of getting inside. I'm not sure if that's for health and safety reasons but I am not worried because they are manmade rather than natural structures. Once you are inside there’s not much to see but a few drips of water, mineral deposits and lots of spiders. A bat flew past me once but that’s about as exciting as it gets.”

A small band of enthusiasts come from across the country to find the abandoned tunnels which were created long before Stephenson's Rocket transformed the railways. They include the Rev Roger Farnworth, The Dean of Thameside in Manchester who is clearly enamoured by the brickwork and other features which he has described in detail on his website. He says the Haie tunnel was enlarged for broad gauge by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and was so long and steep it could take a train of empty wagons five minutes to pass through. He writes in detail about his visit to the tunnel on his website and say: “The Eastern portal, closest to Bullo Pill, stood at the end of a stonewalled cutting which is overgrown and obscured by vegetation. The portal has been partly bricked up, an opening has been left at the top to allow bats to enter and roost and a low-level access hatch has been provided to allow human access. Inside, the bore is tidy and mostly dry. The masonry lining features an arched roof with vertical side walls into which generous refuges are provided at regular intervals, some with exposed rock at their rear. Signalling pulleys and cable hangers remain in situ on the south wall. Near its centre, a rare milepost remains.”

And although Haie attracts the attention, Alex says it’s the tunnel at Tidenham Chase that is the most interesting because it is pitch black apart from a shaft of light from above which acts like a spotlight. “That’s the scariest one because it’s so dark you cannot see your hand in front of your face,” he said. It has a bend in the middle and there is a shaft to let the air in which goes all the way to the top and lets the sunlight in. There’s a small circle of light but the minute you take a step back it disappears, and you are in the dark. There’s no transition, you just go from light to dark.”

It could be brought back to use in the 21st century. A new walking and cycling, 2.11mile long track from the National Dive Centre to existing Forestry Commission paths will include the 144-year-old, 1km long Tidenham tunnel. The tunnel was once part of the old Wye Valley Railway which used to transport people between Monmouth and Chepstow until the 1960s.

These days the railways have largely disappeared and apart from the Dean Forest Railway, a heritage line, the only passenger services run between Wales and Gloucester along the River Severn. It passes close to the start of the Bullo Pill Railway Company line which was the second tram road in the Forest and ran from Churchway Engine via Broadmoor, Coal Pitt Green, Cinderford Tump, Ruspidge Meend, Sewdley Coppice, Sleepers Hill and Bradley to Bullo Pill.

According to the Foresters' Forest project the first tram road was the one created by the Severn & Wye Railway & Canal Company between the River Wye at Lydbrook and the River Severn at Lydney. The third was built by the Monmouth Railway Company to link Coleford and the Forest with Monmouth and opened in 1812. Now all that remains are the disused tunnels and tracks cutting swathes through parts of the Forest.

The first railway station in Oxford was a terminus, opened by the Great Western from Didcot on 12th June 1844. The station stood on the south bank of the river Thames, approximately 100 yards to the west of Folly Bridge. The ‘Western Road’ which is first on the right after crossing Folly Bridge, going south, was the road to the station. The Oxford station in use today is situated on the site of the Great Western Railway station which opened for business on September 2nd1850. This was a rudimentary facility while the Great Western was engaged in the construction of a railway to Birmingham and in legal battles with standard gauge railway companies, the L&NWR and Midland Railways, who were doing their best to prevent the GWR extending north of Oxford. On 2nd September 1850, the GWR brought into use a broad-gauge single-track line to Banbury from Millstream Junction at the 62nd mile post from Paddington and ¾ mile from the 1844 Oxford terminus. (Fig.1)

The single track ran northwards, level, for about a mile and then rose on an embankment to bridge the Thames at the 63rd mile post. (Figs 2 and 3)

Half a mile further on it made a level crossing with the then main road westwards out of Oxford. (Figs 4 and 5)

Fifty yards north of the level crossing, a cutting was made through the embankment which the railway crossed on a bridge. The track was then just high enough to clear the Sheepwash canal at the north end of a rudimentary, temporary station. (Fig 6)

From Millstream Junction to Banbury was 24½ miles. To ensure freedom from collisions, the single

track was operated on the ‘One Engine in Steam’ principle, which considerably reduced the train service. On 1st October 1852, the route from Millstream Junction to Birmingham was opened. It was a mixed gauge double track line from the 63rd milepost. (Fig 7)

The broad-gauge track continued south to Millstream junction and onwards. The 1844 station became a goods station and was closed in 1872. The site was sold for building land. Marlborough Road occupies the station site and some of the track bed. The Oxford station of 1852 had four tracks between two platforms under a Brunellian timber roof. (Fig 8)

I have no photograph of it in original condition but taking Leamington station - for which I do have a photograph - as an example, it is very likely that the Oxford station roof was a very wide span supported by square section cast iron columns and cast iron girders spanning between the columns supporting the rafters of the roof. The two middle tracks, originally, might

have been through running lines but I feel it more likely that, initially at least, they were through sidings for storing carriages, horse boxes and carriage trucks. At the south end of each platform, there were wagon turntables to enable the transfer of wagons to and from any other line. A timber engine shed was built on the Downside of the line, immediately north of the Sheepwash canal bridge. (Figs 9 & 10)

Oxford locomotive depôt remained practically unchanged from 1850-52 until 1945. The worst aspect of it was the coaling stage which had, of course, been designed with the sizes of 1850-52 locomotives and wagons in mind. It was described to me in 1968 by Jim Honey and Albert King, retired drivers who, as boys in 1910, had worked on it, also Driver Charles Turner, who had worked on it in 1936-7.

There was a wooden platform on which the coalers worked, unloading coal from the wagon to the trolleys which were then wheeled to the tender or bunker of the engine. Unfortunately, the raised track up which the loaded coal wagons were shunted to be alongside the working platform was not quite high enough. When the down-falling flap door of some coal wagons was dropped, the flap came up against the platform edge so that a shovel could not be thrust along the floor of the wagon, under the coal: coal had to be thrown into the trolley by hand.

The open space on the other side of the coaling plant, where the trolley’s contents were tipped on to the tender or bunker of the engine was not high enough to clear the top of a modern tender. All engines allocated to Oxford were fitted with 3,500gallon tenders but there were plenty of ‘foreign’ engines coming on to Oxford shed each day whose tenders were that bit too tall. Coaling engines for twelve hours a day was such hard labour that Jim and Albert thought joining the Army and going to France would be preferable - and they did just that. From 1900, the Great Western was investing in building new railways to South Wales from Wootton Bassett, from Patney & Chirton to Westbury and from Castle Cary to Cogload near Taunton, as well as a shortened route from Paddington to Birmingham and another from Birmingham to Cheltenham connecting with existing routes to South Wales and Bristol. For a short time, it was the Company’s intention to double the single line from Princes Risborough to Kennington Junction as the short route to Birmingham. This idea only got as far as building a new, larger, signal box at Kennington, together with a 500-yard-long Down goods loop: the existing 61 wagons length

Up Refuge siding was extended to connect with the branch line. ( Fig 12)

The front of the signal box (Fig 13) faced what was going to be the new main line. Between 1900 and 1908, the track layout in

the Oxford station area was slightly improved and larger signal boxes were built to cope with the increased trackwork. In 1910 the signal boxes from Didcot North Junction 53m. 74 ch. (80 chains [ch] make one mile) through Oxford to Wolvercote Junction were:

Appleford Crossing. 55m.17ch.

Culham station. 56m. 17ch.

Radley station. 58m. 36ch

Kennington Junction. 61m. 12ch.

Oxford South. 63m. 01ch. (Replaced by Hinksey North 1942)

Oxford Goods Shed. 63m. 49ch. (Re-named Oxford Station South 1942)

Oxford Engine shed. 63m. 41ch (Re-named Oxford Station North 1942)

Oxford North. 63m. 74ch. (Replaced by Oxford North Junction 1940)

Wolvercote Siding. 65m. 42 ch.*

Wolvercote Junction. 66m.32 ch.

* Switched out from 9.30 p.m. to 7.30 a.m. each weekday. Saturday switched out 9.30 p.m. to 7.30 a.m Monday.

At Wolvercote Junction, the main line from Wolverhampton and Worcester merged with the Birkenhead, Chester, Wolverhampton, and Birmingham route. In June 1900, a much needed Up Goods Loop was brought into use from the Junction to Oxford Engine Shed box. Wagon bearings were examined, and regreased and footplate crews relieved by fresh men on this loop at the south end. One wonders what delays were caused by these essential jobs before the loop was provided. To continue their southwards journey, goods trains had to occupy one or other of the two main line tracks through the station to regain the goods line at Oxford Goods Shed box to Oxford South where they had to be ‘turned out main line’. At Kennington Junction, there was the Refuge Siding into which goods trains could slowly and laboriously reverse to make way for a faster train but, once away from Kennington, there were no refuge sidings or goods loops for 7 miles until Didcot North Junction. That loop extended alongside the Up Avoiding Line. The block sections - the distance between signal boxes were relatively short: Kennington to Radley 2 m. 54ch. Radley to Culham, 2 miles. Culham to Appleford Crossing, 1 mile. Didcot North Junction 1m.23 ch. From there, Up goods trains could enter the goods loop which ran alongside the Didcot Avoiding line or they could go through Didcot or curve westward for Foxhall Junction and onwards. In the Down direction there was no goods loop on the Avoiding line in 1910. The first goods loop was the recently installed 69 wagons length at Kennington Junction. (Fig 14)

Then the goods train had to go out on the Down Main, through the station and, if necessary, enter the 71wagon length Loop from Engine Shed box to North box. The timetable was designed – and restricted - to take account of the ‘bottle neck’ between Oxford and Didcot: a ‘C’ headcode ‘express goods’ train needed 18 to 22 minutes to clear the bottle neck.

The late evenings, night times and early mornings at Oxford were almost entirely given over to goods trains. Several of these were express freight - ‘C’ headcode - carrying perishable goods. The headlamp code was one lamp top of smokebox, one over the righthand buffer. The 8.50 p.m. Bristol – Oxley (Birmingham) C headcode crept around the sharp ‘West Curve’ at Didcot and passed the North Junction at 1.7 a.m and passed Oxford, 9½ miles further north, at 1.27: 28.5 mph average speed. That was followed by the 12.17 a.m Paddington – Birkenhead ‘A” headcode express, passing Didcot North off the Avoiding line curve at the regulation 40 mph at 1.42 a.m and stopping at Oxford, 1.54. 47.5 mph average speed. Next on the Down road was the 12.10 Paddington – Worcester, ‘C’ headcode, 2.2 a.m passing Didcot East Junction onto the 1½ miles of the Avoiding line at 40 mph and passing Oxford 18 minutes later. 36.6 mph. The 12.50 Basingstoke – Oxley ‘C’ followed. Passing Didcot station at 2.48 and Oxford At 3.5 a.m.

On the Up line – south-bound – the Liverpool to Bristol train of meat, running as a low category ‘E’ headcode, passed Kidlington at 2.20, 2.30 through Oxford and 2.48 at Didcot North Jcn to the West curve towards Swindon. Despite of carrying ‘E’ headlamps,

it only achieved 31.5 mph. The headlamp code for an ‘A’ headcode passenger train was in 1910 as it was at the end of steam but the GWR codes were different. ‘C’ was indicated by a lamp in front of the chimney and one over the righthand buffer; an ‘E’ was one in front of the chimney one over the left-hand buffer. Not far behind was the Great Central train, 12.50 Leicester – Bristol ‘A’ headcode. That stopped at Oxford station from 2.42 to 2.50, maybe changing engines but some of these ‘foreign’ locos went through to Swindon. (Fig 15)

The Great Central Railway kept one of their 4-4-2 ‘Jersey Lily’ ‘Atlantics’ based at Oxford shed; the GCR engine driver, fireman and guard lodged in Oxford.

Passenger trains at Oxford from 8.30 a.m to and around 1.30 p.m. Extracted from the 1910 Working Timetable.

‘Compo’ is GWR for a composite class coach ‘Van third’ is GWR for a 3rd class coach part brake van. coach. The sequence lists coach position from the engine

12.50 a.m Leicester – Bristol. 02.42 – 02.50 Oxford 06.40 Oxford – Paddington via Princes Risborough and Maidenhead 07.10 Oxford – Didcot terminate. Stops Radley and Culham. 07.45 Oxford – Paddington via Princes Risborough 08.00 Oxford – Reading all stations. 07.08 Fairford Oxford 8.19. terminate. 07.08. Fairford 08.19 Oxford. Terminate. 06.40 Leamington – Didcot. Oxford 08.25 – 08.45 08.23 Oxford – Paddington via Princes Risborough, Beaconsfield. 06.25 Worcester – Paddington. 08.33 – 08.38 Oxford - Paddington non stop. Brake compo; Compo; Third; Van; Slip. Returning to Paddington as ordinary coach. Slipped at Moreton-in-Marsh previous day. 06.53 Wolverhampton – Paddington. Oxford 09.7 - 09.12. Van 3rd; Dining car; Compo; Van 3rd; Compo; Van 3rd. six-wheel Brake van. Non-stop to Paddington 10.25. 09.35 Oxford – Didcot, All stations. 08.55 Banbury. ThO. 09.46 Oxford. Terminate. 09.37 Kidlington. 09.52 Oxford. ThX. Terminate. 09.41 Kidlington. 09.56 Oxford ThO. Steam Rail car. Terminate. 07.15 Wolverhampton via Worcester – Paddington. 10.01 – 10.03 Oxford. Van 3rd; Compo; Van 3rd; Brake Compo; At Oxford, a 3rd class and a Compo coach were added- according to the schedule in 2 minutes. The train scheduled at Paddington 11.10. 56.86 mph average. 10.25 Oxford – Wheatley. Steam rail car. 09.30 Fairford. 10.37 Oxford terminate. 09.10 Worcester. 10.50 – 11.3 Oxford. 12.15 p.m. Paddington. In section 14 but terminating Oxford in Section 1. 06.15 Birkenhead – Paddington. 10.57 - 11.1 Oxford Van 3rd; First; Third; Van 3rd; Compo; Van 3rd. Runs Up Relief Didcot East to Twyford East, thence Up Main. Paddington. 12.15

06.30 a.m Paddington – Birkenhead via Didcot. 8.36 – 8.42 Semi-fast. Five coaches: three for Wolverhampton 2 for Birkenhead. 06.55 a.m Paddington. to Oxford via Princes Risborough. Terminate Oxford 9.01 07. 30 Paddington – Shrewsbury. 8.44 – 8.49 Oxford. 09.5 Oxford – ‘GCR passenger’ (sic) 09.15 Oxford – Fairford. All stations. 09.20 ThO. Steam rail car to Kidlington terminates. 09.57 arr. Oxford from Southampton via Newbury. Terminates. 09.50 Didcot. 10.5 – 10.20 Oxford. ’Southampton to York passenger’ 08.10 Paddington via Princes Risborough. Oxford 10.15 Terminates. 08.48 Paddington – Oxford. Oxford 10.18 via Didcot Avoiding line.33 minutes schedule Reading – Oxford 27.5 miles. 10.32 Didcot calls Culham and Radley. 10.55 Oxford terminates. 10.35 Oxford – Banbury all stations. ThO. 11.12 Didcot arrives Oxford 11.33. Terminates. 09.50 Paddington ‘Northern and West Midland Passenger’. Arr. Oxford 11.15 – 11.20 Formed with Van 3rd; restaurant car; 70ft1st/3rd; slip for Banbury. Lavatory Compo; Van; Brake compo. detached at Oxford for Worcester and Wolverhampton. 11.25 Oxford – Worcester - Wolverhampton 11.27 Steam rail car from Wheatley arrives. 11.30 Oxford to Fairford. 10.20 Paddington – Wolverhampton. 11.42-50 Oxford. Ran non-stop from Paddington. Relief Line from Maidenhead to Didcot. 11.58 Oxford – Worcester all stations train. 12.05 Oxford to Heyford. Steam rail car. 12.12- 12.38 (sic) Oxford. 11.10 Swindon – Wolverhampton. 11.25 Paddington – Birkenhead. Pass Oxford 12.33. Slip coach for Leamington. 68 minutes for 63 1/2 miles.56 mph. 12.40 Oxford – Witney Th & Sat. Only. 11.45 Paddington. via Princes Risborough 1.48 Oxford. Terminate. 01.37 Oxford – Kidlington. Steam rail motor.

Up trains (continued)

11.15 Oxford – Swindon. All stations. 11.22 Oxford - Paddington via Princes Risborough 11.35 Oxford - Reading. All stations. 10.10 Leamington – Oxford. 11.47 Terminate. 08.55 Wellington - Paddington. 12.02 – 12.09 Oxford. Van 3rd and Compo attached Oxford.

Brake Compo Weymouth: 3rd class detached Oxford; Van 3rd; Van 3rd;

Third. Slip Banbury to Reading. Van 3rd attached Oxford for Reading. 12.17 Oxford – Southampton. All stations.

12.29 – 12.36 Oxford. Woodford Halse –

Swindon. 08.26 Wolverhampton – Oxford. 12.33 via

Worcester. Terminate 07.00 Birkenhead – Paddington. 12.52 – 58

Oxford. Non-stop to Paddington. Arrive 02.08 54.4 mph average 11.50 Fairford. 01.00 Oxford. Terminate 01.11 Oxford – Reading. 11.35 Worcester - Paddington 01.17 – 01.23

Oxford. non-stop 2.35 arrive.12.56 Kingham . 01.34 Oxford. Terminate.