Port Mulgrave Tunnel, What we found inside. I nearly passed out!

We explore a tunnel with breating apparutus on hand as the air is dangerous.
Port Mulgrave Tunnel was opened in 1875 to provide a link between Grinkle Iron stone mine and the port.
In the 1850s Sir Charles Palmer opened Port Mulgrave with ironstone loaded onto small vessels from a wooden jetty. The barges were moved in and out using a paddle steamer.
In 1875 a narrow-gauge railway line was built to the Port. The ironstone wagons from the nearby Grinkle Mine were taken over bridges then through a tunnel under Ridge Lane down a mile long incline on a ropeway powered by a steam engine situated by the east pier, then emerging in the cliff side 30 ft above sea level. The railway wagons were then led onto a gantry, with bunkers on the east harbour wall ready for loading the ironstone directly into ships in the harbour.
The mine and port fell into disuse in the 1930's and parts of the port were destroyed by the British Army in the 1940's to prevent wartime invasion.
We access the tunnel and explore it. The air is contaminated with Methane and Sulphur. This makes it dangerous and proper precautions need to be taken.
Credit Music by; thewilburproject.co.uk/
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[@simonchapman5611]

The left portal is lined for a few yards then goes into natural unstable rock for an unknown distance. It appears to have been a tunnel to allow ironstone from the higher seam to reach the harbour. The right portal is the tunnel which went through to Dalehouse and Main seam ironstone was brought through here from Grinkle Mine. Trains of wagons were hauled through by a rope system driven by a steam engine at the harbour. A short distance inside is a drain in the right wall leading down to an inclined tunnel from the main tunnel down to the harbourside. There was a major collapse inside the main tunnel just a few years ago although it has been blocked for many years as a through route. At the inland end the other tunnel entrance is kept securely locked by the landowner because of the danger inside from roof falls and rapid oxygen depletion which doesn't sustain life. In addition this end of the tunnel was at one time used for dumping sewage so it can be even more unpleasant! Simon Chapman Cleveland Mines Heritage Society

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Simon, Thank You so much for commenting. Your information is very interesting indeed and tells an interesting story in to the history of the tunnels. Thank You for taking the time to do so :)

[@pwhitewick]

Reminder set! Can't wait.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

It will be an honour to have you in the live chat!

[@wideyxyz2271]

Wow I remember nosing at the double portal sea end when I was 14 with school. We had some cool crazy teachers. We used to stay at the old army camp at Staithes. Im 57 now so its a bit of a while back!

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there, it’s a good climb to get to these places. I’m glad you have experienced them. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@didsnuggit]

great explore looking forward to doing some more in the near future

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thank You and Yes 🙌

[@WelshLad.]

Great video guy's but i'm glad you both didn't go down that tunnel it's just not worth risking your lives. Your lives are more precious than a video.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Yeas definitely. Thanks for your kind words 😀

[@Adventures_with_Sog]

Looking forward to seeing you explore into the tunnels. 👍

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thanks GTR, its up now when youre ready :)

[@hellodave5334]

We are off on hollibobs to Hinderwell next week so might pop our heads in if possible. Thanks for the heads up on the O2 there, will not venture too far if we do get in

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Good stuff, the climb is fun so be careful

[@Adzey156]

exploring that was sketchy looked a good tunnel too thanks for sharing your & didsnuggits experience 😄👊🏼👍

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Yo Adzey, Cheers bro

[@Adzey156]

@@ALWResearchTeam no worries 👍

[@AAPHomestead]

Very freakin cool brother thanks very much for sharing 🤜💥🤛

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thank You very much indeed AAP

[@civiltrespass6407]

Cool video ALW 📷🙌👍👊👊 The fish & chips was worth the wait 😆😆👍👍

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Yes it sure was :)

[@theurbandon5902]

I spotted this tunnel when I was there back in June with my kids. Looks a tight squeeze!! I was thinking of having a nosey one day myself. Reminder set for this 👍👍

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hey Donny Explorer. It’s nice inside but quite deadly

[@theurbandon5902]

@@ALWResearchTeam 🤣🤣🤣 thanks for the heads up man 👍👍👍

[@AAPHomestead]

We greatly appreciate you my friend

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Likewise AAP :)

[@iliketowatchvideos47]

I'm in port mulgrave right now ,going on a walk along the cliffs today ,won't be going down there though you are mad ,but great video! Amazing place

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there. Thanks very much :) have a nice walk :)

[@theurbandon5902]

It was june when I was there. I had planned to return another day without the family to explore the tunnel. I don't think I will now 🤣🤣🤣 looked fantastic the footage you got but extremely unstable and dangerous 🙈

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Yeah not one to do alone

[@andrewclemmit2042]

Hi guys just been today the lack of oxygen is from the rust process from the iron same at mines in Great Ayton.

[@woodyforest7308]

me and a few mates went down them. got so far in and the oxygen gets very low...

[@broadwellelectrics3377]

It would be fascinating to do a full exploration at some point - though given the state of the air I imagine it would be quite an undertaking! Some proper ventilation needed to flush out the bad air and the roof condition is flat-out terrifying.

[@jonathanchalk2507]

More please

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Certainly 😃

[@1t_wasnt_me]

Get yourselves a hand held Air quality detector, a cheap decent one of Amazon is just £25, because if spirit life is anything similar to here, then it's gonna be a bit of a bummer if you find yourselves there saying to each other, "For the sake of 25 quid ae, we should have listened to George!"

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello George, we have been looking at four gas detection for a while now with the view to buy one. We haven’t been in a place like this since. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@hypnoraythompson5824]

I was lucky enough to spend two weeks in the cottage at 0:47 when it was a rental. The cliffs are full of fossils.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there. The cottage looked nice. In fact the entire area is great. Thank you so much for watching and commenting

[@grahamprior6486]

It's a shame no one can get the key to get access to the other end at dalehouse. I wonder if that end is less collapsed. Great video though guys

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Never say Never, we will return at some point :)

[@patrickrose1221]

Good video . You can't smell methane though .

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thank you and indeed :)

[@Adzey156]

late too watch this one 20th like 👍

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thanks Adzey

[@Adzey156]

@@ALWResearchTeam sound no problem

[@DaveH-zl3vd]

It’s worth bearing in mind that methane is extremely flammable and may form explosive mixtures with air and can cause huge explosions if ignited. It has been the cause of many disasters in the mining, water, oil and gas. Miners use special electrical equipment to prevent an electrical spark from igniting any surrounding flammable gases. I wouldn’t recommend using a standard torch or camera flash in there.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there. It certainly is dangerous in there. Thank You for your concern and for watching. I used an Ex camera. The guy with the flash was a photographer that was stood further back in fresh air.

[@DaveH-zl3vd]

@@ALWResearchTeam That's good to hear, I wasn't trying to be clever but I used to work in petro chem. hazardous areas and used to maintain Ex equipment. You obviously have knowledge of the dangers and choose your equipment accordingly. Great video by the way, really enjoy your posts.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thank You and You're Very Welcome

[@georgesmith8113]

👍👍😎

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello there, thank You very much :)

[@mrgonk3060]

Not quite as exciting, but you can still walk through the shorter tunnel at the other end where it passes under Ridge Lane Nr Dalehouse. The mine Scirroco House and Drift and various culverts are still well preserved. The narrowguage railway was ultimately superceded by a tramway that connected the mine to the mainline railway.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Yes we will have a look next time we are in the area, thank you

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Thank You for the information

[@77lewisclarke]

I'm had read that the air was bad in here didn't realise it was that bad, such a shame

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Unfortunately yes. Dave and I will be back with waders and breathing apparatus to go right in to the tunnels. Thanks for watching.

[@jennyharris5109]

Just realised Ive been there... I walked down from Staithes if I remember ?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hi Jenny, yes it is north of Whitby and south of Redcar so very likely yes 😎

[@stevehill4615]

Are you sure the gas you were encountering wasn't hydrogen sulphide (did you feel nauseous afterwards)?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hi, no we felt fine afterwards

[@stevehill4615]

@@ALWResearchTeam I only thought of that as you mentioned a sulphurous taste (I felt nauseous from very low concentration when going for a job at biogas digester plant)

[@robertcammish2776]

Just a note you can’t smell methane!! I don’t know what your smelling but it’s not methane!!

[@ALWResearchTeam]

A very valid point indeed. Thank you for watching and commenting. Were both members of a pot holing club and have recently bought a 4 gas monitor and hard hats.

[@hordescoffeecwest6203]

In the first portal, if you slow down the speed of the video. You can make out an Apparition

[@ALWResearchTeam]

👻

[@iliketowatchvideos47]

No there isnt

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

Nice old video, Andy. I just came accross it. As many said, methane by itself is odorless. Sulphur derivatives, on the other hand... nasty stuff all the same. Oxygen depletion can also be caused by the oxidized iron ore. I've seen it happen in al old foundry internal underpass full of rusty scrap metal awaiting disposal. It had closed doors on both sides. We had to pull the first guy out of there. He fainted out a few seconds after entering the tunnel. Silly teenagers do stupid things. The brighter the rust, the more recent it is and the more it consumes oxygen. Once it's "eaten", the environment has no sustainable oxygen levels. Extremely dangerous. Sorry for the long comment. That mine sure did bring some old memories.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

The air was really bad in there, it would be fun to find the other end of the tunnel one day, such and interesting place. Thanks for the information, I recall Dave talking off camera about iron ore depleting the oxegen. Rusty steel used to cause issues on ships too. Thank you so much for watching and commenting with great info :)

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

@@ALWResearchTeam Always a pleasure, mate. Keep up the good work.

[@aaronsolomon1180]

Looks alot different from when i was in there last 98/99

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Aaron, thanks for watching and commenting. Time does make its changes on things

[@stevelomas4119]

So, the entrance is now unlocked ?

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Hello Steve, it’s locked again. We borrowed the key.

[@stevelomas4119]

@@ALWResearchTeam OK thanks, we went there last month and it was locked but it looked like someone had had a go with an angle grinder...thought it was finally open.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

Oh dear that’s not good. It was intact when we were there

[@MineExplorerUK]

It's locked now guys, I wouldn't enter that place without a 4gas detector. I've been inside but not from that end. Dangerous place indeed

[@keithrimmer3]

Lo o2 not methane which is odorless

[@Yorkshiremadmick]

Tunnels can be death traps. Gasses and fumes. Robbing you of your life very quickly. Thank god you got out.

[@ALWResearchTeam]

We did and they sure are dangerous