The Hereford and Gloucester Abandoned Canal Tunnels.

Get NordVPN’s 2 year plan + 1 extra month for free here: NordVPN.com/thewhitewicks It’s risk free with NordVPN’s 30 day money back guarantee!
A big thanks for joining us on this weeks adventure. A quick few points:
1) We love documenting these tunnels and 'Ticking them off', but sadly due to the nature of them, they aren't always easy to see, let along get inside. Hopefully we can at least bring you the stories.
2) Apparently the Sonic image I used was Sonic Movie 1.... Ooops.
3) Here is the link to Parkinsons Video mentioned: • Canal Adventure Inclu...
If you are interested in ways in which you can help support the channel please do consider clicking on any of the links below or alternatively the join button on here.
/ everydisusedstation
www.paulwhitewick.co.uk
ko-fi.com/everydisusedstation
PayPal: [e-mail]
Media contact: [e-mail]
Time Stamps:
0:00 - 0:46 - Dramatic Intro
0:47 - 01:47 - Where are we?
01:48 - 03:35 - Oxenhall Tunnel South
03:36 - 05:24 - Sonic Movie 2
05:25 - 09:27 - Oxenhall Tunnel North
09:28 - 12:23 - Ashperton Southern Portal
12:24 - 12:39 - Ashperton North
12:40 - 13:48 - Hereford Tunnel

[@pwhitewick]

Get NordVPN’s 2 year plan + 1 extra month for free here: NordVPN.com/thewhitewicks It’s risk free with NordVPN’s 30 day money back guarantee!

[@spacebound1522]

Love your content, and will always be subbed to your channel, but will never ever ever use NordVPN!

[@ParkinsonsWalks]

Hi Paul, good to see you heeded my advice on the southern portal, I do think that it is potentially dangerous. Presumably Rebecca knew where you were and had your return time. You were braver than me in descending the bank to the northern portal, it looked very steep to me. Apparently it had suffered a collapse and a lot of it was subsequently washed away which would explain the random masonry scattered about. I think I filmed part of an arch there but wasn't sure. Ron

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you Ron. We watched the video you did and hoped I could get closer being spring. But sadly it was bad very early on. Might try again from above with the trust. The northern portal still remains a mystery. Despite the collapse I still can't quite get my head around the layout!

[@hairyairey]

@@pwhitewick Cue me going on about PPE...

[@ColinH1973]

Lovely Sunday afternoon viewing. You have no idea how much everyone enjoys your gentle explorations. Thanks.

[@GiacomodellaSvezia]

With each video, I appreciate the effort Paul and Rebecca put in it more, especially because there's so much to enjoy in the details, apart from the bare contents.

[@johnsmart964]

One can only concur with these comments.

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you Colin and others. Very kind.

[@hubertvancalenbergh9022]

Can't quite get those two boats bumping into each other mid-tunnel out of my head. Someone should write a story about it.

[@martinbolton6387]

Just a word about the Oxenhall tunnel Southern portal. This time of year you can reach it there is a towpath upstream right it is challenging but doable in wellingtons. It suffers from silt washing in from sides of the cut but once there the tunnel is quite open. One can stand upright in it the base being filled with sand and about 4" of water. Having said this walking into it is not encouraged or permitted for safety reasons. I have on a video showing the entire Oxenhall section right up to the tunnel entrance. Hereford Gloucester Canal, Oxenhall section.

[@coreywilson6693]

Great, now I have a serious case of tunnel vision... Thanks guys!

[@glenneric1]

I don't know why seeing these old things is like discovering magic. Maybe we all have the curious cat in us.

[@johntyjp]

I m an old abandoned relic, you d better do one about me! Compulsive watching every Sunday! 😄

[@dilwyn1]

Once again both, great research and very informative. Advice taken Paul ... You explore and I will view from afar with a glass of single malt for company !!

[@Urbexy]

Great video as always. That almost submerged portal was the stuff of nightmares. Unbelievable that someone actually ventured in 😮

[@UKAbandonedMineExplores]

Wow, we go into some deep water in tunnels, but you wouldn't get me in that bugger!

[@EkkehardPummer]

Very informative video, I appreciate the efforts Rebecca and you put into each story. I enjoy every video and nearly can't wait for the next one. A big thank you to both of you!

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you. 😊

[@davie941]

hello again Paul and Rebecca , thank you both for another very interesting explore to find those tunnels , well done and thank you again guys :)

[@shepshep8654]

Your new red hair looks very nice Rebecca. Paul you look nice as usual.

[@mikeakhurst1855]

I love your little explores. You manage to pack in so much info.

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you Mike.

[@raphaelnikolaus0486]

Fascinating videos you keep creating, Paul!

[@QALibrary]

A great video as ever - well done and thank you for making it back alive - we are very demanding with the need for a new video every Sunday!

[@paulallen6826]

Another great video. Love the quick change at the end Rebecca 🙂

[@knutarneaakra6013]

Always love your exeiting and also somehow strange relaxing vlogs. Thanks to you

[@andymiller4971]

A great video clip , that'll be a great undertaking to rebuild the canal once they unblock the dam , I agree with the scary bit ,the person who dived that tunnel was definitely pushing their luck.

[@martinmarsola6477]

Thanks for the adventure video today. A great thing to consider. Cheers mates!

[@michaelmiller641]

Absolutely fascinating! Thanks for that!

[@charlesachurch7265]

Another fascinating presentation thanks xxx. Good luck.

[@michaelcampin1464]

Hello a relaxing sunday afternoon before a hectic monday

[@pwhitewick]

Tell me about it!!

[@manmeetsinghmahajan6183]

Amazing work.

[@lindamccaughey6669]

Wow that was excellent. How dangerous was than canal. The whole area I thought lovely. Thanks so much for taking me along. Please stay safe and take care

[@simonbradshaw3708]

Another interesting video for a disused canal, hopefully it might all be navigable sometime in the future. Look forward to next week

[@grahamx8623]

I grew up in the 1970's a few yards from the bridge by the southern portal in Oxenhall. The canal was excavated and the portal rebuilt by the trust perhaps in the 1990's. It was accessible when I was a child. People used to canoe up the tunnel, they would let my neighbour know they were going in case they ran into difficulties! About 3' of the Northern portal was visible in 1980's but has succumbed to silt and caving in. I've many happy childhood memories, the canal was much more silted up and overgrown in those days.

[@julianjules6698]

There is a good tunnel on this canal I go through it in my dingy or kayak,. The water is crystal clear and about 8 foot deep. There are dead cows in it that have fallen from the air shafts above. Their skeletons are like shrink wrapped in Frisian hide.

[@pwhitewick]

Which one... tell us more

[@dawndietz4654]

I do love abandoned canal videos! My fav. This one is great!

[@pmfx65]

Wow! Das war wohl ein toller Tag. Ich hoffe alle haben ausreichend Schokolade stibitzen können ....

[@acrobaticcripple8176]

Nature is so fantastically powerful! This area is so reclaimed.

[@dannygmtg]

Love the new hair do Rebecca. Really suits you! It’s fabulous. Similar shade to mine at the moment through think I’m a touch more orange and with the Bowie streaks through it too

[@engineerjim2018]

Another great video. Keep them coming please

[@shirleylynch7529]

Fascinating vlog. Scary too. Great adventure as you said. Thank you for all your research and explores. Amazing stuff.

[@pwhitewick]

Our pleasure!

[@ReubenAshwell]

Brilliant video and very interesting, and yes I agree that it's not worth exploring somewhere if it's dangerous to do so.

[@Ad-gn8pl]

The final part in Hereford is below a large housing estate built in the 30's, my family had a house on the corner near the canal tunnel for 70+years. Spent many days playing on the 'tip' which is a playing field overlooking the railway in the cutting, my uncle would often describe walking "up the cut" along the old canal path into town.

[@radiosnail]

Another interesting video.Many thanks.

[@gerrydavies8034]

I canoed through the Ashperton tunnel a number of times in the late 1980s from the other end. In those days there was enough space to canoe through with lots of head room. The reflection of the roof arch in the water made it look like a perfect tube. The Preservation Trust may still have the photos sent them.

[@martynbuzzing3327]

Great interesting video. It would be amazing to see all that in usable water. Thanks 😊

[@johnsimun6533]

Paul, 3:00 you could get to the end and back, along with virtually anywhere else you could imagine. If you had a Sherp.

[@luisstransport]

Great video

[@memorialgardens1664]

Sending good thoughts to you both great work 🎥. 💕🧠💪🤝🙏 Nathan

[@MrGreatplum]

You wouldn’t get me going in those tunnels! Great video 👍🏻

[@roderickmain9697]

That canal is going to need a lot of refurbishment and renovation. Take my hat off to those trying to do it. Nice video.

[@pwhitewick]

Likewise

[@mulemanism]

Wow loving the red hair 😍. Great vid very interesting.

[@g_force3857]

You’re getting the “crazy cat lady” look happening Rebecca 😉😉😉 Great video guys 👍👍👍

[@richardhart7652]

This was the first video I ever saw from you both but somehow forgot to tap like

[@MichaelSebastianTodd]

brilliant video

[@Alan_Watkin]

thanks guys

[@King786_]

Good stuff

[@gaugeonesteam]

Another great video. soooo interesting. but don't take too many risks.

[@Hairnicks]

Fascinating and just a bit frightening.

[@malcolmsmith6615]

Absolutely enjoyable, thank you. It looks like the northern part of Oxenhall tunnel has collapsed for the first dozen or so metres (maybe more), going by the narrowness of the “cut” and the quantity of bricks along the floor. Just a theory but I recon the portal would have been at the start of the narrow cut, now long-gone.

[@a11csc]

another gem

[@Sim0nTrains]

Enjoyable video, I wouldn't try going through that second tunnel myself does look dangerous.

[@markjones4704]

thank paul and becks it my local canal i never knew how extensive it was

[@stripycrocodile]

the music is fantastic it reminds me of Tangerine Dream who did the music for Streethawk :)

[@RichardWatt]

And Christopher Franke from Tangerine Dream composed and conducted the music for Babylon 5.

[@lxtechmangood9503]

Tangerine dream also did the music for risky business

[@stripycrocodile]

@@RichardWatt damnit I am going to have to finally get around to watching it in order as I only ever dipped in and out of it due to the odd times and orders it was shown on TV at the time

[@louisjamescarroll2173]

You might want to look at Oxenhall tunnel again because at 8:49 you can see the canal bending to the left.

[@pwhitewick]

We plan to go again with the safety of the Trust by our side.

[@franciszeksliwka740]

Very interesting.

[@chriselliott1261]

That portal of Ashperton tunnel has clearly been robbed out. I guess it was all nice dressed stone so it was removed, leaving only the actual arch, hence the serrated edge.

[@jonburne1]

Interesting that anything of the canal survives. Good that there is a group working at restoration. BUT.... Far more interesting is the costume change at 13:19.

[@burgersnchips]

Dobilydoo. I remember wheezywaiter saying that years ago 😂

[@pwhitewick]

Legend isn't he

[@louisesouthgate5231]

Hi absolutely fascinating..... did you say there was a link to the guy that went through the tunnel?

[@stephenminchin4870]

Over forty years ago that house consisted of two walls and a tree growing through the middle of it.

[@paulinehedges5088]

Another great video. Spme very

[@paulinehedges5088]

Sorry fingercslipped!.some very scary moments....that water looked deep and cold and uninviting! Thank you for sharing that experience with us.

[@PoppinJay]

Another great video, thanks. It's going to send the hair critics nuts. I like the look by the way, and Rebecca's!

[@alanstuart4495]

Thanks

[@pwhitewick]

Thank you Alan! Much appreciated.

[@owdpotter]

Rebecca I have to say that you have the most expressive face and yes I have seen in a long time , I must say that Paul is also funny at times and a very lucky bloke:-)

[@PaddyWV]

I see mention of "The Kerry Arms" in the Article. If that's the Hereford one, it's still going today if Google Street View can be believed. I remember an evening spent there in about 1987. Having to endure the watery nastiness that is Harp Lager. Thank goodness I grew out of the Lager phase! There are houses in Widemarsh Street, next to where the canal was, that in the eighties had to have pumps permanently in their cellars because in very wet weather, they flooded! 😄 So it certainly left a legacy! I often wondered why the railway in Hereford took such an odd route. I suppose It's partially to do with the other lines it once connected to (Ross & Gloucester. Hay on Wye) but looking at the loop of the canal, that must surely have affected how the line was built. Not to mention the industrial rail yards that looped off There was once a six foot high bridge along Burcott Road (Now lifted) that used to be great for photos. It fascinated me because although it seemed abandoned, it still had its rails and warning signs etc.

[@BottIsNotABot]

Now just called The Kerry, but very much open.

[@oneteaminbristolbcfc]

Thankyou

[@eddyhenningsson3121]

I searched for Parkinssons and the title, I now know everything about Parkingssons, didnt find the tunnelvideo... 😕 oh there it is! :-)

[@pwhitewick]

Haha... link in the description

[@bobsrailrelics]

I cannot believe some of the 28 days later mob, the dangerous situations they put themselves in just to get some photos. Hope that tunnel gets the water lovered soon.

[@pyhead9916]

Paul, while you were out hiking, Rebecca was home dying her hair.

[@pwhitewick]

So it seems.

[@sus8e462]

Hi, last shot looking for the northern portal, on the left it looked like a lot of brick--like part of an arch & wall--was under all the growth of the hillside? Though no surprise if authorities wanted to hide/destroy it if very unstable & dangerous... (Good for safety, bad for exploring!).

[@bobly]

Hi Paul and Rebecca I am loving the video but one question I have to ask why is the water green? Someone getting rid of a lot of mushy peas and dumping it there how odd is it contaminated well I never

[@BruceJSkelly]

Perhaps, if you haven’t already, you could make a video about the various safety precautions you take.

[@pwhitewick]

We've made a couple of videos where we have entered tunnels and shown the precautions we take. We where very much aware we weren't going in these so little to concern about as such. 👍

[@ducthman4737]

Starting to have tunnel vision. Good thing is it can't be a train if you see light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe a canoe.

[@Kent884]

Have only seen the one portal of Aylestone tunnel in Hereford

[@Jimyjames73]

Interesting 🙂🚂🚂🚂

[@bohicajohnson7203]

I have seen the southern portal of the Hereford tunnel. You could see right through the tunnel. This was in 1974.

[@GEHDunedin]

Time you got yourselves a boat drone with camera!!

[@pwhitewick]

Working on it

[@aengusmacnaughton1375]

Creepy intro -- I liked the "Stranger Things" like music -- so will we be seeing the "Upside Down" canal tunnel interiors????? 🙂

[@SteveInskip]

Hi guys! A very interesting vid as always. We all love a tunnel, but for that one, I’d recommend an Acme Remote Controlled Duck with a go-pro strapped to each end. Everything is as water tight as a real duck or your money back! Available from all good hardware stores! £1.99 (go-pros not included) 👍🦆🦆

[@NHGMitchell]

Oh, so it doesn't have to be ordered by mail these days? Does it work as a decoy to catch RoadRunners?

[@pwhitewick]

Now you've got me thinking

[@SteveInskip]

@@NHGMitchell no, and oh yes! 😉

[@SteveInskip]

@@pwhitewick you know it makes sense! 😉😂🦆. Seriously a remote controlled small catamaran just big enough for 2 go-pros a power bank and a few led’s would be ideal for a water tunnel explore. And a rope for when it gets stuck! 😂😂

[@robertcoleman4861]

There's a lot of history in the uk, Will the canal ever be restored to it's former glory love your vids cheers bob from down under thankyou paul & rebecca.

[@pwhitewick]

Thanks Robert, I really do hope so.

[@simonbrown-id6ud]

@@pwhitewickI grew up on a farm where a section of the canal ventured. The canal had a few problems it was late to the party and was already obsolete and secondly (as our section did) and more worrying for a canal it dried out

[@simonbrown-id6ud]

Hiya ashperton is pronounced like it sounds ~ ashburton

[@taliesinbourne7484]

99% sure my parents looked at buying the house with the tunnel at the bottom a few years back but could be completely wrong. Funny to think that could have been us.

[@willbick3]

The northern portal of the oxenhall tunnel is completely collapsed and covered in earth etc. The arch you stood on would not have been in its original position. The Ashperton tunnel was built about 40 years after the oxenhall tunnel. Stephen Ballard engineered the whole Ledbury to Hereford section in the 1830s-40s. He was a local man and greatly admired. When they were building the Ashperton tunnel a young lad fell down a shaft and was badly hurt. Ballard stayed with him all night to tend to him but unfortunately to no avail. I remember visiting the cottage by Ashperton tunnel when I was a boy in the early 1980s. It was derelict then. Ballard designed several such cottages along the canal including the one at oxenhall lock

[@bullettube9863]

The first time I watched a video about the canal tunnels I wondered how did the two ends communicate with each other. Now I know. They didn't!

[@pwhitewick]

haha... very true.

[@fritz46]

They could have used a token system like railways used (and some still use) on single-track lines. But it seems they didn't... lol

[@RobertSmith-zv1xo]

With these tunnels it would be wise to have climbing (& tunneling?) gear and should be sponsered by an outdoors learning platform 😉

[@hairyairey]

Paul and Rebecca scare me by their lack of PPE. There are tunnels that they enter that they really should wear a hard hat. There are employers that wouldn't allow them in without one. And safety shoes because you have no idea what's on the floor either.

[@pwhitewick]

Certainly no intention on going in these Tunnels folks. We mainly wanted to look at the portals. We would pretty much need a boat to get in!

[@BibtheBoulder]

Try 58 hours with my 4 teenage daughters...you'll soon be clambering back in that tunnel.....

[@pwhitewick]

Ouch

[@frankleonard1453]

So what’s in the water fish 🎣 or mud larking?

[@ruthbrierley1798]

I reckon Martin Zero, James and their buddies might have given it a shot. 😉 Or maybe not…

[@pwhitewick]

Haha, maybe!

[@weedfreer]

Did you see the news article the other day about newly confirmed/re-discovered southern Wales (Pembrokeshire?) Roman Roads? That'ld be a nice vid if you fancied a jolly

[@pwhitewick]

Funny you should mention that

[@weedfreer]

@@pwhitewick 😁🤭

[@Jimfowler82]

I read that too. Really interesting

[@robinhayhurst5943]

Are we going to see some YT collaborations with you and Bertie B??

[@marilynbalderstone696]

My daughter and I canoed through Ashperton tunnel in mid 1980s and it was in great conditions with some wonderful stalactites. The level was just perfect then for canoeing, clear water and I was shocked to see how much it had changed. But it was nearly 40 years ago!!! 🚣‍♀🚣

[@SamSitar]

look at 6:20. they had space for a second tunnel.

[@eze8970]

🙏

[@BadGaming101]

great video :) defo don't go through the tunnel you could stir up rotten vegetation and trapped Hydrogen Sulphide gases very bad in a confined space

[@pwhitewick]

Yup all sorts going on there.

[@Canalsman]

According to the canal society website the southern portal of the Oxenhall Tunnel has been restored fully and there are photos of same. I'm confused as to why you were unable to locate it ...

[@pwhitewick]

Yep it's all good by all accounts. But owing to the change in management at the trust and the lapse of the old one its fallen by the wayside. The lead up to the tunnel has become rather unsafe

[@scottfw7169]

Uh-oh, they are talking about dangerous leaps, places being scary, and then carrying a stick for safety reasons, I dunno if my adrenaline levels are up to that much excitement ... _(just don't startle the cat who is sleeping behind this computer's screen, okay)_