A walk through the Tyne Pedestrian Tunnel between Jarrow and Howdon. This tunnel, and its cyclist counterpart, opened in July 1951 and predate the first road tunnel by 16 years!
The first purpose built dual mode tunnels in the UK, the tunnels have a total length of 270m and are 12m below the river bed at their deepest point. The cyclist tunnel has a slightly wider diameter than the pedestrian tunnel. Halfway along they feature signage of the historic county boundary between Durham and Northumberland, today the modern boundary of South and North Tyneside.
After years of delays, including a 6 year closure between 2013 and 2019, both tunnels have finally been refurbished. Two of the four original wooden escalators have now been replaced with inclined lifts with the remaining two being preserved and blocked off for emergency use only. These have the distinction of being the longest wooden escalators in the world.
Both the tiling and fairly straight route of the tunnels have resulted in some impressive acoustics meaning that conversations, much like in this video, can be easily heard from opposite ends of them.
Also excuse my awkward greeting of people coming in the opposite direction 🤣🤦🏼♂️
Footage recorded on 21.12.2024, thank you for watching.
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