The Wapping Railway Tunnel Liverpool 

This is the second part of the Liverpool story in case you missed it here is the first part ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-2BZAt5SmLBs.html All music in this video by Martin Zero and Dean James Adshead

Martin, what a day you had. So much history to explore, if I could only find that DeLorean and go back in time and see everything when new and in use. George Stephenson would be proud to see what he made is still standing and still in use today. Sad to see all the trash down in the cutout. A big thanks to Martin and all involved in making this video possible.

That Wapping Tunnel adventure is FANTASTIC!!! I can hardly CONTAIN myself because of everything that is represented here!! The history you, Martin, and "the boys" are looking at and into . . . . WOW!!! Just WOW!!! I dare say that you are linked to me in the fact that I LOVE this stuff as much as you do, Sir! Incredible!! I love the huge red brick "Vent" - man, they just don't build like that anymore! It's quite monumental for sure! Thanks gentlemen, see you again soon!!

Been saving this one, and boy am I glad I did. The birth of the railway era and it's still there to be savoured, it was almost a Tutankamun moment!!!! Thanks Martin for bringing us this and for climbing through the crap to bring us the last details. As you say, a trap door moment👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻❤

Charles Blacker Vignoles is quite an interesting character in the early railway age.... served in wellingtons army, went to canada, surveyed the manchester liverpool line. and built the Nicholas Chain Bridge in Kiev over the Dnieper River (worth looking up a picture of)

Mendelssohn, the classical composer, visited Liverpool in 1830, on his way back from the Hebrides. He wrote to his father back home telling him about the excitement of the L&M’s imminent opening and claimed that he bribed a night watchman to let him explore the Wapping Tunnel just a week or so before the officially opening ceremony. It was the moon landing of its day.

Great insight to the early years of railways in the UK, Martin! I wonder if the city of Liverpool would ever convert this into a museum or some sort of tribute to the railway by restoring it. It feels like this is a forgotten part of Liverpool that deserves to be far more known and understood and appreciated. Looking forward to your next video, as always!

I did it with a mate back in 2005 or so and it was a rush to get in there and then down towards town. After a bit it gets dodgy with the flooding and I'd love to have a dinghy or boat down there too. Great to see you exploring the other end of the Lancs too. So much to see and do in both Liverpool and Manchester.

Smashed it again Martin 👏 I am proud of my City, but ashamed at the lack of interest in our heritage. It's been some time since I visited the Wapping, I am embarrassed on how much shit is in there. Another great tunnel is the Waterloo/Victoria. We have so many disused tunnels, it's awful watching them rot away.

Excellent video, love your enthusiasm. The whole site should be properly developed as a visitor experience in much the same way as the nearby Williamson tunnels. So much industrial heritage that needs to be celebrated. Would love to see you make other videos of other Liverpool landmarks just to see your reaction to some of the outstanding architecture that's here. Keep up the excellent work 👏

My family is from Liverpool. My Grandfather would have delivered cargo there, serving in the Merchant Navy for 25 years, including in WWII as a Chief Engineer on various cargo ships. It's a miracle he survived, being sunk six times and managing to save another two ships after being torpedoed by the Germans. He evacuated the family to Paignton, where he bought a General Store to provide an income and a home, if in the likely event he didn't return. Thank you Martin and Roy for an absolutely fascinating historical video.

Fabulous video Martin, it’s such a shame that this type of history isn’t preserved.

Wow! To put the age of this tunnel complex in perspective, my hometown of Guelph Ontario, Canada was founded in 1827. When these impressive tunnels were being built, my hometown was still just a collection of primitive log cabins carved out of the wilderness alongside the Speed River several days journey down a muddy road from the town of York(today's Toronto). Thank's for this fascinating documentary on the urban archeology experience and keep up the good work!

What an amazing bit of engineering all hand dug then lined with brick, the Victorians built some great buildings and railways,watching from the states.

That Gong needs to be rescued refurbished and put in the museum before someone robs it for scrap. Right at the end in the car park The building at the back of the wall was where I served my apprenticeship at Huges & Ellison Ltd in Blundell Street back in 1961-1967, who then moved to the part of the yard where the steel structure is until they closed down. Liverpool should seriously consider restoring this as its involvement in the birth of the railways cannot be overlooked and much could be saved before it's too late.

Magic!!! Can’t say no more …

Absolutely fascinating, I used to work in Liverpool and travelled in by train everyday. Always was blown away by the edge hill cutting. Thank you for bringing history to life.

In his book Signalman the author M Burke states that the numbers mounted on the tunnel walls were to aid railway staff to know where they were while passing through the tunnel. He also says towards the bottom of the tunnel incline was a signal followed by a set of points which lead to a dead end siding in the tunnel wall. If the descending wagons ran out of control they would crash into this dead end siding rather than career into the yard. When a descending train successfully stopped at the signal the traincrew would alert the signalman who would then change the point for the train to enter the yard. There was no sign of the dead end siding in this clip unless it was in the flooded section. Hope this is helpful.

A fantastic journey into the past martin and Mike .....thank you so much for sharing a first class video..... bringing alive a bygone age of engineering that involved blood sweat and toil ...and tears I'm sure x

World history on our doorstep.Should be a working museum .Clean it up and have a electric train like the rocket going to Edge Hill and back . Telling the history of this magnificent structure.And of course a cafe and shop at the end.

Martin 🧠💪🤝🙏

The girl is a bloody machine 💪💪💪 another great vid

we should never lose the little boy inside of us and you never have bud keep it alive and happy...

I counted at least half a dozen gongs and not once did you get a brew!! Shame you couldn't get Connor to throw you down a dingy!! Big thanks to Mike from the Williams tunnels for helping to get this organised. Such an amazing place, it deserves to be preserved and better presented, it's got a great and important history to be told. Well done Martin and Roy!! Good luck from Spain!!

Another fantastic video Martin, with lots of educational facts and plenty of local history. I have always been fascinated by railways, especially with the structures like Tunnels, Viaducts, Signal Boxes etc. so this video was right up my street. Only one flaw, being from Darlington I shall always consider the Stockton to Darlington Railway of 1825 to be the world’s first and Darlington as the birthplace to the railway industry as we know it. Keep the the amazing content coming as I always look forward to seeing your videos on a Sunday evening. 😀👍🏻

its such a shame this place is in a mess, FANTASIC, network rail thanks for letting martin show it us, please clean it up a bit, this is the place of your birth/rails birth as a whole, it needs to be saved an looked after

Great vid Martin well done mate.thanjs for the Entertainment. Your Nr1 Fans in Hamburg Germany. Deano

Thank you Martin, another superb and professionally presented video. We really enjoyed this tour, not to mention the part one. Thank you again. The camera work is first rate, nice and steady and sharp.

Some very interesting history to this tunnel, Martin. To excavate a tunnel of that proportion in three years was a marvel of civil engineering for its time. The gongs are most unusual, I suppose there was some sort of trip mechanism when the wheels of a vehicle, whether it be a loco or wagon activated a lever or something. The old photos are a marvel, and seeing the remains of the signalbox was a nice surprise. It must have been quite a busy place for years, especially serving the docks. Many thanks for producing this program, Martin, you've done an excellent job of it. Take care.

Bloody hell that was absolutely the dogs bollocks brilliant thanks for sharing

A week late but so worth the wait , fantastic video , thanks Martin 👏🏽👏🏽🧱👍🏼

Thank you so much Martin.

Man, how in the name of God they built these things? Fascinating videos..many thanks

Superb viewing Martin, thank you. Had searched for the 1980 History Around You programme for schools, as I loved it as a kid, that briefly touched on the cutting and Crown St But the detail and information in these make them so watchable

Glorious, just could have been an hour longer, thanks M'0' for this production. Love the section where the cut in the bedrock shows the layers in time, amazing.

Think is is one of my favourite videos from martin zero to date grateful for all the hard work in researching this and making it uncomfortable

Brilliant video. Thanks Martin.

Many thanks great video

Another great video and the old pictures to compare the what’s on the ground brilliant 😊👍🏻

What an explore, thanks Martin and everyone involved. It's amazing to think that all that history is just beneath the feet of thousands of people every day who are unaware of what lies beneath!

Been on holiday in Liverpool 4/5 times, and I knew nothing about this. Explored the Williamson tunnels in 2012 or 2013, did a tour. it's fascinating hearing about Liverpool's history. Also like seeing pictures or hear stories about my hometown in Denmark (still live there🙂). Amazed how much a city can change in 30 yrs.

The way the pipe is joined at the elbow (screwed) is more likely gas, also, that elbow would be too sharp to pull cables around, specially if old rubber coated ones

Utterly amazing to see this thank you so much Martin!

Lads lads lads! You should have been wearing your hard hats when you were in the open area! A lot of that rubbish was thrown from above!! Great work and thank you 👍

Only just started watching but thanks in advance!

Fist class that Martin, well worth the wait, thanks for the video.

Brilliant second part, thank you.

Fantastic video Martin rearly enjoyed watching it, you look like the cat that got the cream 👍

I knew it was all there but I’ve not seen as much detail of its current state. That tunnel on the right at the top was actually an incline into the yard which is now the park. Fascinating stuff Martin.

OUTSTANDING VIDEO: Great music choreographed so well with the film. I sat riveted to my seat wishing I was there walking along with you all. You have outdone yourself on this one. The immense amount of history relayed with superb video and informative narrative makes we sad it is all gone like a wisp of smoke into the past. Thank you for bringing it all to light and sharing a treasured piece of history that will soon be lost.

Another great one Martin 👍

Another fascinating prog. Thanks Martin and team.

awesome MArtin... awesome

Fantastic effort, great knowledge, superb documentary. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Martin, great video 👍Joseph Locke a Barnsley man did the Woodhead Tunnels, didn't know he was involved in the Wapping Tunnel.....cheers for that....Great music too

And next the 3rd tunnel….most northern of three. ??? Back in the 70’s, I was a QS on the construction of a new Geology Building for the University of Liverpool in Pembroke Street..[Looks like it’s now called the Jane Herdman Building. Which runs through from Brownlow Street..] The drilling for one of corner concrete piles, went through the roof of this tunnel.. Funny how one remember things.. I do not know if this tunnel is as interesting as the previous two ? A part of the tunnel cutting is still visible between the A59 and Fontenoy Street and the exit to the tunnel still visible in Howard Street..[Opposite the Costco warehouse.]

SOOOOOO Very interesting. Thank you

Absolutely fascinating video I loved every minute of it and your reservoir video ,just amazing ,at one point in the video you came to the tunnel exit and it was covered in rubbish , trash and I said out loud that is f**King disgusting and as soon as the words left my mouth up popped your comment saying the exact same thing, spooky, it wax almost as if we were having a conversation. I absolutely love your videos ,they always fascinate me, I like English history and I've been a railways train spotting anorak since I was a small child and I still have the same passion about them today as I did when I were a kid. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 it's a huge shame on us that we just toss our rubbish and junk anywhere we feel like it, it's disgraceful

Incredible video Martin. Thank you. Very sad to know that this massive piece of history is deteriorating year by year. Thank you for documenting it for future generations when it will probably be gone.

Very interesting vlog Martin. I enjoyed it immensely. Thanks very much.

Another amazing video Martin watched on my new 4k screen.

I love all the red Triassic sandstone😀

Two great video's. Very much enjoyed exploring along with you!.

Brilliant video, and a brilliant day. Can't believe how much crap is in the bottom end now. Wasn't as bad as that the last time i went in there. That needs to be sorted.

Thank you for showing whats above the shaft of the Wapping tunnel. Seeing whats above tunnels and shafts are fascinating..It is so cool that you did that just as I was thinking it. Would like to see more Then and Now locations. We love you and James here in California

excellent cheers Mart

Another great video Martin. These are so interesting. Thank you.

Super ! I used to live a pebble's flick from where you finished the journey . As you mentioned the various street names etc above , I was increasingly bathed in nostalgia. A Manchester lad who spent 12 wonderful years in Liverpool now living in the land of tea, a stone's toss from Standegde tunnel. You always pick the best spots ! Cheers !.

So fascinating thanks.

Really good atmospheric soundtrack to this one Martin.

I used to live off park lane where the wapping goods yard was .As a kid in the early 70s I used to play in the old goods yard .We used to go down them tunnels ,they were always flooded then.this brought back some good memories.

Another marvellous video, thanks Martin.................

WOW I spent my youth all around there and never knew about most of this. Another brilliant video. Looking forward to watching more :)

Wow thank you very much for what you're doing never been to England but you're doing a great job keep up the good work

Just found your channel on RU-vid on liverpool tunnels, as a kid we walked through a tunnel in bootle that ran from hawthorn road down to bootle new strand as kids we found it spooky the entrance on hawthorn road has been filled in now but I think the new strand entrance is accessible I think, would love to walk it again but my knees are knackered. Great videos glad RU-vid recommended it👍

That is really incredible! They should clean it up and make it a trail, shame so much history is just rotting away

Superb!

Wow, I park on that King Park car park and have been to Black Lodge Brewing. Next time I go, I will have a better look around and tell my Mrs so I look dead clever.

Loved it, loved it loved it.. 🙂

European and British people of today owe so much to people that have come before us. We are literally living of their hard work and ambition. Today's snow flakes are absolutely ignorant to our past and how lucky we are to be born in England and Europe as a whole

Superb explore Martin. You were looking at ground breaking history there. I can't help thinking that there is an opportunity for one hell of a museum in a location second to none. Hopefully it will be left alone or even be sheduled.

Excellent work and presentation.

Really interesting and can not waite for next one

Standedge , Summit , Totley and Cowburn all had gongs. Mostly used to draw the drivers attention to the next signal they would be approaching. I remember seeing the gong but with no operating gear in Summit tunnel after it reopened after the fire in there. Not sure if the original Woodhead tunnels had gongs , but would imagine they would've been of benefit in the single line "choke-holes". That gong has brackets that held a sign with the name of the gong or milage distance on it to identify which one it was for inspection or repair.

Incredible video. So sad to see that historic end of the tunnel is used as dumping ground. Weird. But thanks for this amazing video.

@13: 58 this company Oldham Bros brings back a lot of memories my mate worked for them and I did a load of scrap through the yard, especially hooky copper.

That was amazing! Thank you!

My Grandfather was from Manchester, ( your accent reminds me of him), my Grandmother was from Liverpool. I'll bet they were quite familiar with these tunnels!

What a glorious adventure! Loved all of it, and discovering the history. Cheers to you from USA!!

Very interesting great video

Another fantastic and fascinating historical expose, Martin. A great opportunity exists to restore the route as a bike / pedestrian path with the open areas converted to BBQ and green areas. Good for the people. Good for the environment. Good for the historical aspect. Hell will freeze over before it's realised. :-(

Hi Martin I use the Hunts cross to Southport line cycle route, some of the old sandstone bridges are stunning Victorian engineering, they,ve spent a few quid doing it up. Great vlogs mate.

Well done Martin for bringing these wonderful old structures literally to light!

You're an intrepid gentleman Martin. Many thanks for your efforts and your "oppos".

Excellent videos Martin was totally blown away had to go back to watch George Stevenson Bridge just to see the Manchester End . Fantastic Engineering to build the oldest intercity railway line in the world .

Brilliant, just Brilliant 👏

Bravo, Martin! A pair of rivetting videos, chock full of history. As amazing as it was to see the remains of the station and tunnel, it was just as amazing the state into which Liverpool has allowed these historic grounds to fall. C'mon, lads, these are among the first railway stations ever built! A bit of cutting and cleaning would do wonders, and be a spot of interest to many.

Brilliant video ( just popped up Keith Chegwin 1986 ) railway history I’m sure you’ve seen it but gonna watch that to see how it’s changed Brilliant work Martin again

Brilliant thanks for taking us with you

Content just gets better . The atmospheric soundtrack was on point, totally in keeping with the content of the video. The North West is such a rich hunting ground for this sort of content. How about Spike Island, Widnes and Warrington Transporter Bridges etc....