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Horspath: Disused railway tunnel portal

This is the western portal of the Horspath Tunnel which formerly carried the Oxford to Princes Risborough railway line through the eastern end of Shotover Hill. The tunnel was (and still is) 475 metres (520 yards) long. The railway was closed in 1963, and the abandoned tunnel subsequently proved a popular venue for illegal raves in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as a popular roost for bats. However in 2002 the tunnel was taken over by Oxfordshire County Council, and formally turned into a bat hibernaculum, or winter hibernating refuge. Five species of bats, Daubenton’s, Brown Long-Eared, Natterer’s, Brandt’s, and Whiskered, are said to use the tunnel. This transformation was achieved with major financial assistance from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation Link and One World Wildlife (formerly The Biodiversity Trust).

The former trackbed immediately outside the tunnel is maintained as a Wildlife Conservation Area by Horspath Parish Council Link and a volunteer member is hard at work.

(Mrs Albion was forcibly reminded of Henry the Green Engine with this image!)