Geograph - photograph every grid square

Victoria Tunnel, 85 ft below the streets of Newcastle. Built to take coal from a colliery beside the town moor down to staithes at Ouseburn, the tunnel is 2 1/2 miles long and opened in 1842. Sets of 8 wagons were rope hauled by a stationary steam engine at the colliery. Though massively reducing the transit costs for the colliery, the colliery itself wasn’t a success and closed in 1860, the tunnel working for only 18 years. Largely forgotten until use as an air raid shelter in WW2, now the bottom section is open to public tours. The central section contains a large bore pipe that is the storm drain for the central motorway, the upper section is accessible but not open to the public