Report - Grinkle and Kettleness tunnels N. Yorkshire Feb 2015

[dave]

Its a while since i had visited these tunnels in fact getting on for 25 years actually so i fancied a re visit with a view to photograph them digitally. Visited with Cat and Sed so thanks for the driving Cat as usual. It has to be said that Cat and and Sed were a bit nervous when i mentioned to them in the car half way down that Grinkle or otherwise known as Easington Tunnel was in fact live having said that i assured them there would be no trains running the day we went. This had no effect what so ever. Anyway we finally got there took some pics then wandered off to Kettleness tunnel which is most definitely derelict.
Heres a link to some history on the tunnels its quite a complex history and this site will give you some idea its very good too.
http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/tunnels/whitbyloftus.html

Onto some pics

The north portal. Its 993 yards long and now serves the nearby Boulby Potash mine.

C 1950s same portal in steam days.

Took this pic over 25 years ago this is the first of 2 air shafts sorry for the quality plus my scanning skills or a bit rusty. The colour of the light is due to a freight train having passed and diesel fumes causing the green effect.

Another one from that era with a train entering from the southern end.

onto kettleness tunnel though still on the same line this section beyond Boulby Mine is no longer in use and has been since 1958 when the line finally closed this tunnel is 308 yards long cat and Sed were up for this one when i assured them that there were no more trains running!!

north portal

This tunnel is in excellent condition considering its been out of use for nearly 60 years. testament to the skill of the workforce.

The south end of the tunnel c 1950s

South end today there is another tunnel beyond this Sandsend tunnel which was the longest one at 1657 yards sadly we didnt have time to look at it though this one has been reported on here. I think Grinkle is a first though. Thanks to Cat and Sed for the company i hope i didnt bore you too much with my running commentries on the history of the line etc.

 

[catbalou]

i hope i didnt bore you too much with my running commentries on the history of the line etc.

haha! was a great day out. And like i said, you should get your own TV show with the amount of knowledge youve gained. (still working on the title for the program!) Tunnels aint my thing, but was a pleasure to accompany you and Sed in what was a rather enjoyable day. Great photos too, looking forward to the next.

 

[Sed]

Yep - My first live railway/tunnel! That was a tale of two distinct halfs with the first tunnel being a potential £1000 fine plus arrest OR smacked by a train, to a then chilled out second tunnel which despite being a canny walk was a nice little tunnel. Walking halfway through the live one was far enough for me I must say before my arse told me it was time to leave!! Lovely colours in the brickwork on some of your pics of the second tunnel though. Good job, and, erm, a differen sort of explore!! The laughs were there as always but were a bit more hysterical than plain humour this time!!

 

[stranton]

very good,
memories of My pass visits too these 3 tunnels.

theres a 1 mile ironstone mine from Dalegarth to Port Mulgrave,
Conditions were bad on My 2008 visit.

 

[WildBoyz]

That's a great report. I really like your old shots, especially that one with the light from the diesel engine.

 

[Lenston]

Some nice tunnels there mate

 

[Lord Oort]

mmMMMmm tunnels, Great history and report

 

[ACID- REFLUX]

Nice ones mate

Not seen Grinkle before, but as it"s live probably explains it

I called down in the summer for Kettleness & Sandsend and ruined a nice pair of walking boots in Sandsend with the Orange Iron Ore mud about 8" deep and really needed a Machete to cut through the Nettles & Brambles between the two tunnel Portals. Hopefully access will be better ATM But the Tunnel was very wet with severe misting issues, that said the audits seemed in decent condition although in fairly deep water, but idealy wellies needed for the lot of it TBF
Someone was living at the Sandsend (END) portal which was a shock which may or may not been padlocked shut on the small access door ?

 

[pigdog]

nice tunnels i do like a semi live tunnel

 

[dave]

Thanks for the comments folks. First time ive heard of someone living in a tunnel. There was a passage from Sandsend to Kettleness Sed had a quick look it looks like there may have been some cutting back of the vegetation between the 2 tunnels. Now would be the time to attempt it.

 

[ACID- REFLUX]

They were camped in the end of the Sandsend Portal, all kitted out with fresh cooking stuff & clothes & Drugs parp" about the place, i climbed out & F@cked off back over the top to Kettleness as it was getting dark and it didn"t feel good to say the least.

Someone had been cutting trees down around the Kettleness Portal (South) but had made no attempts at the Nettles & Brambles from hell between the 2 Portals (Although that was in the Summer)

 

[Gord]

Hi - Just came across this site.
Have been reckying all the local tunnel portals over the last few years, was looking for the Port Mulgrave western portal last Sunday but it seems to be in a private bit of the Dalehouse caravan site, but will try again and plead ignorance, as there don't seem to be any recent photos of it on line.

Went to this eastern end of the Grinkle tunnel a couple of years ago, the western end can be seen from the road and I thought it might be doable on Christmas day or New Years Day when no trains are running, which I know as I live next to Saltburn viaduct which they pass over from both Boulby mine and Skinningrove works.

There is another mining tunnel under Ridge Lane which is often called Grinkle tunnel which is easy to find, open and would be an easy one to do, although I still haven't done one!

I have also found the Sandsend (Deepgrove) and Kettleness portals, and also the Ravenscar ones but have never ventured through.

Haven't had a good look for the Boulby ones yet but think they're on private land and within the Potash mine perimeter fence.

 

[dave]

I think your right about the port mulgrave tunnel when i went a lot of years ago it was sealed and on the caravan site. The sea end portal is still open as far as i can gather but it is very dangerous and roof falls can happen anytime apparently. Ridge lane tunnel is easy and the Potash trains tend to run weekdays as far as i can gather.

 

[Gord]

Yes the sea end was open and I had a look in. The blokes in the fishing huts were pretty helpful and showed me the path up to it, and the piece of rope to help with the climb. One of them had been in and told me that there are two tunnels inside but one is unstable. At the other end at Dalehouse the main path of the caravan site is a public footpath but comes to a gated section which is where the portal seems to be, and I assume is private but there was no sign. And like you say and the fishermen said it may be sealed at that end...

 

[Gord]

While I was researching the Sandsend tunnel a few years ago, it seems SUSTRANS had been trying to acquire it off the land owners to reopen as part of the national cycle network which they have done with a few other tunnels, but were unsuccessfull...

And I have just come across this footage of the original line ...which speakes for itself...

http://www.eskvalleynews.co.uk/heritage-steam-railway.html