marked by a red circle on this map:
Walking from Aylesford via Eccles, the village just visible in the southwest of the map, I arrive at the junction and turn left towards Burham.
Immediately the road turns quite steeply down a hill and round a sharp bend. According to the map the path that leads to the tunnel entrance is somewhere around here, but there are no accessible paths from the road opposite Little Culand, Culand Farm and Petts Farm. There is a fence beyond which is a dense overgrown thicket and beyond that what appear to be paddocks. There is no footpath along either side of the road and cars appear quickly around the bend making it impossible to stop anywhere to take photographs. Around the corner on the right there is a bus stop and a byway leading off the road up a slight hill, shown as a green line with cross lines on the map.
A little way on the right is a bridle path, shown on the map as a broken green line, which I take. It runs along the edge of a field. After a while I reach a short but steep incline to the right of which is a wooded area. With farther exploration I find that the dense thicket here comes to an edge and then a drop of about 20 metres.
This, according to the map, is immediately above the tunnel entrance, however looking down I can see no sign of it. From the original photograph it would appear to be set back into the cutting, which might explain why it is not visible from above. Turning left to follow the bridle path it is possible to reach the disused quarry that the tunnel is supposed to lead to, and a strange and interesting landscape it is. I walk a treacherous path around its edge.
Future action: return visit on a quieter day with less traffic and investigate a possible connection with this place: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/877686
9 comments:
Funny every time I try and watch the video I get this ghostly after image. I managed to record a section
www.psouper.co.uk/mov/ghost.mov
Indeed that is spooky, what a thing to find on that bend, known locally as 'The Turnlock', in the mid-division of the county.
Its all coming back to me
i walked through that tunnel last night.
how was it?
Me and my dad used to explore the tunnel a few years ago, its possible to go all the way thru it but its hard work and u get really dirty and involves some climbing over chalk falls that have fell down the vent shafts. We used to enter in the north portal which is in the chalk pit, can show you exactly where it and how to get in the pit, and would love to go exploring thru it again if you wanted to meet one day?
mikegoggs2000@hotmail.co.uk
Hi, I went down there yesterday, to gain access to the hidden end of the tunnel, I had been down there years ago many times, the entrance is bricked up with a wooden door, I believe they used to grow mushrooms in there. I was half way down the steep gorge slope when I was attacked by 10,000 large mosquitoes... So had to abandon...
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