I've walked through " the tunnies " many times as a youngster. Part of the old Barnsley to Goole line as it passed mining areas i.e south Kirkby Upton etc. It was a mark of bravery to walk through by yourself. It's probably 40 years since I last went through it

Not what my delicate little ears were expecting to hear - "let's light up Sharon's hole"!!!!! What a cracking tunnel, love the way the shafts have been finished off. Be interesting to know what's occurring with it as the last portal has obviously been infilled so no through road.

A great video today. Always an interesting trip back in time. Thanks for your labors, Ant. Enjoy the weekend, and see you on the next. Cheers Ant! 😊

What a beautiful tunnel. Colours amazing. Lovely to hear the birds chirping away at the exit. Thank you Ant. Another great video and very informative. Well. Done.

As I live in Skellow I will definitely be having a look at this one myself, thank you for bringing this to my attention. Great work, this and the Thorpe Marsh Power Station videos are both near and relevant to me.

Another great explore, Ant. I just love the detail you put into each explore.

Brilliantly lit-up, a great perspective on the old place. There's a lot of work being done on the track bed on the Wrangbrook Lane side(west portal), it's all been cleared with lots of heavy machinery action. Rumours of a heritage line form North Elmsall Station that is going to lay track right through the tunnel up to the east portal at the A1, however, I believe that the application was turned down.

Another great vlog. In Digbeth, Birmingham there are 3 viaducts built. They were never linked and never used. Ive looked at them on google maps but it would be great to have a vlog done about them and a drone fly over 👍👍

Barnsdale is a superb tunnel. I visited the west portal before that wretched fencing was put up. Wish I had walked all the way through!! Fabulous video, Ant - as always. Many thanks.

Top video again, Ant! Thanks a lot 👍🏻😊

Walked through this and Brierley tunnel hundreds of times as used to play in both as kids ,both the mentioned tunnels were used to store heavy plant during construction of the Hemsworth by-pass ,me and a group of friends sent a proposal to local council for a use of the tunnel ,we were turned down as they said there are plans for it .The pipes and holes in the recesses are for water to escape to save bulging

I like the way you breathe new life into these relics.

Fantastic look around. 😊

"So, let's have a look inside Sharron's hole" . . . . . Classic line.

Ant, at 1:38 I see a Roman Road on the old map, is there anything left of it? At its peak the UK rail network must have been quite a complex network ---- just think of the maintenance. Just thinking here, the tunnel is a little over 3 1/2 times the length of the RMS Queen Mary, that's a long tunnel. Thanks to Ant for his time, work and all the walking.....

Used to ride though this tunnel on my motorbike from the mid 80s to the early 90s happy days

Plenty of colour in this tunnel, love the music,it's so haunting😊 x

Mesmerising stills.

Brockville Ontario Canada has an amazing tunnel too, all lit up with LEDS ans music, very public accessible!

Another brilliant video Ant well done!! How about Gildersome tunnel??

Use to knock about down there as kids we could be walking towards A1 an you would pass people coming other way through had some good crack in tunnys

I went thru that tunnel in the early 1970’s it then not fenced off. The reason the pipes are in the brickwork is to release ground water from behind the brickwork. As you can see in the video, the brick work it failing, it dissolving in the acidic waters and over a few hundred years the brickwork will eventually start to fail. Thus the overlying rock at risk of collapse. This is why they monitor the state of the brickwork. The options moving forward a few hundred years will either to backfill to to roof with inert rock and compress it into that roof void, the full length of the tunnel or line it with a concrete sleeve. Either way it’s going to be expensive . The same applies to many pit shafts that where either only half filled with a thick concrete / steel plug put mid shaft as in the case of Frickley colliery ,it’s two deep shafts 23 feet brick lined and between 550 and 650 yards deep only filled up from the 350 yard mark. Askern with just a concrete plug at the top. Plug lifespan, about 400 years then they will fail. Pleased to see the well is still flowing, the aquifers feeding this stretch up to Little John’s well. That now dry due to the Quarry work disrupting the aquifer that fed the well.

Can't imagine it would take to much to reopen that as a footpath, seems in pretty good shape.

More fascinating stuff from you Ant. Thanks for sharing 👍🏻

Brings back many happy memories of growing up and playing in that tunnel. It was the Hull and Barnsley line initially with 2 tracks going through. It was for passenger rail carrages but also commercial, there was 3 huge Coal Mines around South Elmsall, South Kirkby and Upton, with it been the direct line to barnsley it was a direct link for all the coal to go to Hull dock yards. Obviously with the pits closing the railway couldnt live off the passenger trains alone so it had to close. If you walk through the footpaths there is the old railway platforms still there (Upton Railway platform and Moorthorpe Platform) The original Moorthorpe Platforms are huge and still stand, recently has permission from the council to be restored by volunteers, definately worth a look. They are just off Frickley County Park (Frickley Collery Site) Really enjoyed this video thank you.

Sharon’s Spring? Now why did that immediately ring a bell with DelBoy? 😜

The holes in the recesses are for drainage of water from behind the tunnel lining and they do the same job as the blue pipes which can be found at the wetter sections of the tunnel. There main job is to stop the wall buckling and keep the rock behind the lining dry and stop the lining from decying due to spalling. There was lotts of strengthening work done in the late 1990s because of the walls buckling due to water ingerss. There is a good example of the inspection holes draining the water away in your vidio. The reason why the tunnel is maintained is its location to the A1 and the tunnel could be used as a storage facility for military vehicles in time of war. The tunnel could be utilised for the storage of military convoys if needs be. The story behind Sharrons Spring is a strange one no body really knows the story as to why it its called that some say she got hit by a train but there are no records of any accidents. There was writing on the wall opposite Sharons Spring which used to say " In Loving Memory of Sharron" but this got removed when that part of the tunnel got reworked in the late 1990s. Apparently she haunts the tunnel but thats just a local story thats been past down from generation to generation. The tunnel is in fantastic condition compared to other disused stuctures and its remarkable how dry it is and not under water like many others that haven't been saved and turned in greenways. Its definitely been left in that state for a purpose its not sucummed to infill and as far as I believe its for the above reason in my comment for the use for storage of vehicles which is perfectly plausible due to its location to the A1. There has always been ongoing maintenance to the tunnel and with the looks of it there has been recent work done to it. The marks on the roof are new they were not there the last time I visited Barnsdale Tunnel last year. The tunnel is also home to many batts and that is another reason why the the tunnel is kept the way it is. In the long term I cannot see there being much change to Barnsdale Tunnel its been in that state since closure in 1959 with very little if any change apart from the relining work of 1999. I have got photos of this work being done along with many others of the tunnel in different stages of its life in use and out.

Barnsdale Tunnel is in amazing condition compared to the other three large tunnels on the Hull and Barnsley. Take a visit to Brierley Tunnel its very hard to accses but worth it.

great. thank you

I would definitely recommended the next Tunnel along at Brierley. Easily Accessible.

Lovely coloured bricks the Tunnel has Ant 😉🚂🚂🚂

Great video Ant, seems to be a lot going on in there to are sure it's stable I would think. A bit odd considering there's only farmland above it. I wonder if they are considering building above it?

Although I think Queensbury tunnel maybe lost now , that would have made a great addition to the cycle routes

Interesting tunnel, Sough tunnel in Lancashire is impressive but still open. Only been through on a train.

ant you are now tasked with finding out about the recent brickwork lol,ps good luck

been thru this one & from what i remember is both portals had heavy plates of steel blocking them off

very interesting

Thumbs up Ant,thanks lad

Only tunnel I can think of that's cycle friendly is earlsheaton tunnel despite being short

Can't be far from the connisbrough viaduct an amazing feet of structure

Hi, can I ask why samples are taken? Great exploring video of the tunnel. I like how the brickwork changes as yuo enter further into the tunnel.

Those blue pipes you mention @12-13 minutes in are most likely as you say some kind of water relief method to the brickwork. Blue plastic pipes have been used as a standard for water for many years now in the UK. Either that or they was looking for the the source of Sharon's spring. Doesn't look like they worked very well though.

Someone is doing some preservative work on the tunnel obviously with a view to retaining its viability as a passage way. Could this possibly be Sustrans ?

another cracking video Ant have been here myself but the gate was locked so couldnt get inside may try again soon. why not try brierley tunnel for a challenge

The Western portal cutting has recently been cleared and gives rise to the possibility of National Highways infilling it. I saw this on another you tube video more recent than this one. Ive notified the chap who runs Forgotten Relics and he was already aware of this work. Hope its not true

Amazing video...are the gates still open on both portals, or is a ladder needed?

Excellent,I have been through this tunnel three times,what light are you using?

great video, but too much saturation

Can you please tell me how you actually get to the tunnel entrance at the A1 end? We tried for an hour yesterday from the garage and totally failed which was a shame after biking 15 miles to it...

I wonder if it's going to be part of sustrans Greenway cycle route ???

Second..... yeah.....

Does anyone know where abouts this tunnel is and how to get to it does it come up on Google maps want to visit it thanks