Viewing restored at Box Tunnel
8 July 2010The viewing area at Brunel’s Box Tunnel western portal has been cleared of trees and foliage that prevented sight of the eastern portal.
A plaque was placed at the site, five miles (8km) east of Bath, in 1988 to commemorate the tunnel’s 150th anniversary, when cleaning and restoration of the tunnel also took place.
A couple of years ago, on finding the view obscured, an ex-tunnelling contractor employee Andy Hind contacted the associations who had funded the cleaning and restoration, to ask that efforts be made to restore the view from the viewing area.
After several emails and phone calls to Network Rail, this March saw the area around the portal cleared. “Now one can see this fine example of Victorian civil engineering as trains exit and enter the portal,” said Hind.
Box Tunnel, nearly 3km long, was constructed between 1836 and 1841 and is named after the village of Box on the A4. The western portal is one mile (1.6km) east of Box village. At the time of opening, it was the longest railway tunnel in the world. The tunnel was built under the direction of the Great Western Railway’s engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
