Don River Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Well done everybody, a very interesting read. But nobody says what the hole behind the bowling green shed is for, if you look down it there are 3 ways off it at the bottom & some say one goes through the embankment..?? where do the other 2 go to & what was it all for.??? bearing in mind its well above the water level.....?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin72 Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Well done everybody, a very interesting read. But nobody says what the hole behind the bowling green shed is for, if you look down it there are 3 ways off it at the bottom & some say one goes through the embankment..?? where do the other 2 go to & what was it all for.??? bearing in mind its well above the water level.....?? One going off to the right certainly goes under the road. At the bottom of 'The Ponderosa' there is an information board with photographs, one of which shows the other end of the tunnel behind a door at the end of a street no longer there. I believe that entrance still exists under a manhole cover in the shrubbery. Certainly urban explorers still enter the tunnel(s) and leave evidence online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don River Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Thanks Calvin, seen all the above mentioned evidence etc, but what was it for anyone..??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemmy117 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Some years ago the council filled in the tunnel under the road, apparently when the embankment was built the tunnel was included so horses and carts could still travel down the valley without having to climb up to cross the road Nigel L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vox Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 That would make sense Lemmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin72 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Pretty sure the tunnel is still there - it was certainly being explored just a couple of years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ukelele lady Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 There's pictures of the Charlton tunnel on Google and very interesting too. Does anyone know why it is names Charlton? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin72 Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 There's pictures of the Charlton tunnel on Google and very interesting too. Does anyone know why it is names Charlton? I always assumed a link with 'Charlton Ironworks', must be some ironwork from them down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilldweller Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 According to the urbex explorers website photo's there are very old cast iron pipes and large gate valves down there, some of them under the floor of the tunnel. There were a number of water supply reservoirs in that valley and I guess the tunnel was in existance well before the embankment was built. Looking at the depth of the large shaft behind the bowling green hut and the photos of the other access which was a very deep manhole (recently capped with concrete), I'd say it was more than deep enough to be the water draw off, or possibly the overflow for the Great Dam. HD PS I've just been looking on Oldmaps and the 1853 town plan seems to show a culvert running from a point just below the embankment all the way down to Port Mahon (Put me on). It seems to flow down the middle of Watery Lane which makes sense I suppose. HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin72 Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Definitely not mythical Andy - i think the door was at the end of Bromley Street which was on the site along with Watery Lane. In the photo on the Ponderosa the door is in a normal position in a wall where as now it is behind a manhole cover in the side of the slope of the embankment. It is a little difficult to picture the old alignment of the streets now as so much has changed. However the tunnel is still there but as urban explorers keep gaining access the authorities change the locks and seal access points (of which i believe there are more than two). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hilldweller Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I always assumed a link with 'Charlton Ironworks', must be some ironwork from them down there. Correct !! According to another forum, (Other Forums are Available), it was so named because the manhole cover where access used to be available, was marked Charlton Ironworks. Both the big shaft and the manhole shaft are estimated at least 40 feet deep on that forum. The manhole access has been either capped or filled in. HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterside Echo Posted September 17, 2014 Share Posted September 17, 2014 Presumably there wasn't an identified demand or need for more water that would justify the expense of such a large undertaking. The construction of a dam wall would be very much more complicated and expensive than an embankment to carry a road. I don't know the depth of the dam in the park, but I remember some years ago there was a number of incidents during a long hot summer of people jumping out of the boats to swim and being drowned. The parks dept. warned that due to the depth of the dam the water was extremely cold even in hot weather and jumping from a boat was particularly dangerous. Standing where the old recreation ground was and looking up at the embankment a thought crossed my mind. Don't you think that apart from the new road, the main reason for all the work involved must have been to strengthen the dam wall. The Old Great Dam had a capacity of 21 million gallons and dated back to 1785. It was the last and lowest in a chain of reservoirs in that area. The population in the wake of the dams must have increased dramatically since they were built, and of coarse the Infirmary was directly in the path of all that water. I should imagine the memories of the Dale Dyke disaster of 1864 must have spurred some of the City Fathers belatedly into action. W/E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterside Echo Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 The Old Great Dam had a capacity of 21 million gallons and dated back to 1785. It was the last and lowest in a chain of reservoirs in that area. One of the dams was named "Misfortune" anyone know why? W/E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmund Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 A correspondent in 1874 speculated that it was because the dam was " a favourite resort of suicides" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin72 Posted September 19, 2014 Share Posted September 19, 2014 Every now and then i bounce i thread that seems interesting but ignored, this one had 2 replies when i asked the question! - i am pleased the original question got the answers it deserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waterside Echo Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 Every now and then i bounce i thread that seems interesting but ignored, this one had 2 replies when i asked the question! - i am pleased the original question got the answers it deserved. Not much activity on the site nowdays though is there Calvin. W/E. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HughW Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Agitation for a better road across the valley, 1881 Sheffield and Rotherham Independent 20 Sep 1881 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin72 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 The Ponderosa side of the tunnel which goes under the road. It is easy to see the other side from behind the bowling green, but I don't know exactly where this entrance is today (although I realise lots of intrepid people do!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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