The Blackwall Tunnel


The Blackwall Tunnel

A young lad is known to thumb lifts even though he's a ghost.

Location: A102, Greenwich, E14

Description: The Blackwall Tunnel consists of a pair of roads that run under the River Thames in east London which join Greenwich to Tower Hamlets.

The northbound tunnel was originally opened as a single bore in 1897 by the Prince of Wales, as a major transport project to improve commerce and trade in London's East End, and supported a mix of foot, cycle, horse-drawn and vehicular traffic.

To clear the site in Greenwich, more than 600 people had to be rehoused, and a house reputedly once owned by Sir Walter Raleigh had to be demolished.

However, by the 1930s, capacity was becoming inadequate, and consequently a second bore opened in 1967, handling southbound traffic while the earlier 19th century tunnel handled northbound.

The tunnels are no longer open to pedestrians, cyclists or other non-motorised traffic, and the northbound tunnel has a 4metre height limit.

The London Buses route 108 between Lewisham and Stratford runs through the tunnels.

On the 18th January 1979, an anonymous caller to the Press Association informed them that the Provisional IRA had planted a bomb in the tunnel that was scheduled to detonate at midnight. While the Metropolitan Police were searching the tunnel, the bomb detonated at 12:40am, causing an explosion in a gas holder near the southern exit.

One spooky story goes that in 1972, a friendly and caring motorcyclist gave a lift to a boy at the South end of this incredible Victorian tunnel - but - on exiting at the other end he found that his passenger had vanished.

Taking it upon himself to visit the address the boy had given him, he found out that the lad had died many years beforehand...

Tours: The Great London Ghost Tour

Themes: GhostGhost Theme  QuirkyQuirky Theme  TransportTransport Theme
The Blackwall Tunnel

A young lad is known to thumb lifts even though he's a ghost.

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Credits: http://www.greenwich-guide.org.uk/blackwall.htm.00164

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