Underground London - Brunel tunnel shaft

The first tunnel under the River Thames in London was also the first tunnel built under a navigable river anywhere in the world. It is the Thames Tunnel, and connects Rotherhithe on the south bank to Wapping on the north side. The tunnel was designed by Marc Brunel and his son Isambard Kingdom. It was opened in 1843.

Next to the Brunel Museum is a shaft that led down to the tunnel. This was open to visitors in August 2023. It is a large circular shaft and a modern staircase takes you down to the concrete floor. Some metres below, is the London Overground railway running through the Thames Tunnel - see map.

Looking up at the ceiling -

The tunnel originally 

It was quite an achievement building a tunnel in soft ground under a navigable river. In 1825 it was the busiest river in the world and because of the height of tall ships, a bridge wasn't feasible. So Marc Brunel had the idea to build a tunnel, and Isambard, aged 19, was the chief engineer. The tunnel shaft was built above ground and then sunk like a cookie cutter, with added bricks to weigh it down. It was made of two 25 ton iron hoops surrounded by bricks and rubble. It extended 12 m underground and provided access for the miners to dig out the tunnel, being protected by a Great Shield. They lined the tunnel with bricks.

It would have been a horrible job, being showered with water from the Thames which in those days was like a sewer. They worked in 2 hour shifts. In 1827 water flooded in and construction had to stop. The tunnel was finished in 1843, having taken 18 years to build rather than the expected 3. 

Once opened it became a huge tourist attraction, as people were fascinated by being able to walk under a river. There was even a fairground in 1852. In the late 1850s the tunnel was sold to the railways and Victorian steam trains used it. 

Outside is the engine house. It was built to house a boiler. This delivered steam to a pumping engine which pumped water out of the tunnel. The building now houses the museum.

The Thames with the tunnel below

Artwork by a local school -

And a poster in Rotherhithe station -

The Brunel family burial site in Kensal Green cemetery which I visited in 2020.

Guano collection from London Underground bridges

Collecting pigeon guano from special built dovecotes on railway bridges is a new concept. Pigeons have become somewhat of a pest in cities everywhere and are thriving. They are commonly called flying rats. However like the rest of us, they are only trying to survive.

A temporary exhibition in London's Design Museum is called "Islands. Design Researchers in Residence" and one of the sectors is called Dovecote for London. 

In the display, the exhibitor proposes a design for dovecotes, as a home for pigeons. These could be placed on railway bridges and the guano collected from inside could be used as a fertiliser for urban farms around London. This would benefit urban agriculture. 

Many years ago, some of the Pacific Islands were famous for the export of guano. This was used for fertilizers and explosives. One of the main islands was Nauru. This has even featured on several of their stamps -

A map of the Guano Line -

The dovecotes could house many pigeons and protect them from predators and the weather. They would have perches and entrances designed for pigeons.  A model of the inside of a dovecote -

I think it is a great idea and hope it actually happens.

Bremsnes Cave / Bremsneshula, Western Norway

 After visiting Bergtatt marble mine in Western Norway, we drove over the Atlantic Road to Averoya Island. On the northeast peninsula of the island is the town of Bremsnes, with Bremsneshatten peak to the west. This is a 130 m high hill. In the hill is Bremsneshula, or Bremsnes Cave. 

Although we weren't able to visit, we were told it is a Neolithic site. I haven't been able to find much on the internet about it, apart from general tourist stuff. 

Google maps -

I haven't been able to verify how accurate the following information is -

Bremsneshola is Norway's largest cave, located on the south side of Bremsneshatten mountain in Averoy. Many finds from the approx 10,000 year old Fosna culture have been made here. The main chamber is about 80 m long and 4-12 m wide. The entrance is up the rock face. From the top one has to descend 10 m. From the main chamber a narrow passage 3-4 m long leads to small chamber about 3 x 8 m. Human bones were apparently found here in the 19th century. Animal bones have also been found.

In 1960 an arrowhead was found at the back of the main chamber. It is made of reddish-brown jasper and is of a type called Sandbuktpil, a type of arrow that is most common in Northern Norway and can be dated to the Bronze Age, 1800-900 BC. The arrowhead is elaborate and maybe put there as an offering. 

5 m inside the cave is a stone embankment, 3.5 m high. Researchers say it was built up by the sea and later formed the basis for a wall with logs as support. 

Many legends are associated with the cave. In the olden days, people believed the cave was a hiding place and that the remains found there were from outlaws and people shipwrecked there. 

In the Bremsneshatten area, several Ice Age settlements have been found. There is now a cultural trail

Bergtatt Marble Mine, Norway

 Bergtatt marble mine is located on the Romsdal peninsula in Western Norway , north of Molde and south of Kristiansund.

It is a family run marble mine and parts of the mine are open to tourists for tours. Many of the tours start in Molde or Kristiansund, and include the Atlantic Road as well as the mine. 

From a distance the forested hill doesn't really look like a marble mountain. Mining began in 1938 and is still ongoing in some areas. 

Leaving the main road, the coach drives up the hill on a private road leading to the mine and then suddenly enters a tunnel. It's probably the first time I have entered a cave in a coach! After a short drive the coach stops at the entrance to the tourist section.

We were greeted in a hall lit by 2 large chandeliers. We all put on a life jacket and helmet and got into 3  electric rafts, for a ride across an underground lake. 

Lights of different colours faintly lit the hall and tunnel and as we crossed the lake, atmospheric music was playing. We came to a small chamber and got out of the raft to watch a short video on the geology, then everyone was given a small cup of pure water that has filtered through the mountain - it was completely tasteless. 

Then back into the rafts to return to the starting point.

Here we went into a large chamber set up for concerts, with space for 300 people. There is a bar, and a display of old mining lights etc. The temperature here was quite pleasant after the cool air in the lake area. The hall is heated to 22⁰ C, whereas the mine is only about 7⁰ C.

We watched a film on the mining techniques. I was really surprised to learn that the marble is only used to make high quality glossy paper. This is very different to other marble mines and quarries where the marble is cut out in huge blocks to be used for buildings, statues, work tops etc. Here at Bergtatt the marble is extracted by blasting which results in mostly small lumps and a lot of dust. This is then removed from the mine and crushed to 60 mm (?) to make the paper.

It seems a bit of a waste to me, destroying a mountain to make paper, and then that glossy paper can't be easily recycled! Our guide said that nowadays less paper is used for magazines with everything going digital, so there may not be much demand for their marble in the future.

However the 2 chandeliers in the entrance chamber were made using slabs of marble from the mine.

The post box and info board by the main road are also set on marble slabs from the mine - 

The tours are run in the summer season from May 30 to August 16. NOK 415 for adults. 

See more on the Bergatt page, where there are lots of photos and also videos.

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Just to the north of the Bergtatt marble mine is the Visnes marble quarry. 

This is an open pit quarry. See more on their website.

Narvik rock carving, Norway

The moose at Brennholtet. 

A single carving of a moose. On a boulder in a small wooded hill on the edge of Narvik town. The site is called Brennholtet.

Narvik is a town in the municipality of the same name, in Nordland county. Narvik is located on the shores of the Ofotfjorden and is inside the Arctic Circle. Narvik municipality is shown in red -

It was discovered in 1958. The age of the carving seems to be around 4000-3000 BC. A conservator from Tromso Museum visited a month after discovery and painted the figure in red.

The rock is slanted and glacially smoothed. The animal is portrayed in its natural size, about 2 m long and carved with a naturalistic outline. 

It belongs to the hunter-gatherer type of rock art. This usually depicts wild animals, such as deer, as well as humans and boats. 

It is quite hard to make out the carving now as most of the red paint has gone, although it is still visible on the hind leg -

The route from town is signposted, helleristning means rock carving - 

This photo by JZ from Wikimedia Commons shows the outline more clearly -