The Bristol Railway Archive

Has anyone visited the Hotwells tunnels (bottom of Bridge Valley Road) recently ?

I just wondered what had happened to them after the Bristol Gun Club vacated the one that was being used as a shooting range .

They have an interesting history having been built to allow rail access to the BPP terminus . Later an extension platform was built between the tunnels to cater for the hugh number of munitions workers travelling daily to Avonmouth .The tunnels were closed in 1926 when the section of line from Sneyd Park Junction to Hotwells terminus was lifted to allow construction of the Portway .During WW2 the tunnels were used as a Deep Air Raid shelter and when I did visit them many years ago there was still much eveidence of this use.

It might be worth visiting an urban exploration site eg 28days later or subterranea britanica I have seen reports on and photos of the shooting club etc quite recently on one of the sites. There are a number of similar sites that may posess information on those tunnels.

Thanks Nick - good suggestion .

I have found quite a lot of info on www.forlornbritain.co.uk

When I lived in Hotwells our shelter was under the yard and when the tide came in it flooded so we were sent to the tunnel which after several visits my mum said no more so we stayed with my auntie up hope chapel hill in the basement of no5 Abermarle rd?which is still there. I was six then .