The Bristol Railway Archive

James wrote:
Something strange I noticed about the bridge: On the west side (right when facing up the hill), you can clearly see a small section of the top of a brick arch in the stone wall, as if the bridge was built later, and butted up against the existing tunnel mouth and wall, instead of building a new parapet.

That'll be this then:

And more:

Those pics are great James, thanks.

That tunnel mouth is a mystery. The only thing I can think of at the moment is maybe that end of the tunnel was hit by a bomb during the war (There is a piece of tram track in the churchyard which was hurled there during the war from a nearby street), or that the churchyard was extended at some point and the road was shifted over a few feet.

Anyway, when I have some time (kinda busy here of late!) I will add your pic to the website proper. email me with your surname so I can credit you properly.

madhattie wrote: That tunnel mouth is a mystery. The only thing I can think of at the moment is maybe that end of the tunnel was hit by a bomb during the war (There is a piece of tram track in the churchyard which was hurled there during the war from a nearby street), or that the churchyard was extended at some point and the road was shifted over a few feet.

A look inside the tunnel would probably solve at least part of the mystery...I should imagine the join between the two arches would be very different depending on whether it was a simple new bridge or a bomb damage repair. I guess you can't remember from your "when i were a lad" days

Is the tunnel private property? Or railway land? There always seem to be doorways into "sealed" tunnels...I remember looking inside Hatch Beauchamp tunnel on the old Chard branch and being surprised to find a pile of rusty old bicycles just inside the door

It would be ironic if you were arrested for trespassing on a "railway" where no trains have passed for 40-odd years

p.s. something I forgot to mention about the last pic of the George Railway Hotel is the "ghost" of the western extension's roofline in the scaffold around the main building