We walked through the Queensway Mersey tunnel on June 15th as part of the
Under & Over The Mersey charity event. The last time there was a tunnel walk through was 1994 & the very first one was in 1934 when the tunnel was opened. 80,000 people walked through that day! The tunnel is just over 2 miles long & is the longest river tunnel in the UK. 11 million cars go through it every year!
We began the walk at St George's Hall & got our entry numbers. The highest number we saw was 25742 which gives you an idea of how many people went through the tunnel (under 5s didn't get a number either!).
It was very exciting to walk through the city centre in the road & go into the tunnel!
All the way along the route were little signs telling you what was above you. It was amazing that we walked for 20 minutes before we were actually under the river!
I have always wondered where the fire exits lead to & what happens if there is an emergency in the tunnel.....
... and this sign told me! there are 7 refuges under the central part of the tunnel which can accommodate 180 people each. There are toilets & bottled water & 2-way communication with the tunnel control room. It's good to know they're there but I really hope there is never a need to use them!
Half way through are 2 plaques on the wall marking the county boundaries. I have always wanted to have a photo of them! It was a little tricky as there were so many people crowding around for photos but I managed to get this one....
....of my little cheeky monkeys!
We stopped for a snack after we'd walked for about 35 minutes. It was so strange to be sitting in a tunnel that is usually full of traffic!
An hour after we had started our walk we saw the light at the end of the tunnel! I must say, although I had enjoyed the experience, I was so relieved to see daylight again! One family who walked beside us had a small child who screamed & screamed the whole way through the tunnel. In the end the dad ran on ahead carrying the boy. When we got to the end I heard him say to his wife that as soon as they had got out of the tunnel he had stopped crying! He must have hated being closed in! The boys enjoyed walking through the tunnel but found the up hill part tiring.
How much for pedestrians I wonder?
The tunnel police kept driving backwards & forwards along the tunnel. I wonder how much it would have cost if we'd broken down & needed rescuing?!
It had been pouring with rain when we entered the tunnel in Liverpool but by the time we reached Birkenhead it was warm & dry.
We headed towards the toll booths to claim our prize....
... a certificate & a commemorative medal from the lovely
WRVS lady. (God bless that organisation! I'll never forget the WRVS tea ladies at Lister Hospital, Stevenage or at Nottingham Prison.... Bless those little old ladies serving tea & coffee to a motley bunch of criminals & not batting an eyelid!).
The boys were over the moon with their medals & proudly showed them off at school on Monday. Luke was especially pleased. The photo shows Luke's 'I'm very excited' face which is almost always accompanied by a high pitched squeaking sound!
We had lunch on the road by the toll booths!!!! And listened to the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra play on the huge stage. They were very good!
Annie had a little snooze too!!
We waited quite some time for our vintage bus ride to the ferry terminal & went back over the River Mersey to Liverpool. The boys loved sitting on the top of the old green bus! They got rather excitable testing out the red telephone box too! :0)
I just love Liverpool's skyline with the Liver birds, cathedrals, the river & the ferries...
Timmy & Luke loved sitting on the top deck of the ferry in the winds! Their conversations amused many of the other passengers on board!
Luke checked his 'map' (a leaflet on steam trains) to make sure we were going the right way!
Back on dry land in Liverpool we walked along the dock road & through the Albert Docks back to our car. You'll never guess what we saw in the water at the docks???
Hundreds & hundreds of jelly fish!! We were amazed to see them there! So, we had a fantastic day & it is already one of those trips were the kids say 'Do you remember when....?'
We walked through the Queensway Mersey tunnel on June 15th as part of the Under & Over The Mersey charity event. The last time there was a tunnel walk through was 1994 & the very first one was in 1934 when the tunnel was opened. 80,000 people walked through that day! The tunnel is just over 2 miles long & is the longest river tunnel in the UK. 11 million cars go through it every year!
We began the walk at St George's Hall & got our entry numbers. The highest number we saw was 25742 which gives you an idea of how many people went through the tunnel (under 5s didn't get a number either!).
It was very exciting to walk through the city centre in the road & go into the tunnel!
All the way along the route were little signs telling you what was above you. It was amazing that we walked for 20 minutes before we were actually under the river!
I have always wondered where the fire exits lead to & what happens if there is an emergency in the tunnel.....
... and this sign told me! there are 7 refuges under the central part of the tunnel which can accommodate 180 people each. There are toilets & bottled water & 2-way communication with the tunnel control room. It's good to know they're there but I really hope there is never a need to use them!
Half way through are 2 plaques on the wall marking the county boundaries. I have always wanted to have a photo of them! It was a little tricky as there were so many people crowding around for photos but I managed to get this one....
....of my little cheeky monkeys!
We stopped for a snack after we'd walked for about 35 minutes. It was so strange to be sitting in a tunnel that is usually full of traffic!
An hour after we had started our walk we saw the light at the end of the tunnel! I must say, although I had enjoyed the experience, I was so relieved to see daylight again! One family who walked beside us had a small child who screamed & screamed the whole way through the tunnel. In the end the dad ran on ahead carrying the boy. When we got to the end I heard him say to his wife that as soon as they had got out of the tunnel he had stopped crying! He must have hated being closed in! The boys enjoyed walking through the tunnel but found the up hill part tiring.
How much for pedestrians I wonder?
The tunnel police kept driving backwards & forwards along the tunnel. I wonder how much it would have cost if we'd broken down & needed rescuing?!
It had been pouring with rain when we entered the tunnel in Liverpool but by the time we reached Birkenhead it was warm & dry.
We headed towards the toll booths to claim our prize....
... a certificate & a commemorative medal from the lovely WRVS lady. (God bless that organisation! I'll never forget the WRVS tea ladies at Lister Hospital, Stevenage or at Nottingham Prison.... Bless those little old ladies serving tea & coffee to a motley bunch of criminals & not batting an eyelid!).
The boys were over the moon with their medals & proudly showed them off at school on Monday. Luke was especially pleased. The photo shows Luke's 'I'm very excited' face which is almost always accompanied by a high pitched squeaking sound!
We had lunch on the road by the toll booths!!!! And listened to the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra play on the huge stage. They were very good!
Annie had a little snooze too!!
We waited quite some time for our vintage bus ride to the ferry terminal & went back over the River Mersey to Liverpool. The boys loved sitting on the top of the old green bus! They got rather excitable testing out the red telephone box too! :0)
I just love Liverpool's skyline with the Liver birds, cathedrals, the river & the ferries...
Timmy & Luke loved sitting on the top deck of the ferry in the winds! Their conversations amused many of the other passengers on board!
Luke checked his 'map' (a leaflet on steam trains) to make sure we were going the right way!
Back on dry land in Liverpool we walked along the dock road & through the Albert Docks back to our car. You'll never guess what we saw in the water at the docks???
Hundreds & hundreds of jelly fish!! We were amazed to see them there! So, we had a fantastic day & it is already one of those trips were the kids say 'Do you remember when....?'
2 comments:
Very exciting and informative. What a great time you all have! Did you know that turtles swim thousands of miles for those jelly fish which flow up between Ireland and NW England?
I'd need more than a loo and water if I were in one of those bunkers! I get a dry throat and wobbly knees if there's so much as a slow down when I'm in the other tunnel!!!
We've got an old map for Luke!
Love Mum xxxxxx
Wow! Sounds like you had a fab time!! I'm amazed at how obviously enthusiastic the boys were even though they had to walk such a long way!! You must have made it very exciting for them en route!! And amazed too that Annie just had a snooze on the floor just like falling asleep in an arm chair on a sunday afternoon!Well done all! xxx
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