Tidenham Tunnel and the Wye Valley Greenway

We have a new tunnel to walk through. On April 1st Tidenham Tunnel, on the former Chepstow-Monmouth branch line, opened as part of the Wye Valley Greenway. It's the  culmination of a project that was conceived in 2019, now turned into reality by an army of dedicated volunteers.

Eager to see it for ourselves, we decided on a 9-mile out-and-back walk, starting in Tintern on a day when the Met Office were forecasting a mixture of sunshine and heavy showers.  As is becoming usual on this blog, I shall try to describe a little of the history of the route.  I'm no historian, but I hope you'll find it interesting.

Oh, and I've had a request to show my photographs in a larger format. It's always been possible to click then for an enlarged view, but I'm pleased to oblige.  This is, as you will see, a beautiful part of the world. 

This is Tintern Wireworks Bridge, where my walk began. It was built to carry a short branch from the Chepstow-Monmouth railway over the River Wye to serve a wireworks on the Welsh side of the river. Unfortunately, by the time it opened in 1874 the wireworks had gone out of business, but the 1900 OS map shows it serving a tinplate works.  Despite this, it was always known as The Wireworks Branch until it was ripped up in 1941.The site of the tinplate works is now a free car park.

 

Here I am, posing for a photo on the English side of the bridge.  The sun shone brightly, but black clouds were gathering downstream.  Would I make it in time to the shelter of Tidenham Tunnel?

No, I wouldn't!  That's Tintern Abbey, viewed through the pelting rain. I hurriedly extracted my kagool from my rucksack, donned it and quickened my pace.  Only after the rain had stopped did I remember that I also had an umbrella in my rucksack.  That would have been useful. 

 

To preserve the continuity of this story, I've inserted this one here. It was taken on our way back to Tintern, which was once more bathed in sunshine.

 

 

This is where the Wireworks branch (left) left the Chepstow-Monmouth railway (right).

And here's the same spot, probably in the early 1950s. Might this be the next extension to the Wye Valley Greenway? The tunnel is much shorter than the Tidenham one, but there's a bit problem at the other end.

The bridge over the River Wye, which would link the route to Tintern Station, has been removed. Which is a pity, as the old Tintern Station has been developed into a lovely little recreation area, with a cafe and picnic tables.  One day, perhaps.

Still over ¾ mile to go to the tunnel. The purpose of this sign is to mark the point at which one must divert over forest tracks and roads when the tunnel is closed - which it does every evening and throughout the winter.

I read somewhere that The Dean Forest Railway have laid claim to the track removed from the tunnel. I'm not sure whether this lot is awaiting collection, or that it's too crummy to be reused.

 

Tintern Quarry and the remains of a railway siding. The quarry doesn't feature on any pre-WW1 maps, so must be fairly modern. It's disused now, but still has a palatial-looking cedarwood office.

My first view of Tidenham Tunnel.

These photos were taken near the northern end of the tunnel.  Further in it's much darker, with just enough light to walk or cycle in safety. We didn't meet any cyclists in the tunnel on our outward or return journeys, but were I to walk it again I'd consider adding some dayglow safety stripes to my rucksack.

Out in the sunshine once more.

Here's a nice photo, featuring the bridge under which I was standing in the last photo and taken (at a guess) around the time when the last train ran through the tunnel in 1981. Tintern Tunnel is now the second-longest in England through which one may walk or cycle.

Times without number I've driven along this stretch of the A48, looked up at the bridge and wondered what remained of the railway on top.  Now I know.

 

South of the A48 bridge the Greenway runs on an embankment with lovely views over the River Severn to Oldbrook.

Snipehill Bridge isn't quite at the end of the Greenway, but it's where we turned to retrace our steps. That train in the distance is passing the point at which the Chepstow-Monmouth line used to branch off the mainline. Years after the tracks were lifted, it's still called Wye Valley Tunnel Junction on Ordinance Survey maps.