Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request Queensway Tunnel Hand rails

Does anybody know, when and why did the handrails go missing in the tunnel. They have filled in the stanchion holes, so it doesn't appear there going back.

Bloody pikey's !!!

Don't know the answer, Bert, but the people who would surely know are the Tunnel tour people; they couldn't take you out onto the footway without that handrail. You can get them on
0151 236 8602 ext.206

Her's an extract taken from www.sevenstreets.com.
It’s taken 76 years, but the Queensway Tunnel has finally received its red carpet premiere. Starring (OK, we use the term loosely) in the latest Harry Potter film, The Deathly Hallows, the world’s first underwater road tunnel looks suitably Gothic and grim – seems that, to a location-hungry film scout, all those exhaust fumes and sooty deposits are a real find.

But take a good hard look at the tunnel’s feature-film close up – for it’s about to get a long-overdue (£12 million) scrub down.

First to go? Those edge of carriageway railings. The reason? Tired and emotional Wirral residents thinking a stroll under the water has got to be better than waiting for the tunnel bus.

“The railings make the tunnel look like an easy route home when you’re drunk,” SevenStreet’s tunnel guide, Alison Smith says, “but we see the casualties, and trust us, it’s not.”

“We started taking the railings down to prepare for the re-cladding operation, but we’re probably going to leave them off. The tunnels look less inviting without them.”

She’s not wrong. Still, the tunnel must have looked a lot more inviting when it was first opened. Back then, it was a gleaming procession.

Thanks for that Yewgarth, answered perfectly. I must say the tunnel looks wider without them, i might even see the wife drive through there, then she can stop pestering me.

Thanks, Yewgarth; a good write-up in sevenstreets.

Great exerpt Yewgarth!

I actually found that at first it was more difficult driving through without the rails because I had lost my reference, time will tell. Anyone else noticed that ?

I normally go on the outside lane, but i did notice it was a bit weird when i had to use the inside lane for the dock exit, thats how i noticed they were gone, something wasn't right.

Strange that I missed those rails as a reference point,so it won't be long before lots of other people end up losing a wheel or two,has the pendulum swung the other way on elf and safety or are we being used in an experiment,uncivil servants don't do things on a whim,they are up to something,just call me mr Cynic.

Always amazed me they don't have a white line at the edge of the carriageways.

Can't be a money saving idea, they were only painted a couple of years ago, must be worth a bit in scrap though.

Can't be a money saving idea, they were only painted a couple of years ago, must be worth a bit in scrap though.

I wondered if they had been removed to use for building Spitfire's for the next war? ;-)

I must admit I am going back some 50 years or so, but I was under the impression some of the handrails had fresh air outlets for when the tunnel police stood behind the rail watching the traffic and thus did not succumb to exhaust fumes.