When one thinks of a tunnel, it’s usually something quite cavernous that one might want to climb inside and explore. Like this:
On the other hand, Stephen’s suggestion that the telecstropic tunnel is tiny and thin is quite ingenious. We might be looking at the Victorian equivalent of a fibreoptic cable!
My brother, who is something of an engineer and explorer himself, has rather cleverly pointed out to me that nothing written on the blog so far rules out the possibility that the tunnel is both big *and* small. “Small fissures always lead to bigger conduits,” he says rather gnomically.
BTW in another snap from Paul’s notebook, I noticed he’s scribbled the words ‘Grimes Graves’.
This is unnervingly coincidental since I used to visit the very same prehistoric flint mine when I was young. It was one of my earliest experiences of exploring a tunnel, worming my way in the dark – usually following the soles of my brother’s shoes in the torchlight - not really knowing where I was going or where I would come out. Is there any child alive that can resist a good cave or a tunnel?
Do you have your own photos of an underground experience? If so, do email me and add them to the Flickr group.
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