Paul St George writes:
Tim, I found the drawing of the island and the start of the tunnels.
The first thing to say is that it is not really called Notion Island. I have agreed with the Council that I will do everything I can to avoid a further run of treasure seekers and prospecters.
Paul St George writes:
"The construction of the Telectroscopes is almost complete and the tunnel has nearly reached its twin destinations.
Tim, when we meet, I will show you that I now have a working Telectroscope!
During my wilderness years, I have scoured the overlooked workshops of East London and Brooklyn to find people who still have the skills and craft to build the device. Some of the yards that were previously hidden amongst paper factories and police car-pounds are now exposed like solitary teeth in sore gums as the Olympic development tears down the old East End.
When I found them, the skilled craftsmen were barely continuing trades that had flourished a century ago.
Some people out there are going further than my simple childhood imaginings. In the Telectroscope Facebook group (join us!), Adam has contributed a very interesting guide to making your own tunnel.
In the newspapers I read recently about the “Mole Man” of Hackney who created a labyrinth of tunnels under his house over the last 40 years. On the radio, I hear about ‘Great Escaper’ Paul Brickhill and commentators discuss the puzzle of why the film theme tune of the ultimate tunnel movie has become our national footballing anthem.
Sometimes it feels like we’re all at it.
It would be nice, perhaps to know how Paul’s great grandfather began his own excavations. Initially I imagined the kind of mysterious Victorian engineering project that Paul Conneally unearthed and emailed to me:
The Williamson Tunnels are a labyrinth of tunnels and underground caverns under the Edge Hill district of Liverpool in north-west England. They were built in the first few decades of the 1800s under the control of a retired tobacco merchant called Joseph Williamson. The purpose of their construction is not known with any certainty. Theories range from pure philanthropy, offering work to the unemployed of the district, to religous extremism, the tunnels being an underground haven from a predicted Armageddon.
On reflection however, it's just as likely that Paul St G's tunnel could have had more humble origins – a man alone, inspired by a hole in the ground, a fissure perhaps. He starts to dig, burrows his way down and it begins. So, Paul, tell us. How did it begin?
Recent Comments