[Smackeddie]

ok so came across this today in work. i've known about them for years as they are all around this area!! i've touched on them briefly on my other threads but here's a proper decent report and video from the BBC about them!!
no one really knows why he built them. the local consensus is that he was just a local eccentric millionaire who just wanted to help the men and boys of the city stay in work and be able to support themselves and families..... i think its awesome how some of the entrances are so covert nowadays, like under grid covers,, just like in the monks tunnels in birkenhead which are even more intruiging and ancient.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21595625
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a9LPEDL9vEw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
"Volunteers in Liverpool are giving up their free time to clear out a mysterious labyrinth of tunnels that lurk beneath the city's Edge Hill area.

The Friends of the Williamson Tunnels are removing the results of decades of Victorian "fly-tipping", hoping one day to expose tunnels which they believe could stretch for miles.

The tunnels were built and conceived in the early 19th century by eccentric businessman Joseph Williamson, who paid soldiers returning from the Napoleonic war to build them. No records were kept of how far they stretch, nor which direction they go in.

After Williamson's death in 1840, the tunnels fell into disrepair. The site currently being cleared was filled with over 100 years' worth of ash and debris from a local bakery.

BBC News was given a tour by volunteers who explained why they are so intrigued by Williamson's weird and wonderful world. "

[kellyhound]

cool artefacts. you never know what's down there. i would volunteer too

[Danscape]

[slaver]

does anyone else have a problem with youtube vids when you try to watch them on full screen? mines just black with sound!

cool vid bTW,

[Faline]

Awesome

[William May]

I love stuff like this! I'm surprised they weren't used during the war as air raid shelters......I'm sure there must have been air raids by the Germans on Liverpool, with it's importance in shipbuilding and transport.

[Smackeddie]

liverpool and birkenhead were some of the worst places to be hit during the war as they were integeral to the shipping industry and major ports and shipyards were based there. i think they did use some sections of the tunnels as shelters u can visit them anyway and do tours inside them

[Sandbwoy]

I'd like to think there are many more places like this underground waiting to be discovered