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I’ve lived in the city now for over 10 years and in all that
time I have never been down into the passages to have a look. So one
particularly dark and stormy day my fair lady and I dodged the rain and got
blown to their doors on Paris Street, just round the corner from John Lewis. There are regular guided tours throughout the
day so you may have to wait a little before you are let loose into the tunnels
themselves. Luckily there is a wonderful museum/exhibition area to go around to
fill the time, that explains how the passages were built and the interesting
part they played in the history of the city. Having been closed for a number of
years while the redevelopment of the Princesshay shopping centre that lies
above them took place, they reopened a few years ago with this brand new set up
that now matches any modern tourist attraction in the country. There are lots of
interactive elements, which are great for kids, or adults; if you’re anything
like me and push all the little kids out the way because you can’t resist playing
with buttons and levers and slidey things that make noises (so what I made your
kid cry because I pushed in front of him, I’m bigger and I called dibs first)
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When you do get to enter the tunnels you have to each wear a
very snazzy hard hat, which makes you look like a reject from the Village
People, and leave any bags you have in one of the lockers provided. There is a
very good reason for these precautions: there is not a lot of room down there!
Being quite a tall and broad chap this did pose a bit of a problem (much to the
delight of my partner whose small and dainty figure caused no such problems),
however this isn’t any kind of extreme sport, you don’t need rock hard abs, or chiselled
calves to get around, and there’s no risk of hacking off trapped limbs with a
set of car keys . The worst you can expect is a crick in the neck from ducking
down quite a bit.
Your guide will show you around the different passages and
explain more of the details and interesting history that surrounds them.
Top 5 facts I learnt when I visited:
·
The Cathedral paid for and built the original
tunnel to bring fresh water from a spring outside the city walls to the clergy
so they had clean, fresh water (no such luxuries back then for the plebs)
·
To prevent digging up the road constantly to
make repairs they built the tunnels to allow access to the pipes without
disturbing the traffic (a system that certainly has a lot of merits, especially
when you’re stuck in a traffic jam because of constant road works!)
·
The passages were blocked during the siege of
the city in the Civil War and were used to store gunpowder for the Parliamentarian
defenders to defend the city against Royalist forces
·
The tunnels served a great public fountain that
stood at the top of Fore St. and was opened by King Henry VI when instead of water;
wine flowed out of the Great Conduit (I bet that was a wild night in the town!)
·
300 citizens sheltered there during the German
bombing raids of the Second World War. Surprisingly very little damage to the
tunnels was caused by the bombs (those medieval masons built stuff to last back
then)
So
go and explore a bit of the city’s history and don’t get your brolly blown
inside out or drenched through while you do it. But watch your head though and
don’t blame me if you get stuck.
Opening
Times:
October - May
Monday Closed
Tuesday - Friday 11.30am - 5.30pm (first tour half hour after
opening, last tour 4.30pm)
Saturday 9.30am - 5.30pm (first tour half hour after
opening, last tour 4.30pm)
Sunday 11.30am - 4pm (first tour half hour after opening,
last tour 3pm)
June - September
(inc.
school holidays outside this period)
Mon
- Sat: 9.30am - 5.30pm (last tour 4.30pm)
Sun:
10.30am - 4pm (last tour 3pm)
Please arrive at least 10 minutes before
your tour starts.
Tel: 01392
665887
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