Photo-a-Day  (Saturday, 1st August, 2015)

Is that really one tunnel above another ? or am I seeing a reflection in water ?

When I see these Arches I always think back what the bricklayers and general laborers would have been complaining and saying about the council planners who designed this magnificent structure.

Just look at this they want another arch on top of this one then one more at the side tut tut tut

Are these the tunnels that Geoff Shryhane was writing about in his Wigan Observer Wigan World column, when as children he and others would jump the gaps.

What purpose did these tunnels serve?

The tunnel on the top left were known as the jumps or landings .There are gaps in the brick floor which lads used to jump across.When I was at school one lad did not make and was killed when he feel into the brook below.They were built by the people who built the railway above

They're the same ones that Geoff wrote about PW, he mentioned that a lad misjudged a gap and had fallen to his death.

I doubt very much that the folks who built this structure would be given to idle chit chat complaining about work Mick, they were skilled craftsmen and would have got on with the job in hand with pride.

The tunnel on the right gave access to three cottages and a cotton mill many years ago

When I used to come out of the tunnel at the other end it was like coming out into a different world.Every child used to shout going through the tunnel ,it was like a big amplifier.I remember you could buy a glass of pop at one of the cottages.I also remember seeing the remains of a mill and what I thought were millstones.Was it a cotton mill?

The old Whelley line once ran across here.

Garry,wrong again,

whelley line didn't run across here.you wrong Garry

the lad that was killed jumping the landing in this tunnel ,was David Gibson , he was 14 years old , and was in the same class at Argyle st school as Geoff Shryhane and myself , the year was 1957/8 very sad ..

Thanks Barbara for that information.When I started at Argyle St Jack Lowe warned us in assembly not to go on the landings .I never did.

That should be fenced off before anyone gets killed

It was called the Devils Tunnels.

Garry, never heard them called that.Has anybody else?

Garry,
Where does the Devils Tunnels come from?
Sounds interesting. Can you tell us more, is that what you called it?

Garry, I lived in this area when I was younger,I have contacted friends and relations who still live in the area and not one of them has heard of the Devils Tunnels.Can you help me out with an explanation

devils tunnel.is in ince.nr ince park. Hindley to Wigan railway line goes over it.

Thanks dave for that information,next time I am in the area I will have a look

I'm with Alan, can't make head nor tale of the upper tunnel to the left, and I suspect none of the other contributors have a clue either

The curved "floor" of the top left tunnel is to add strength to the tunnel walls to the brook below.there is a railway line above that used to carry heavy goods traffic,coal,minerals etc It now only carries light passenger services.