City caves to opened up to the public
A centuries-old network of caves that winds under the centre of Nottingham is opening to the public this month for the first time in more than 25 years.
The tunnels, known as the Mammoth Caves because of their size, start in the back of a cafe in Mansfield Road and stretch for 200 metres to Peel Street, making them the biggest collection of the city’s 849 caves.
They were closed to the public after 1991 as Nottingham City Council decided to focus on the smaller but more central caves in the Broadmarsh.
But, as part of the city’s caves festival between May 11 and 13, guided tours by torchlight will be given.
Lukaz Wirwa, 37, a factory worker who has lived in the street for more than five years, said: “I always knew it was there but I have never been able to go inside. I definitely want to see down there, I’m curious about what is under my house.”
The other entrance to the caves is in the garage of Fox Talbots, owned by Julie Torr and Toni Edwards, who recently went down with Scott Lomax, the city’s archaeologist, before the opening to the public.
Miss Edwards, of Southwell, said: “When we heard about them, we couldn’t wait to get down and have a look. It is unique, it is a bit of our heritage. It is quite weird down there, it has its own atmosphere. When they turned the torches off, that is the meaning of pitch black.”
The caves were allegedly carved by one man and his pit pony over a 30-year period in the late 1700s and early 1800s to extract sand for use in glass-making. After that they were a tourist attraction and in the Second World War were used as an air-raid shelter for around 270 people. Signs and lights remain as evidence.
Interest has been so high for the official opening that all 153 tickets have sold out and Mr Lomax, organiser of the new tours, hopes to make them a more regular feature.
He said: “What is so special about them is that they are by far the largest in Nottingham — 200m in length but they seem a lot bigger because of a lot of chambers which really create a labyrinth. All of Nottingham’s caves are important but these are impressive because of their sheer size. THE opening of the caves will also include a horror film showed in an underground tunnel.