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The SVVS again displayed our vintage and classic
vehicles in the old Reigate Tunnel, generally supporting the National
Heritage Open Day Scheme but it seems Reigate is no longer putting any
great deal of effort into the event. In the good old days it was an event
with various local stands selling things from local sources, Food stalls,
loads of bunting, and and music from local bands playing in the street.
Frequently we also share the Tunnel with the Wealden Cave Society why
occupy the centre of the Tunnel near where the unobtrusive small door that
is the entrance to Reigate caves.
People may not be aware that below the Tunnel are the famous Reigate Caves
whose entrance is in the tunnel (see
cave photos of 2002). Although some of
the caves are natural, most of them are are man made. The man-made ones
are actually an extensive network of Sand Mines which produced large
quantities of Folkstone Sand, White Sand and Silver sand. Although most of
the sand was mined 'officially' many of the tunnels were made by private
individuals excavating tunnels from within the cellars of their homes. As
the tunnelers were amateurs, some of the tunnels frequently collapsed as
sink hole' including a section in 1869 which took out all the front walls of a row of
cottages. Equally dramatic was earlier collapse of the cricket pitch in
the Castle Court in 1858. A shower of rain removed the players from the
field a few moments before the pitch disappeared into the gaping cavern
below !
Today we shared town events with others. The town was holding a Gay Pride
march to an event in the nearby Priory Park. The Reigate Caves were also open, which meant
we did not have the Tunnel to ourselves. Our exhibition of Vintage and
classic Vehicles had a turnout of 16 cars and a motorcycle,
- couple up on last year. Tunnel Road is now closed to traffic as is the famous Reigate
Tunnel. The 'toll' Tunnel was opened in 1824 by Lord Somers beneath whose
private land the tunnel was on. It was the main road through the town to
London and was eventually controlled single way in either direction by
traffic lights. I well remember as teenager driving through the tunnel
accelerating rapidly on my 500cc BSA enjoying the reverberating echoes of
my Burgess straight-throughs against the tunnel walls. Those were the
days. Today you sit in the middle of the road drinking a Caffe Macchiato,
or alternatively opposite, a pint of Fullers Bitter. The day was lovely
and suitable for either, hot and bright blue sky, continuation of the
second heat-wave of the year at 32.6C, - shirtsleeves and shorts was the
order of the day.
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