The Clifton Rocks Railway was an underground

Underground railway

Underground railway may refer to:*The Underground Railroad, a network of clandestine routes by which African slaves in the 19th century United States attempted to escape*Rapid transit, urban railways that sometimes use tunnels...

 funicular railway

Funicular

A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...

 in Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, linking Clifton

Clifton, Bristol

Clifton is a suburb of the City of Bristol in England, and the name of both one of the city's thirty-five council wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells...

 at the top to Hotwells

Hotwells

Hotwells is a district of the English port city of Bristol. It is located to the south of and below the high ground of Clifton, and directly to the north of the Floating Harbour. The southern entrance to the Avon Gorge, which connects those docks to the sea, lies at the western end of Hotwells. The...

 and Bristol Harbour

Bristol Harbour

Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It has existed since the 13th century but was developed into its current form in the early 19th century by installing lock gates on a tidal stretch of the River Avon in the centre of the city and...

 at the bottom of the Avon Gorge

Avon Gorge

The Avon Gorge is a 1.5-mile long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles from the mouth of the river at Avonmouth. The gorge forms the boundary between the unitary authorities of...

 in a tunnel cut through the limestone cliffs. The upper station is close to Brunel's

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...

 famous Clifton Suspension Bridge

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Brunel died in 1859, without seeing the completion of the bridge. Brunel's colleagues in the Institution of Civil Engineers felt that completion of the Bridge would be a fitting memorial, and started to raise new funds...

 and is located adjacent to the former Grand Spa Hotel (now the Avon Gorge Hotel). The lower station was opposite the paddle steamer

Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

 landing ferries in Hotwells, Hotwells railway station

Hotwells railway station

Hotwells railway station, was a railway station situated in the suburb of Hotwells in Bristol, England. It was the original southern terminus of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier which ran to a station and pier at Avonmouth...

 of the Bristol Port Railway and Pier

Bristol Port Railway and Pier

The Bristol Port Railway and Pier was a railway in Bristol, England.-Route:...

, a terminus of Bristol Tramways

Bristol Tramways

Bristol tramways were operated from 1875, when the Bristol Tramways Company was formed by Sir George White, until 1941 when a Luftwaffe bomb destroyed the power station.-History:...

 and the Rownham ferry enabling connections across the river Avon.

History

Construction of the railway was funded by the publisher George Newnes

George Newnes

Sir George Newnes, 1st Baronet was a publisher and editor in England.-Background and education:...

, also proprietor of the Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway

Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway

The Lynton and Lynmouth Cliff Railway is a water-powered funicular railway joining the twin towns of Lynton and Lynmouth on the rugged coast of North Devon.-Origins:...

, and as at Lynton and Lynmouth the engineer was George Croydon Marks. It opened on 11 March 1893, but was never a great success; in 1912 it was sold to Bristol Tramways

Bristol Omnibus Company

The Bristol Omnibus Company is the former name of the dominant bus operator in Bristol, one of the oldest bus companies in the United Kingdom. The company once ran buses over a wide area of Gloucestershire, Somerset, Wiltshire and neighbouring counties. The name was in operational use until 1985...

, but it continued to struggle and closed on 1 October 1934.

The railway had a length of 450 feet (137 m), overcoming a vertical distance of 200 feet (61 m) at a gradient of about 1 in 2.2 (45%). There were four cars in two connected pairs, essentially forming two parallel funicular railways, each running on 38 inch (965 mm) narrow gauge tracks. The system was operated by gravity, with water ballast being let into the cars at the top station and out at the bottom, and an oil

Fuel oil

Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...

- or gas-burning pump

Pump

A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...

 returning the water to the top of the system.

During the Second World War blast walls were installed in the tunnel, which was used as offices by BOAC

British Overseas Airways Corporation

The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...

, as a relay station by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 (who also constructed an emergency studio there, though it was never put into use), and as an air-raid shelter

Air-raid shelter

Air-raid shelters, also known as bomb shelters, are structures for the protection of the civil population as well as military personnel against enemy attacks from the air...

. The BBC continued to use parts of the tunnel until 1960.

Preservation

A voluntary group has now been formed to preserve and restore the railway. They hope to raise funds for a feasibility study into the complete restoration of the railway. The cost of complete restoration is estimated at around £

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

15 million.

External links

• Clifton Rocks Railway website
• Clifton Rocks Railway refurbishment
• World War II BBC Studios, clip by BBC Points West