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.....News added on 25th July 2001.....


· Duke of Westminster visits the tunnels with FoWT
We were delighted when the Duke of Westminster accepted an invitation from FoWT and came to tour the tunnels with us in May. Together with representatives of the City Council, the group spent a good hour and a half looking around the remains of the house, the banqueting hall and the tunnels under Paddington. The Duke was very friendly, attentive and inquisitive.
At the top of the Banqueting Hall, l-r: Bill Douglas (FoWT), the Duke of Westminster, his PA Victoria Bolton, David Henshaw (Chief Executive, Liverpool City Council)
He was impressed equally by the scale and intricacy of the tunnels and by the work carried out so far at Paddington and asked to be kept informed of progress.

· Smithdown Lane Stables
The ex-Lord Mayor's stables buildings on Smithdown Lane were demolished in June. Only the parts on Smithdown Lane itself were demolished; the stables inside the site are to remain. This now clears the way for the construction of further new houses by the site owner. As can be seen in the middle of the photograph above, the famous 'double tunnel' is temporarily visible to passers-by. As we continue with preparations for excavating the Paddington section of the tunnels, the Joseph Williamson Society will now be able to proceed with its renovation of the double and corner tunnels on the stables site.

· New feature found near tunnels site
In April we were called to the Local Solutions office at Mount Vernon - adjacent to the tunnels site - where workers preparing for a new car park had uncovered some kind of tunnel. Our diggers set about excavating what began as a small hole (right). Despite cramped conditions, it is clear that the feature is some kind of narrow passageway pointing towards the main tunnels.
We’re not sure yet whether it was built as a tunnel or whether it’s a gap between supporting walls of old properties above. It may have nothing to do with Williamson: some suspect that it’s far older - a mystery we will only solve once we’ve finished clearing it out. For now lots of pieces of glazed and unglazed pottery have turned up among the rubble.

· Tom Williams
The FoWT committee was deeply saddened by the recent death of our friend and colleague Tom Williams, after a long illness. Pictured second from the left above, chatting with FoWT members after a visit in February, Tom worked sterlingly on awareness of the tunnels and on securing equipment and services for FoWT - with his persuasive manner, usually for free! He will be greatly missed.

· Heritage Open Weekend
We are currently working on arrangements for opening the tunnels for an event in September as part of the Civic Trust's national Heritage Open Weekend programme. This annual event sees all manner of places which are normally closed opened to the public for visits. We are working with our colleagues at the Joseph Williamson Society to open as many of the tunnels as possible. Details will be available later.

· International underground conference
One of FoWT's sub-committees is now working hard on preparations for our hosting of next year's Souterrains conference here in Liverpool. The event will see scores of top figures from the world of underground research converging on the city for a 4-day event and we are planning an itinerary to show off Liverpool's subterranean features to delegates between talks. The web site for the event can be found via our 'Links' page.

· Filming in the tunnels
Various media companies have approached us to film in the tunnels of late. Local cable TV station Channel One shot some footage under Paddington for a children’s programme (pictured right), including interviews with some of our guides.
Far more unusual was the filming by a production company working on a guide to how the human body
works. They wanted to use the tunnels as a 3-D model of a person’s insides. We were happy to facilitate this and watched agog as a costumed character known as Mister Methane sneaked around the Paddington chambers. Even the film crew had to run out laughing on occasions!