A PUB owner was left stunned after uncovering a secret underground tunnel beneath a UK village — hidden behind a wall in the boozer.
Robert Bennet, the owner of the pub, was shocked when he discovered a network of tunnels behind one of his boozer’s walls.
GettyRobert Bennet bought Port Dinorwic Marina in T Felinheli, Wales, last year[/caption]
North Wales Daily PostThe owner of a marina pub knocked through a plaster wall to discover a ‘lost tunnel’[/caption]
North Wales Daily PostAfter knocking through the plasterboard, a worker stepped through the hole into a mysterious tunnel[/caption]
His findings have raised questions about the tunnel’s ownership and thrown a wrench into his ambitious expansion plans.
Robert bought Port Dinorwic Marina in T Felinheli, Wales, last year after it went into administration.
His purchase included a number of buildings, including a restaurant named La Marina – which he renamed to Yr Heulyn.
As work began to renovate the pub, Rob became curious about the mysterious plasterboard at the back of the pub.
He had heard of a secret tunnel before and had a strange feeling that the passageway could be on the other side of the wall.
After knocking through the plasterboard, a worker stepped through the hole into a mysterious tunnel.
Opening up about the shocking discovery, Rob said: “There was a plaster wall at the back of the pub that had been built by the last owners but we didn’t know the tunnel was behind it.
“But I knew of the tunnel’s existence and I could see a curved buttress at the rear of the pub.
“We decided to knock through the plaster wall, initially just a small hole and we could see rooms behind it. We sent someone in and later enlarged the hole so we could go through.
“We found that a previous owner had used part of the tunnel as storage, there were thousands of empty bottles in there.
“The most recent date on one of the bottles was 2003 was we assume it was blocked off shortly after this. We’ve no idea why it was blocked up.”
Now, Rob wants to open up the tunnel to the public and hopes to incorporate it into his pub experience.
The pub owner says that he is considering transforming the space into a speakeasy.
However, first, he needs to establish who actually owns the network of passages since his deed to the pub ends at his establishment’s walls.
The passage is part of the Port Dinorwic Tunnel, which was built in 1842 and connected Port Dinorwic and Penscoins.
Originally, the tunnel was used to move slate but later was used to transport workers.
However, the tunnel was abruptly closed in 1961, shortly before the closure of the Dinorwic quarry.
The news comes after plans to construct a “Welsh tube” were announced.
The £1 billion project will feature a tap-in, tape-out system – like the London Underground – and will stretch across South East Wales.
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