麻豆社

The men were going to war, leaving the small close-knit communities in the Shropshire hills to fight for King and country. But word was beginning to get back through letters and newspapers. People were beginning to realise war wasn鈥檛 as glorious as they thought. Volunteer numbers were dropping and conscription was imminent.

But working in a mine, producing valuable minerals was important, almost guaranteed to keep the young men at home. And this is why, the story goes, the Somme Tunnel at the Bog mine was started.

The young men from this small community were given important war work, digging out a tunnel that contained nothing, went nowhere but kept them at home in 1915 while their comrades left for the Western Front.

Location: The Bog, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY5 0NG
Image: The ropeway at Snailbeach Mine, courtesy of Ron Davies