I WAS very interested in an article on the Gazette's website relating to Colin Ogden paddling through the Hincaster Tunnel on the Lancaster Canal ( February 15, 2016); he claimed to be the first person in nearly 70 years to do this.
With respect to Mr Ogden, three 14-year-old boys got there before him .
I can confirm that in January 1971 myself and two others, Michael Brown of Hincaster and Philip Rockliffe of Milnthorpe, paddled through the entire length of the tunnel.
We borrowed a dingy and did this in complete darkness; we had torches and noticed hawser ropes down the entire length of the tunnel. When you touched them they turned to powder. The brickwork above our heads showed absolutely beautiful workmanship. The tunnel is literally 200 years old and still standing: it was built to last.
Simon Entwistle
Clitheroe
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