Visiting the Wellington quarry tunnels in Arras, Northern France - A historic site from World War I

While on vacation in France in August we visited the incredible Wellington Quarry historic site in the city of Arras in Northern France. The tunnels in the quarry were extended and used extensively during World War I.

For hundreds of years, chalk had been mined in tunnels underneath the city of Arras. When world war I broke out, these tunnels were re-used. They provided safety from artillery, and housed equipment, hospitals, and the like.

A museum opened in the last 20 years allows you to access the tunnels, and learn their story. I have to say it was quite an incredible experience.

You descend by elevator down into the tunnels with a tour guide, and are taken on a route through them. Lighting and projections are used along the route to tell the story.

A number of artifacts are also on display, which were found when they were re-opened like all of these pick-axe heads in the pic above.

A large part of the story concentrated on a team of miners who were drafted in from New Zealand during World War I to extend and interlink the maze of quarries that were spread out underneath the city.

It was quite amazing to see and walk through the same tunnels. Some of their original inscriptions still exist on the walls, like the direction arrows you can see above - pointing to the location to the toilets !

In a number of places, mock-ups were recreated, often using original items dating from the war to show what conditions would have been like. The working conditions must have been pretty horrendous by our standards.

We only saw a small section of around a mile or so, but they run for miles and miles under the city.

Interestingly the tunnels were used again as air raid shelters for the local population during world war 2.

I have to say that it was one of the more unexpected places we visited in France. We had never expected to go underground through the tunnels before travelling there, and found out about them while in the area.

The tours were quite popular so you had to book ahead. A lot of people on the tour had had relatives who had been stationed in this area during the war, so were there following in their foot steps and their memory, which was quite moving.

As you can see in the pic above we were all given replica soldiers helmets to wear while on the tour - they were proper safety helmets for protection, not just effect !

The tunnels we toured were obviously modified with platforms and the like to make the tour safe, but you could still get a glimpse into the original tunnels to the side, like in the pic above. Again you can see some of the original tunnel markings to donate locations and directions and the like. It really was amazing to see.

It really was one of those tours that felt that bit extra special - just something we hadnt expected to be able to do. If you are ever in the area I'd absolutely recommend it, and we would definitely go back and do it again. It was also an amazing lesson in history - well worth the visit !

Sorry for the picture quality - as can be seen, the lighting wasnt great in many places and so I picked the best that my phone produced !