THE call from the DUP for a visionary project of bridge or tunnel from Galloway to Northern Ireland is not entirely the first plans of its kind to be put forward ("DUP calls for 'visionary' project of bridge or tunnel from Gallow to Northern Ireland", The Herald, May 6).
In 1890 what could be termed Jules Verne conceptions were put forward by certain gentlemen in either bridge or tunnel form. Having rail-borne traffic in mind a pamphlet was produced that extolled the virtues of through trains from mainland Britain. Second thoughts were had on a bridge and no fewer than three separate tunnel schemes were put forward from Stranraer/Portpatrick to Whitehead/Donaghadee. Amongst the options was "a submerged tubular bridge" all held down under water by chains and anchors and if the watertight doors at 500ft intervals were to be closed trapping a train. they could be reopened and the train ejected by the inrush of water acting as a piston
All of this, thankfully for many reasons including financial ones, never came to pass.
John Macnab,
175 Grahamsdyke Street,
Laurieston,
Falkirk.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article