Details of talks given by Tom Stapledon
I am a member of a local history society and registered charity called The Friends of Williamson's Tunnels in Edge Hill, Liverpool. The organisation was formed in 1996 to try to preserve the underground structures built under the direction of Joseph Williamson, "The Mole of Edge Hill". Joseph Williamson (1769 to 1840), was creating his underground kingdon between 1806 and 1840 and since his death most of his structures were filled up with debris and became lost and forgotten. Some of the tunnels were re-discovered, and interest was re-ignited in the early 1990s when they came under threat of being lost forever under new building developments. The Friends were formed to try to re-discover as many of the lost tunnels as possible, to see them preserved, cleared out and made accessible for the public to enjoy as a tourist attraction for the city of Liverpool. I have been a member of the Friends since 2009 when I joined as a volunteer digger. I have since become a tour guide, a Trustee of the charity and a project manager of our main tunnel sites. During my time with The Friends, I have been involved in all our discoveries and clearance work, helping to make the tunnels of Joseph Williamson accessible for visitors, local, national and international, to enjoy. Williamson's Tunnels are a unique, strange and fascinating world beneath the streets of Liverpool.