Early conceptions of the Channel Tunnel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While the Channel Tunnel became a reality in the 1990s, throughout the centuries many dreamers and innovators had come up with schemes attempting to link England and France (or the Low Countries) beneath the English Channel.

A famous depiction of a paranoid fantasy gripping England in the early 19th century was captured in a famous print demonstrating the invasion plans of England supposedly put in place by Napoleon Bonaparte. From the air, the Grande Armee was to fly across the Channel in Montgolfier balloons. Barges bearing French soldiers were to cross the Channel by water. Another aspect of the fictional "invasion" was legions of French forces marching underground -- through a tunnel supported by rafters and lit by torches.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Image and other background material can be found at theotherside.co.uk tunnel background page.