4 ms·

We've had other people in the UK that have been rather less 'cautious' probably, sadly, through mental health issues, the Mole Man of Hackney: "Lyttle, origina

We've had other people in the UK that have been rather less 'cautious' probably, sadly, through mental health issues, the Mole Man of Hackney: "Lyttle, originally from Ireland, inherited a 20-room property in the London borough of Hackney. In the mid sixties he dug out a wine cellar under his home. Having done so, he said that he had "found a taste for the thing" and kept on digging, for some forty years.[2] He created a network of tunnels, wide and narrow, on several levels. Tunnels led in all directions, some of them up to 18 metres (59 ft) in length, and reaching as far down as the water table.[3] One excavation connected with the Dalston Lane tunnel, and the railway line.[3]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lyttle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lyttle

indigomm 5y ago
"After this, Lyttle was moved to a hotel for three years, before being rehoused in an apartment in a high-rise building. He was put on the top floor, to discourage tunnelling. While there he knocked a hole in a dividing wall between two rooms." :-)
CarelessExpert 5y ago
Crap... I clicked the link to the Wikipedia page on "Hobby tunneling" and now I'm getting lost in a rat hole of my own: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_tunneling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_tunneling Edit: And in doing so, it reminded me of this story I ran across a while back: https://armeniadiscovery.com/en/articles/levons-divine-underground-cave-museum https://armeniadiscovery.com/en/articles/levons-divine-under...
- manquer 5y ago
  There is this guy [1] Dashrath Manjhi spent 20 years digging 110m long tunnel through hills to reduce the travel distance from his village after his wife died. Apparently he used only used hammer and chisel [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi
andai 5y ago
> When asked by journalists why he had excavated the tunnels, he said "I'm just a man who loves to dig" and that he just wanted "a big basement". He also said that "There is great beauty in inventing things that serve no purpose."
manquer 5y ago
It is certainly odd, Dashrath Manjhi [1] was called insane when he started building a tunnel to make the travel distance from his village shorter. Baldasare Forestiere[2] probably was also called insane in his day, he just wanted a cooler catacomb style home in Fresno. It is hard to know when some one is following a mad vision or just mad. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestiere_Underground_Gardens https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestiere_Underground_Garde...

indigomm 5y ago

"After this, Lyttle was moved to a hotel for three years, before being rehoused in an apartment in a high-rise building. He was put on the top floor, to discourage tunnelling. While there he knocked a hole in a dividing wall between two rooms." :-)

CarelessExpert 5y ago

Crap... I clicked the link to the Wikipedia page on "Hobby tunneling" and now I'm getting lost in a rat hole of my own: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_tunneling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobby_tunneling Edit: And in doing so, it reminded me of this story I ran across a while back: https://armeniadiscovery.com/en/articles/levons-divine-underground-cave-museum https://armeniadiscovery.com/en/articles/levons-divine-under...

manquer 5y ago
There is this guy [1] Dashrath Manjhi spent 20 years digging 110m long tunnel through hills to reduce the travel distance from his village after his wife died. Apparently he used only used hammer and chisel [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi

andai 5y ago

> When asked by journalists why he had excavated the tunnels, he said "I'm just a man who loves to dig" and that he just wanted "a big basement". He also said that "There is great beauty in inventing things that serve no purpose."

manquer 5y ago

It is certainly odd, Dashrath Manjhi [1] was called insane when he started building a tunnel to make the travel distance from his village shorter. Baldasare Forestiere[2] probably was also called insane in his day, he just wanted a cooler catacomb style home in Fresno. It is hard to know when some one is following a mad vision or just mad. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashrath_Manjhi [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestiere_Underground_Gardens https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forestiere_Underground_Garde...