STORIES about a series of tunnels underneath Huddersfield town centre have sparked more memories

The tunnels are remembered well by Examiner reader Ray Mosby.

He said: “Up to being about 12 years old I lived at the bottom of Ramsden Street just below the Ship Inn where the Shorehead roundabout is now.

“Between the ages of eight and 11 from 1952 to 1955 I attended school at what was then called Parish Church Junior in Venn Street.

“The mystery rooms could be part of the underground passage which used to go from the parish church school to St Peter’s Parish Church. I used to go in there with other kids from school playing hide and seek.

“From what I can remember there was one main passageway with lots of open spaces which were possibly rooms.

“There were smaller passageways leading off the main one.

“I can only describe it now as being like a rabbit warren. Parts of it were very dark and we used to pinch candles and matches from home.

“One day my mother found a candle in my pocket and when she asked what I was doing with it I told her that we had found a secret passage at school.

“I remember my mother going mad about it and told me not to go there any more but being a young kid took no notice of her.

“She eventually went to school and told our teacher what we had been up to and the passageway from school was blocked up.’’

Ray added: “It was said at the time that the people who were buried at the church used to live in the underground passages, but this was obviously said to scare us off.’’

Cellars at the top of town are thought to have sparked a rat problem in the 1940s and 50s.

James Lawton, 84, of Almondbury, worked as a secretary at J E Sykes motor engineers on Albion Street in the 1940s and recalls two businesses on there – butchers Dan Moon and The Ideal Bakery – having big problems with rats.

He added: “A policeman friend of mine recalls being on night duty at around 2am when he saw hoards of rats round the back of Albion Street and was so terrified that he and his colleagues fled.

“I think the cellars there must have been interconnected but they were all filled in with concrete when the Civic Centre was built so it makes you wonder where all the rats went.’’