T

he Mersey Tunnel has amazed visitors since 1934. Thousands make their underwater journey through this engineering tour de force every day – but to really understand how the Queensway Tunnel works, you need to wrap up warm, don your high vis’ jacket and venture, not so much behind, but under the scenes.

Dipping beneath the road surface, you’ll walk down to the depths of the city, dropping into the Tunnel Control Room where eagle-eyed experts monitor the volume and safety of four lanes of traffic, right around the clock.

From here it’s onto somewhere that (hopefully) few tunnel users will ever get to see: the Emergency Escape Refuges.

As well as giving you a good insight into the tunnel’s history, you’ll also get a tour of the George’s Dock ventilation building. Forget the ferry: maybe Gerry and the Pacemakers should have been singing about this lot instead.