Classic cars from the 1920s and 1930s gathered at The Pier in Harwich today
“The Tunnel That Never Was” April Fool’s Day joke was the brainchild of John Elliott, a Harwich councillor, engineer and entrepreneur who championed an ambitious plan in the 1920s to construct a road tunnel beneath the River Stour and River Orwell, linking Harwich with Felixstowe.
In April 1926, a mysterious figure, identified as W H Par, issued invitations to national newspapers and motoring organisations announcing the grand opening of the Harwich-Felixstowe tunnel. To the prankster’s surprise, the story was widely published without verification and prompted more than 300 motorists to travel to Harwich expecting a historic moment, only to discover no tunnel had been built.
While the tunnel was never created, there is a firm ambition 100 years on to improve the connectivity in Dovercourt.
The second phase of the £737,000 High Street Accelerator Project sees a number of improvements scheduled for green spaces in Dovercourt town centre with the focus on land near Dovercourt Train Station, the underpass in Mill Lane, Cliff Park and the Queen Victoria Memorial.
The work to improve links follows on from other town centre initiatives funded by the scheme. These have included shopfront improvements for town centre businesses as well as work to create a more welcoming environment for shoppers and visitors.
The famous April Fool’s Day joke was driven by Elliot’s mission to improve key links in Dovercourt and create jobs during a time of economic hardship.
One hundred years later, Harwich paid tribute to this extraordinary story by bringing together a distinguished collection of Rolls-Royces from the 1920s and 1930s, echoing the convoy of vehicles that famously arrived in 1926.
The vehicles were welcomed by members of the Harwich Tourism Group outside The Pier hotel, keen to highlight how, even 100 years later, the opportunity of connecting Harwich and Felixstowe with a daily car or foot ferry remains as beneficial as ever.
Paul Milsom, Chairman of the Harwich Tourism Group, said: “We are thrilled to celebrate one of Harwich’s most unique stories. The 1926 hoax may have been a prank but it was rooted in a very real ambition – John Elliott’s vision to make a better future for Harwich and the surrounding area. Thanks to the High Street Accelerator programme, the Dovercourt has seen substantial investment. We may not have a tunnel to Felixstowe, but the space around the tunnel connecting the High Street and the beach is being transformed.”
Anthony Kearsley from Autocouture Ltd, who supplied the classic car collection, said: “To bring these cars into Harwich for this centenary has been incredibly special. Seeing them arrive outside The Pier hotel, and greeted by such enthusiasm, really brought the history of this story back to life.”
Harwich tunnel hoax marks mischievous centenary
