... for, on that date we had stopped by the
Tunnel of Flags on a waymarking trip to points west. The last time we had stopped there was in the summer of 2013. We have stopped at the tunnel several times and always check out the flags and the graffiti. In the interim the "Dated Architectural Structures Multifarious" category had been created and, remembering that the tunnel was dated, we felt we had to stop and get pix of the date stamp.
While giving the graffiti our usual perusal, what should we spy but
Kilroy, peeking over the top of some very large graffiti at the north entrance of the tunnel. Given that Kilroy has, to our knowledge, made few appearances in this neck of the woods, we were quite aghast to find this one. Now we hope that he makes a few more appearances in the area.
The Tunnel of Flags, we suppose, is really a natural place for Kilroy to appear, as it is essentially covered in graffiti from top to bottom and from end to end. It is an old highway tunnel on the
Crowsnest Highway barely a half kilometre north of
Greenwood, and ran under the CPR railway which passed by here in the mining heyday of Greenwood. Given that it's located on the world's longest recreational trail, the
Trans Canada Trail, the amount of graffiti it attracts is quite understandable.
Some tunnel facts, from Keystone Appraisals:
• The 1913 Road Tunnel was underneath the CPR trestle and was used until 1964 when a new double tunnel replaced it.
• This one was buried until 1992 when the double tunnel was demolished and this tunnel was once again uncovered.
• In 1998, The Mayor of Greenwood, Arno Hennig started painting the Flags of the World on it to hide the graffiti.