TAKE a trip down memory lane with footage from British Pathe of the creation of the first Mersey tunnel.

The footage, named ‘Down Below the River… A Mersey Sidelight’ was taken in 1934 and shows various shots of work on the Birkenhead tunnel which began in 1925.

Queensway tunnel which cost £8 million was opened to the public on July 18 1934 by King George V and Queen Mary and was watched by 200,000 people.

In his speech George V paid tribute to the vision of those who planned the tunnel and to the men who excavated it.

He said: "May those who use it ever keep grateful thought of the many who struggled for long months against mud and darkness to bring it into being."

During the nine years of construction 17 men were killed.

In the footage workmen are seen drilling the ground before laying cast iron slabs on the reinforced concrete road throughout the tunnel.

Another man is seen using one of the many emergency telephones and shows how the tunnel is ventilated with fresh air coming from the surface.

The video also shows the ferries crossing the river Mersey with the Liver Buildings in the distance.