Lisa - *OwlBeSatReading*’s Reviews > Bizarre England: Discover the Country's Secrets and Surprises > Status Update

1994: When the two halves of the Channel Tunnel linked up it was discovered that, rather than meeting halfway, the English diggers had made greater headway than the French. Eleven massive boring machines had been used to excavate the tunnels, one of which was later sold on eBay for £39,999.

In Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, The Holiday Inn Elstree on Barnet bypass replaced a 1930’s mock-Tudor thatched barn. During the war years this was ‘Station XV’ where SOE (Special Operations Executive) agents would prepare for missions into occupied France. These included author Pierre Boulle, two of whose novels were hit films - Bridge Over the River Kwai (1957) & Planet of the Apes (1968, 2001).