Neville Hill's Railway Assortment http://nevillesphotos.fotopic.net/ 1 rows en-gb 60 Lesser Known Tunnels http://nevillesphotos.fotopic.net/c1443450.html Our network of disused railway includes around 300 tunnels, most of which never see visitors. This gallery features a few of our lesser known portals. Friday 18 January 2008: Our network of disused railway includes around 300 tunnels, most of which never see visitors. This gallery features a few of our lesser known portals.

Alfreton Old tunnel is now used by maintenance teams for access along the line between Clay Cross and Nottingham. Near the TransPennine Trail, Ardsley's remaining portal is now a canvas for graffiti artists. The northern portal of Batley Carr tunnel looks out over a scrapyard. Behind this concrete cap is the western portal of Bolsover tunnel. The eastern portal is at the end of a deep, flooded and overgrown approach cutting and has not been visited for many years. The western portal of Brierley Tunnel is at the end of a half-mile long flooded cutting. Hiding alongside a road which bypasses Bacup, Britannia Tunnel featured in the classic film 'Whistle Down The Wind'....before the vegetation took hold. Inside Butterhouse Tunnel on the former Micklehurst loop. The road bridge 100 yards south of Chipping Norton tunnel has been backfilled. As a result, the trackbed leading to the portal now resembles a canal. Next door to Colwall New Tunnel is - you guessed it - Colwall Old Tunnel which some people hope will eventually play host to a footpath to the other side of this very serious hill. Cressbrook is next door to Litton on the former St Pancras-Manchester main line through the Peak District. Both portals of Duckmanton tunnel are buried. This is the eastern approach cutting which is now designated as a nature reserve. While the Up tunnel is now a foot and cycle path, Kelmarsh's forelorn Down tunnel awaits attention next door. On the Brampton Valley Way, the 525-yard Kelmarsh tunnel features a lone ventilation shaft. Litton's east portal can only be accessed by walking through the tunnel. The north portal of Lordsfield Avenue Tunnel is obscured by landfill, save for a small gap which reveals the wet conditions within. Mossdale Head was the only tunnel on the single-track Wensleydale branch. There's no light at the end of Oakamoor Tunnel due to its curvature. This is the south portal which sits alongside a delightful crossing keeper's house. Oxenden Up tunnel has a footpath through it. The Down tunnel - next door - has seen better days. Rusher Cutting Tunnel is on the Monsal Trail, a mile or so west of Millers Dale. A 2-foot deep lagoon prevents progress through Spinkhill tunnel, to the south of Sheffield. Eastbound trains used to leave Stalybridge New Tunnel and immediately cross a viaduct. That was demolished in the Nineties leaving the portal isolated on the hillside. The western portals of Standedge's disused single bores. In the shadow of Stockport's famous viaduct, a lesser known relics of the town's railway past rots away, forgotten. Let's hear it for Wellington Road Tunnel.

Published in Neville Hill's Railway Assortment

]]> Fri Jan 18 2008