Oakamoor Tunnel - 497yards
Opened in July 1849 the first traffic passed through on the 13th of that month, Oakamoor Tunnel was part of the North Staffordshire Railways Leek to Uttoxeter branch line which ran via Alton or better known as Alton Towers! Constructed mostly of blue brick with stone portals and a horseshoe-shaped profile ,is it penetrated by occasional outcrops of rock close to track level, The alignment curves to the west on a radius of around 50 chains. On the Up side are two rows of cable hangers, as well as cut-out numeric tablets albeit several are missing, the north portal is similar in design to that at the south end but the approach cutting is shallower, resulting in longer wing walls at both sides, The structure is known for being notoriously wet and, without maintenance... time has inevitably taken its toll, The brickwork is badly spalled in places and repair work shows itself throughout, there’s obvious signs of failures in the side walls leading upward to the crown at the northern end made ever more clear due to the failure of a short section of the external brick lining which now resides on the trackbed floor probably a mixture of moisture and freezing conditions,I don’t think it’s a case of it may collapse more like when it collapses....Towards both ends dozens of small holes have been cut into the lining a couple courses of bricks deep presumably for inspection purposes or drainage. Oakamoor Tunnel’s closure came in January 1965 along with the rest of the route southwards to Uttoxeter its now fenced off at both portals it acts as a bat hibernaculum although we didn’t see any on this occasion and is in custodianship of Staffordshire County Council. The northern portal is well hidden in dense woodland and is a fair trek from any angle.. the southern portal is much better located although guarded by the crossing keepers cottage now private residence 100yards from the portal adjacent to Mill Road, It’s been on the “To do” list for almost a year so nice to finally get it visited after a failed attempt in 2020 ( Lack of motivation ) I think we ended up at Keele instead on that day... We were full of commitment on this occasionally and made the epic walk via the extremely dense and boggy woodland must’ve took us a good hour so was relieved to find we could indeed gain access at the northern portal .. we exited via the south end and just walked briskly passed the crossing keepers cottage thankfully nobody was home and besides not much they could do or say at this point... then a long walk back to the car!
Thanks for looking and i hope it’s well received by all....
Opened in July 1849 the first traffic passed through on the 13th of that month, Oakamoor Tunnel was part of the North Staffordshire Railways Leek to Uttoxeter branch line which ran via Alton or better known as Alton Towers! Constructed mostly of blue brick with stone portals and a horseshoe-shaped profile ,is it penetrated by occasional outcrops of rock close to track level, The alignment curves to the west on a radius of around 50 chains. On the Up side are two rows of cable hangers, as well as cut-out numeric tablets albeit several are missing, the north portal is similar in design to that at the south end but the approach cutting is shallower, resulting in longer wing walls at both sides, The structure is known for being notoriously wet and, without maintenance... time has inevitably taken its toll, The brickwork is badly spalled in places and repair work shows itself throughout, there’s obvious signs of failures in the side walls leading upward to the crown at the northern end made ever more clear due to the failure of a short section of the external brick lining which now resides on the trackbed floor probably a mixture of moisture and freezing conditions,I don’t think it’s a case of it may collapse more like when it collapses....Towards both ends dozens of small holes have been cut into the lining a couple courses of bricks deep presumably for inspection purposes or drainage. Oakamoor Tunnel’s closure came in January 1965 along with the rest of the route southwards to Uttoxeter its now fenced off at both portals it acts as a bat hibernaculum although we didn’t see any on this occasion and is in custodianship of Staffordshire County Council. The northern portal is well hidden in dense woodland and is a fair trek from any angle.. the southern portal is much better located although guarded by the crossing keepers cottage now private residence 100yards from the portal adjacent to Mill Road, It’s been on the “To do” list for almost a year so nice to finally get it visited after a failed attempt in 2020 ( Lack of motivation ) I think we ended up at Keele instead on that day... We were full of commitment on this occasionally and made the epic walk via the extremely dense and boggy woodland must’ve took us a good hour so was relieved to find we could indeed gain access at the northern portal .. we exited via the south end and just walked briskly passed the crossing keepers cottage thankfully nobody was home and besides not much they could do or say at this point... then a long walk back to the car!
Thanks for looking and i hope it’s well received by all....