Report - Chesterfield Tunnel - April 2013

paulpowers · Apr 3, 2013

Well I was heading home and realised I'd never seen the Chesterfield Tunnel even though I posted the lead on it well over a year ago

Access was a nightmare with the footpath next to the wall and fence being the busiest bit of path I've ever seen

Eventually I just jumped over and almost broke my neck on one of the many pieces of orange footwear left by the fence.

Once inside much of the tunnel is flooded and ankle deep in a thick clay/mud, seriously don't go in if you value your footwear it's disgusting

June 1892 saw the arrival of the Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway in Chesterfield, having built a line from its main north-south route at Staveley. Within months, a southern extension was opened to form 'the Chesterfield loop', passing immediately through a straight tunnel of 474 yards which emerged at Hollis Lane.

The through route was severed in June 1963 but the tunnel continued to serve Hydes Siding until 13th January 1964. By the summer of 1985, its northern portal had been lost beneath the Chesterfield Inner Relief Road which runs alongside the structure for much of its length.

Today, the south portal remains open, hemmed in by concrete retaining walls. The tunnel is now prone to flooding - the waters can reach depths of several feet.