real time web analytics
Report - - Haddon Tunnel - Derbyshire - March 2020 | Underground Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Haddon Tunnel - Derbyshire - March 2020

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Tunnel Gricer

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Haddon Tunnel (1,058yds) Midland Railway.


Massive Thanks to HughieD for use of his history write up and research on Haddon Tunnel, Really appreciated

History - Haddon Tunnel is located in the English county of Derbyshire. It was built by the Midland Railway in 1863 as an extension of its Buxton branch-line, into the Peaks, linking the afore-mentioned Buxton with Matlock. The line was born out of the Midland Railway’s rivalry with the London & North Western (LNW) to secure a strategic rail route between London and Manchester. The first section was the 15-mile extension of the Rowsley line into Buxton, authorised in May 1860. The 1,058-yard long tunnel was constructed to hide the railway from the view of the Duke of Rutland where the line passed Haddon Hall. The tunnel is close to the surface and was, in the main, built by the 'cut and cover' method. So much so that towards its southern end, it is now possible to walk alongside the tunnel at track level, such is the shallowness of the fill and gradient of the slope. It included five ventilation shafts with one being the full width of the double-track tunnel. Shortly after the headings met on Tuesday 2nd July 1861, an arch collapsed killing three men and a boy, wounding another so seriously that he died the following day (see picture below). John Millington, George Buckley, James Bird, James Clarke and the young Alfred Plank are honoured by a simple memorial in the churchyard at Rowsley. The railway paid £100 (equivalent to £8,781 in 2016) compensation to each of their families. Unsurprisingly the 1963 Beeching Report saw the withdrawal of the local Matlock-Buxton/Manchester services. The line’s complete closure to through traffic was determined by a confidential 1964 study into ‘duplicate’ trans-Pennine routes (April 1966, saw the introduction of electric haulage for Manchester-Euston services on the West Coast Main Line). From October that year freight and parcels were diverted instead via the Hope Valley line. The announcement about the cessation of passenger expresses followed soon after and on Saturday 29th June 1968 the last passed through Haddon Tunnel. The Up line was lifted just a year later in June 1969 and the recovery of the Down line the following summer. Following closure, the track-bed and tunnel was reincorporated into the Haddon Estate. A long campaign by Peak Rail and others culminated in a feasibility study by Derbyshire County Council in 2004, the Haddon Estate being a major opponent of the plan. Peak Rail still plans to extend their heritage rail services via both "Rowsley railway station" and a proposed "Haddon" Halt towards Bakewell. This would require additional restoration of the old tunnel itself and both Rowsley and Coombes Road Viaducts, plus reinstating the Bakewell station site to its original condition by the year 2016.



Early March 2020 and I found myself in the stunning Derbyshire countryside after a failed attempt to record images from Haddon Tunnel... I returned early one morning walking the old trackbed from Rowsley it didn’t take long to reach the small but impressive southern portal of Haddon Tunnel extremely well hidden from the nearby busy A6 road, on a previous visit it was noted standing water against the blocked up northern portal was approximately 5/6ft deep and having walked all the way through the water was pouring in through 2 holes in the block work however the internal drains seems to be coping well... at this end anyway, quite unnerving looking through the hole and the water is at eye level pouring through! The two outer sections of the tunnel walls are stone and fairly low where as the middle section constructed from brick is a lot higher, there’s 5 Air Shafts all still open and at various depths, the central ones being the deepest, only a single railway sleeper with rail chairs remains with the odd fishplates laying about, loads of refuges all of various designs, as you’ll see from the images there’s one particular section that’s covered in white limestone residue really impressive, and finally the southern portal had lots of standing water running out via the door, Hope you enjoy the images was hard to select a reasonable amount to upload from the 100s I took in this occasion.



Early March 2020 (Before Lockdown)

849577


849578


849579


849580


849581


849582


849583


849584


849585


849586


849587


849588


849589


849590


849591


849592


849593


849594


849595


849596


849597


849598


849599


849600


849602


849603


849604


849607


849608



Thanks for looking
 
Last edited:

Scoobysrt

Teim scoobs
28DL Full Member
I went last year and never found the open end in main because the mate I had with me was crying about being hungry all the time so we got to the hotel up there and walked back. Never did find the open end and I sure I was close.
 

Tunnel Gricer

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I went last year and never found the open end in main because the mate I had with me was crying about being hungry all the time so we got to the hotel up there and walked back. Never did find the open end and I sure I was close.
Nobody likes to be hungry I found it with reasonable ease there’s a lay-by on the A6 just outside of Rowsley heading towards Buxton it’s on the right hand side, walk up the field on the same side when you go over the first fence that’s the trackbed head NW towards Bakewell can’t go wrong it’s a well trodden path... just have to hope the door is open although I’ve no idea if they actually lock it or if it’s ever been locked... there used to be a big enough hole in the Northern end but it’s since been blocked up and a smaller hole made to drain the water away...
 

Scoobysrt

Teim scoobs
28DL Full Member
We walked from Bakewell so I think he was past had enough.
Thanks for the heads up, it appears we must have been next to the end.

I'll have a drive over sometime just to finish it off, when on top of the smaller round holes and you look across in the direction of the road, up in the fields on the other side around the same level there appears to be some sort of old water tower or somthing I want to go and look at (i couldnt see it properly from where i was so it might be nothing) so I'll make an afternoon of it when were allowed out again.
 

Tunnel Gricer

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
We walked from Bakewell so I think he was past had enough.
Thanks for the heads up, it appears we must have been next to the end.

I'll have a drive over sometime just to finish it off, when on top of the smaller round holes and you look across in the direction of the road, up in the fields on the other side around the same level there appears to be some sort of old water tower or somthing I want to go and look at (i couldnt see it properly from where i was so it might be nothing) so I'll make an afternoon of it when were allowed out again.
Ah it’s a fair old trek from Bakewell Station (I know, was my first error) I plan to go back at some point no idea when ...
 

stevenjamie57

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Haddon Tunnel (1,058yds) Midland Railway.


Massive Thanks to HughieD for use of his history write up and research on Haddon Tunnel, Really appreciated

History - Haddon Tunnel is located in the English county of Derbyshire. It was built by the Midland Railway in 1863 as an extension of its Buxton branch-line, into the Peaks, linking the afore-mentioned Buxton with Matlock. The line was born out of the Midland Railway’s rivalry with the London & North Western (LNW) to secure a strategic rail route between London and Manchester. The first section was the 15-mile extension of the Rowsley line into Buxton, authorised in May 1860. The 1,058-yard long tunnel was constructed to hide the railway from the view of the Duke of Rutland where the line passed Haddon Hall. The tunnel is close to the surface and was, in the main, built by the 'cut and cover' method. So much so that towards its southern end, it is now possible to walk alongside the tunnel at track level, such is the shallowness of the fill and gradient of the slope. It included five ventilation shafts with one being the full width of the double-track tunnel. Shortly after the headings met on Tuesday 2nd July 1861, an arch collapsed killing three men and a boy, wounding another so seriously that he died the following day (see picture below). John Millington, George Buckley, James Bird, James Clarke and the young Alfred Plank are honoured by a simple memorial in the churchyard at Rowsley. The railway paid £100 (equivalent to £8,781 in 2016) compensation to each of their families. Unsurprisingly the 1963 Beeching Report saw the withdrawal of the local Matlock-Buxton/Manchester services. The line’s complete closure to through traffic was determined by a confidential 1964 study into ‘duplicate’ trans-Pennine routes (April 1966, saw the introduction of electric haulage for Manchester-Euston services on the West Coast Main Line). From October that year freight and parcels were diverted instead via the Hope Valley line. The announcement about the cessation of passenger expresses followed soon after and on Saturday 29th June 1968 the last passed through Haddon Tunnel. The Up line was lifted just a year later in June 1969 and the recovery of the Down line the following summer. Following closure, the track-bed and tunnel was reincorporated into the Haddon Estate. A long campaign by Peak Rail and others culminated in a feasibility study by Derbyshire County Council in 2004, the Haddon Estate being a major opponent of the plan. Peak Rail still plans to extend their heritage rail services via both "Rowsley railway station" and a proposed "Haddon" Halt towards Bakewell. This would require additional restoration of the old tunnel itself and both Rowsley and Coombes Road Viaducts, plus reinstating the Bakewell station site to its original condition by the year 2016.



Early March 2020 and I found myself in the stunning Derbyshire countryside after a failed attempt to record images from Haddon Tunnel... I returned early one morning walking the old trackbed from Rowsley it didn’t take long to reach the small but impressive southern portal of Haddon Tunnel extremely well hidden from the nearby busy A6 road, on a previous visit it was noted standing water against the blocked up northern portal was approximately 5/6ft deep and having walked all the way through the water was pouring in through 2 holes in the block work however the internal drains seems to be coping well... at this end anyway, quite unnerving looking through the hole and the water is at eye level pouring through! The two outer sections of the tunnel walls are stone and fairly low where as the middle section constructed from brick is a lot higher, there’s 5 Air Shafts all still open and at various depths, the central ones being the deepest, only a single railway sleeper with rail chairs remains with the odd fishplates laying about, loads of refuges all of various designs, as you’ll see from the images there’s one particular section that’s covered in white limestone residue really impressive, and finally the southern portal had lots of standing water running out via the door, Hope you enjoy the images was hard to select a reasonable amount to upload from the 100s I took in this occasion.



Early March 2020 (Before Lockdown)

849577


849578


849579


849580


849581


849582


849583


849584


849585


849586


849587


849588


849589


849590


849591


849592


849593


849594


849595


849596


849597


849598


849599


849600


849602


849603


849604


849607


849608



Thanks for looking
When you consider what little technology there was when these were built you really have the respect the building and engineering skills .
 

Oswaldo Mobray

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Haddon Tunnel (1,058yds) Midland Railway.


Massive Thanks to HughieD for use of his history write up and research on Haddon Tunnel, Really appreciated

History - Haddon Tunnel is located in the English county of Derbyshire. It was built by the Midland Railway in 1863 as an extension of its Buxton branch-line, into the Peaks, linking the afore-mentioned Buxton with Matlock. The line was born out of the Midland Railway’s rivalry with the London & North Western (LNW) to secure a strategic rail route between London and Manchester. The first section was the 15-mile extension of the Rowsley line into Buxton, authorised in May 1860. The 1,058-yard long tunnel was constructed to hide the railway from the view of the Duke of Rutland where the line passed Haddon Hall. The tunnel is close to the surface and was, in the main, built by the 'cut and cover' method. So much so that towards its southern end, it is now possible to walk alongside the tunnel at track level, such is the shallowness of the fill and gradient of the slope. It included five ventilation shafts with one being the full width of the double-track tunnel. Shortly after the headings met on Tuesday 2nd July 1861, an arch collapsed killing three men and a boy, wounding another so seriously that he died the following day (see picture below). John Millington, George Buckley, James Bird, James Clarke and the young Alfred Plank are honoured by a simple memorial in the churchyard at Rowsley. The railway paid £100 (equivalent to £8,781 in 2016) compensation to each of their families. Unsurprisingly the 1963 Beeching Report saw the withdrawal of the local Matlock-Buxton/Manchester services. The line’s complete closure to through traffic was determined by a confidential 1964 study into ‘duplicate’ trans-Pennine routes (April 1966, saw the introduction of electric haulage for Manchester-Euston services on the West Coast Main Line). From October that year freight and parcels were diverted instead via the Hope Valley line. The announcement about the cessation of passenger expresses followed soon after and on Saturday 29th June 1968 the last passed through Haddon Tunnel. The Up line was lifted just a year later in June 1969 and the recovery of the Down line the following summer. Following closure, the track-bed and tunnel was reincorporated into the Haddon Estate. A long campaign by Peak Rail and others culminated in a feasibility study by Derbyshire County Council in 2004, the Haddon Estate being a major opponent of the plan. Peak Rail still plans to extend their heritage rail services via both "Rowsley railway station" and a proposed "Haddon" Halt towards Bakewell. This would require additional restoration of the old tunnel itself and both Rowsley and Coombes Road Viaducts, plus reinstating the Bakewell station site to its original condition by the year 2016.



Early March 2020 and I found myself in the stunning Derbyshire countryside after a failed attempt to record images from Haddon Tunnel... I returned early one morning walking the old trackbed from Rowsley it didn’t take long to reach the small but impressive southern portal of Haddon Tunnel extremely well hidden from the nearby busy A6 road, on a previous visit it was noted standing water against the blocked up northern portal was approximately 5/6ft deep and having walked all the way through the water was pouring in through 2 holes in the block work however the internal drains seems to be coping well... at this end anyway, quite unnerving looking through the hole and the water is at eye level pouring through! The two outer sections of the tunnel walls are stone and fairly low where as the middle section constructed from brick is a lot higher, there’s 5 Air Shafts all still open and at various depths, the central ones being the deepest, only a single railway sleeper with rail chairs remains with the odd fishplates laying about, loads of refuges all of various designs, as you’ll see from the images there’s one particular section that’s covered in white limestone residue really impressive, and finally the southern portal had lots of standing water running out via the door, Hope you enjoy the images was hard to select a reasonable amount to upload from the 100s I took in this occasion.



Early March 2020 (Before Lockdown)

849577


849578


849579


849580


849581


849582


849583


849584


849585


849586


849587


849588


849589


849590


849591


849592


849593


849594


849595


849596


849597


849598


849599


849600


849602


849603


849604


849607


849608



Thanks for looking
Love a good rail tunnel. A very well rounded explore. Good stuff, cheers x
 

Parysperspective

A peach, a nice welcoming peach
Banned
I got close to this the other week. But who’d have thought after like 12 weeks of sun there would still be bog?! So with trainers covered in mud, socks damp, and mud quickly drying up my shins, this annoyed me and a turned back. ‍♀ However I did see some weird white turkey pheasant thing and made me jump out of my skin as it launched out of a bush! Eventful attempt.
 

Who has read this thread (Total: 333) View details

Top