Clifton Hall Tunnel, also called (locally) the Black Harry Tunnel, was a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

passing beneath much of Swinton and

Pendlebury Pendlebury is a town in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,069. It lies north-west of Manchester city centre, north-west of Salford and south-east of Bolton. Historically in Lancash ...

, in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was located on the

Patricroft Patricroft is a suburb near Eccles, Greater Manchester, England. History Patricroft may derive its name from 'Pear-tree croft', or more likely, 'Patrick's Croft'. In 1836, Scottish engineer James Nasmyth, in partnership with Holbrook Gaskell, bu ...

and Clifton branch of the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

line, linking

with

Molyneux Junction Clifton railway station is a railway station in Clifton, Greater Manchester, England which was formerly called Clifton Junction. It lies on the Manchester–Preston line. History The railway line between Salford and , the Manchester and Bolton ...

. Originally opened in 1850, the Clifton Hall Tunnel was heavily used by freight trains to and from

Clifton Hall Colliery Clifton Hall Colliery was one of two coal mines in Clifton (the other was Wet Earth Colliery) on the Manchester Coalfield, historically in Lancashire which was incorporated into the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England in 1974. Cl ...

and other neighboring collieries. Construction had been complicated by the unstable ground, which had already been subject to mining. Throughout its operational life, it was subject to routine inspections and several rounds of remedial work aimed at stabilising sections of the tunnel roof, principally using steel ribbing. The neighboring land around and above the tunnel was also subject to

urbanisation Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...

, leading to housing being built directly above it. The tunnel acquired a level of public infamy when it suffered a partial collapse on 28 April 1953, which resulted in the deaths of five occupants of houses in Temple Drive, Swinton, located directly above one of the construction shafts that had been infilled and forgotten about. No danger was posed to rail traffic as a temporary closure had already been enacted earlier that month following the discovery of debris in the tunnel. The tunnel was subsequently stabilised and largely infilled; further measures were taken during 2007 and the 2010s to reinforce the closed tunnel and infill any remaining voids.

History

Construction

The origins of the Clifton Hall Tunnel came out of a desire to develop a link between

and others in the vicinity. Railway industry periodical ''Rail Engineer'' noted that the tunnel was of an orthodox nature, with no inherently unique factors at play. While detailed drawings and other records relating to it were produced at the time of construction, these were largely destroyed during the 1940s and 1950s. While there were no ventilation shafts in finished structure, a total of eight temporary construction shafts were driven and subsequently in-filled.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, pp. 1-2. Upon completion, the tunnel had a length of 1,298 yards, a width of 24 feet and 9 inches at its widest point, and a height of 22 feet and 3 inches between the top of the arched roof and the invert at its base. It was lined with brick throughout, principally using

blue lias The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassi ...

mortar; furthermore, a central drain was laid over the invert. It accommodated a pair of tracks throughout.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, p. 1. The completed tunnel was inspected by Captain G. Wynne on 29 October 1849 ahead of entered service.

Operational use

During 1850, both the tunnel and the line were opened in to traffic. Once operational, the line provided a strategically important link to

Radcliffe Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...

via the

Clifton Viaduct Clifton Viaduct is a Grade II listed stone structure crossing the valley of the River Irwell in Clifton, Greater Manchester, and also the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal. It is known locally as the ''"13 Arches"''. It is currently disused ...

. During 1901, a length of 272 yards of the tunnel was strengthened via the addition of

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

ribs made from reused old rails, spaced at intervals of five feet; similar ribs were installed along another section of the tunnel in 1926; these measures were taken due to concerns of potential subsidence due to

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

workings.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, p. 2. It was primarily used by freight traffic, although a small number of passenger trains were also operated along the route prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. During the conflict, traffic through the tunnel was temporarily halted. Following the Second World War, the tunnel was never again used by passenger trains. During October 1947, it was reopened for a limited number of freight services. The structure was patched several times across its first century of use, resulting in irregular brickwork and construction joints throughout, hindering inspection. The land around the tunnel was developed considerably during its operational years; originally being

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

purposes, it was

urbanised Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly the ...

and incorporated in the town of Swinton. The northern portal is situated close to Clifton Junction, where the line ran under the Manchester-Preston Line, the station providing an interchange. After passing over the Clifton Viaduct and through the station, the line entered the tunnel, which took a straight route under the Manchester-Southport line just to the east of

Pendlebury railway station Pendlebury railway station was a station serving the town of Pendlebury in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It was closed in 1960 by British Railways. History The station started life as part of the Lancashire and Yorkshir ...

. The tunnel continued very close to

St Augustine's Church, Pendlebury St. Augustine's Church is an active Anglican church in Pendlebury, Greater Manchester, England. Dedicated to St Augustine, it is part of the benefice of Swinton and Pendlebury along with St Peter's Church in Swinton and All Saints' Church in Wa ...

, under Temple Drive and the extreme south east corner of

Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to: Places Australia * Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales * Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse * Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...

until it reached its southern portal in a cutting just beyond the then Swinton cricket ground (Barton Road) between Dorchester Road and Overdale.

Collapse

On 13 April 1953, 15 days prior to the main incident, several elements of brickwork fell from the roof of the tunnel at the site of an undocumented construction shaft. Immediate steps taken included the enactment of a stoppage on all rail traffic through the tunnel and daily inspections of the affected area to observe any further degradation. While preparations for emergency strengthening of the tunnel via the addition of ribbing were underway, such measures had not been implemented by the date of a more substantial collapse.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, p. 3. On 28 April 1953, the Clifton Hall Tunnel partially collapsed. The precise point of the collapse was directly beneath an old

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

-lined construction shaft, the contents of which fell into the space below. The surrounding

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

, which was a loose mixture of

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, poured into the void and formed a large cavity underneath the foundations of two houses on Temple Drive. The houses, (numbers 22 and 24) suddenly collapsed into the ground killing five occupants; the end wall of another house fell outwards, though the occupants of this property were rescued.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, pp. 4-5. An official inquiry into the incident was conducted. A report compiled in 1954 concluded that

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

shoring intended for temporary use during construction may have been left in place and had gradually degraded in the damp conditions; resulting in the tunnel's arch ring having to carry the full weight (roughly 200 tons) of wet sand in the filled-in construction shaft. It also ruled out mining activity as having played any attributable role in the collapse.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, pp. 5-6. Furthermore, that repeated recommendations by assistant chief works inspector H. Bradley for the tunnel's strengthening had been postponed, partially due to questions over the line's potential singling or closure, as well as restrictive funding available for such works.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, p. 5.

Aftermath

The collapsed tunnel was determined to be in such a condition, particularly in regards to its brickwork, that extensive, and costly, remedial works would have been necessary to render it usable to rail traffic once again. Thus, decision makers quickly came to favour its permanent closure.Ministry of Transport & Civil Aviation 1954, p. 6. Despite this, emergency reinforcement measures were carried out. Several years following the collapse, it was decided to fill in the tunnel using

spoil Spoil or spoils: *Plunder taken from an enemy or victim *Material (such as rock, earth or other overburden) removed during: ** excavation **mining **dredging *An Australian rules football tactic, see One percenter (Australian rules football)#Spoil ...

and other waste materials produced by one of the nearby collieries. As a result of this infilling, the structure's portals are both buried and cannot be seen, however the route of the railway can still be made out by cuttings and embankments, especially when viewed on an aerial map. During the 2010s, civil engineering company ''M & J Drilling'' were contracted to stabilise the Clifton Hall Tunnel by

grout Grout is a dense fluid which hardens to fill gaps or used as reinforcement in existing structures. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement and sand, and is employed in pressure grouting, embedding rebar in masonry walls, connecting secti ...

ing compromised sections. To support this activity, a comprehensive 3D subsurface laser scan survey was performed by Geoterra to ascertain the specifics and condition of the tunnel, which was accessed via a series of 100mm vertical shafts which were bored from the surface. Following the infilling of voids, further remedial work was undertaken.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *

External links

Clifton Hall Tunnel via forgottenrelics.co.uk

Clifton Hall Tunnel via latitude.to
{{coord, 53.508291, -2.324754, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Railway accidents and incidents in Greater Manchester Railway tunnels in England Demolished buildings and structures in Greater Manchester Tunnels completed in 1850 1953 disasters in the United Kingdom London and North Western Railway Tunnel disasters