Ledbury Tunnel is a single-track railway tunnel immediately to the east of

Ledbury railway station Ledbury railway station is a railway station on the outskirts of the town of Ledbury on the Worcester to Hereford line in the English Midlands. It has regular services to Birmingham plus several direct trains a day to London Paddington. Histor ...

on the Cotswold Line, in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouths ...

, England. The original route planned for the Worcester and Hereford Railway did not include the tunnel, but its inclusion became necessary in response to pressure for the line to serve the towns of Malvern and

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Stree ...

. Ledbury Tunnel was one of the railway's greatest engineering challenges, being bored through the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

of Dog Hill; it was opened to traffic during 1861. Possessing a relatively narrow cross-section, the tunnel suffered from a particularly poor atmosphere during the era of

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizatio ...

. Unlike the Colwall tunnel, which was also constructed for the line, Ledbury Tunnel has not been widened, replaced, or substantially reengineered since its original completion in the 1860s. It remains in use through to the present today.

History

The origins of the Ledbury Tunnel are directly connected to the development of a railway between

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

and

Hereford Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester, England, Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. ...

, which was first mooted during the early 1850s. The original intended route for the railway was actually a much straighter route running directly between the

coalfield A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological. A coalfield often groups the seams of ...

s of

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and the industries surrounding

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

and the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ...

, roughly parallel to the present day A4103. As a result of considerable lobbying by the citizens in the towns of Malvern and

, who sought the new line to serve their locations as well, it was decided to change the railway's route to include them; this new route necessitated construction of two tunnels (along with two

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

s and a bridge), one of the former being the Ledbury Tunnel. During 1856, work on constructing the Worcester and Hereford Railway commenced. The need to traverse the

Malvern Hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit aff ...

represented the endeavour's largest engineering challenge; in addition to the Ledbury Tunnel, the Colwall tunnel was also constructed for the route. Both tunnels share considerable similarities, both having a relatively narrow cross section and only able to accommodate a single track; trains are particularly constrained by the tunnel's dimensions. The excavation of the tunnel provided a valuable opportunity to study the geology, dating to the

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, wh ...

age; findings included significant numbers of fossilised fish, acanthodians and

ostracoderm Ostracoderms () are the armored jawless fish of the Paleozoic Era. The term does not often appear in classifications today because it is paraphyletic (excluding jawed fishes) (may also be polyphyletic if anaspids are closer to cyclostomes) and ...

s, some complete with the body and tail. The completed tunnel was opened to traffic during 1861, allowing for traffic to reach Hereford for the first time in September of that year. It has a length of 1,200m (1,323 yards), carrying a single line throughout. During the period in which the route was being served by

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the loco ...

s, Ledbury Tunnel became notorious among crews for possessing a poor atmosphere, which was attributed to its unusually narrow bore combined with a steep gradient (1:80) and a bend close to its northern portal. As a consequence of the tight clearance in the tunnel, there are special rules in place for the evacuation of passengers in an emergency situation. On the 18 July 1872, a passenger train emerging from the tunnel on the farthest side from ledbury collided with the engine of a goods train, resulting in some of the passengers being "shaken and bruised" but with no serious injury. On 15 August of the same year, a train traversing Ledbury Tunnel derailed and collided with the structure; again no injuries or fatalities resulted. Five wagons were "piled in ruins" and the tunnel roof was damaged significantly. Unlike the Colwall tunnel, the Ledbury tunnel has never been replaced or widened since its original construction back in the 1860s. However, there have been petitions and studies for the whole line, including the tunnel, to be double-tracked throughout; it has been observed that any reengineering or replacement programme would incur considerable expense.

References

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External links

Images of the building of the Hereford and Worcester railway via herefordshirehistory.org.uk

Image of the eastern portal via flickr.com
Railway tunnels in England Tunnels completed in 1861 Tunnels in Herefordshire 1861 establishments in England Ledbury