The Harecastle Tunnels
The most difficult problem faced was the construction of a 2880-yard* tunnel through Harecastle Hill. Work on it was being carried out during the whole period of construction of the rest of the canal. A series of shafts were sunk into the hillside, and then men began digging out along the line of the proposed canal to link the shafts. This major engineering feat, probably the biggest one ever attempted at the time, proved to be more troublesome than Brindley had expected, with areas of both hard rock and quicksand making the work dangerous and laborious. Unfortunately Brindley did not live to see the canal and tunnel completed. He died in 1772 at the age of 56, and is buried at nearby Newchapel. The Clerk of Works Hugh Henshall, also Brindley’s brother-in-law, supervised the rest of the tunnel’s construction.
*A recently-discovered snippet from White’s 1851 Directory of Staffordshire states that Brindley's tunnel cost 103,680 guineas, or a guinea an inch!
Such was the popularity of the Trent and Mersey that the Harecastle Tunnel soon became a bottleneck. At only 9 feet wide there was no room for a towing path, and so boats had to be propelled through by the technique of “legging”. This involved men lying on their backs on the roof of the boat and walking along the sides or roof of the tunnel. Tradesmen using the canal continued to complain about delays caused by the tunnel, and eventually the Trent and Mersey Company realised that a new tunnel was needed. They engaged the services of Thomas Telford, and work began in 1824 with the sinking of 15 shafts into Harecastle Hill. Although this was the same way that Brindley’s tunnel began, newer tunnelling methods and the availability of more money meant that construction took less than 3 years. It was finished in November 1826 and officially opened on 30 April 1827. Telford’s tunnel was longer than Brindley’s at 2926 yards, and at 14 feet was wide enough for a towpath. Horse-drawn boats would move more quickly than those being “legged”.
The tunnels were used in tandem until the early 20th century, although use of Brindley’s legging tunnel was declining. The tunnel itself was becoming unsafe; the roof was sinking and it was being shaken by trains in the Harecastle railway tunnel, which ran above. Eventually Brindley’s tunnel closed in about 1914. Telford’s tunnel, meanwhile, made use of an electric tug to tow boats through. This system began in 1914 and ran until about 1954 when it was withdrawn.
Traffic on the canal was in decline, and working boats ceased to use it in the 1960’s. In 1973 Telford’s tunnel had to be closed for extensive repairs, and at this time the towpath was removed. Since the closure of the railway tunnel when the line was electrified and diverted, Telford’s tunnel remains the only one in use through Harecastle Hill.
