Harecastle Tunnel - Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire,UK.
N 53° 03.766 W 002° 13.598
30U E 551825 N 5879532
An information board located facing the south portal of the Harecastle Tunnel near Tunstall.
Waymark Code: WMZ9KR
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/04/2018
Views: 2
The information board faces the entrance to the south portal of the Harecastle Tunnel on the Trent and Mersey Canal.
The board gives information about the buildings and the tunnels and was part funded by The European Union European Regional Development Fund.
"WELCOME TO
Harecastle Tunnel
At over 1.5 miles long James Brindley's tunnel was the longest in the country. Channeling through the granite and millstone grit of Harecastle Hill had taken nearly 11years when it was completed in 1777.
Over 600 miners and masons worked with explosives in a series of shafts along the line of the tunnel. Hard rock and quicksand made tunnelling difficult and flooding was a constant problem. Such dangerous work meant that many of these early navigators lost their lives.
James Brindley's tunnel
When Brindley's tunnel was built narrowboats
had no engines and needed manpower to move them.
Two men lay on a board across the boat and walked
along the walls of the tunnel. This was called legging.
Heritage colours
The rusty orange waters of the
canal are caused by the iron in the
water draining from the old mines
in Harecastle Hill.
Some people say that the canal water
should be claened up, but the orange
water is such a well known feature
that others say it should be left as part
of our rich canal heritage.
Tunnel keeper's lobby
This building was put up at the end of the
19th Century for the tunnel keeper to work
from. the outside privy is no longer in use!
The tunnel keeper's house
From his cottage grandly raised up on
huge retaining walls, the tunnel keeper
could see how many boats were waiting
to go through the tunnel.
The Fan house
In 1954 Telfotd's original
stone tunnel portal was hidden
when a new structure was built
to house large fans.
By the 1950s most boats were
powered by diesel engines and
didn't need towing through the
tunnel. Howevr this meant a build
up of dangerous fumes.
Once a group of boats entered the
tunnel air tight doors were closed
behind them. Then air was forced
through he tunnel by the fans,
allowing the diesel boats to use it
without suffocating their crews.
Thomas Telford's tunnel
As traffic increased, a new tunnel was
planned as part of improvements to make
the Trent & Mersey Canal more competitive.
Built by Telford, it was completed after only three
years and even had a towpath, but few horses would
walk through such a long tunnel in the dark. Men were
therefore employed to leg boats through. For many
years the two tunnels operated together with each
tunnel taking traffic in opposite directions.
Photograph
The two Harecastles Tunnels- one built by
James Brindley, the other by Thomas Telford.
Tunnel tugs speed things up
By 1914 there was so much subsidence in Brindley's
tunnel that it had to be closed - threatening traffic jams.
To speed up traffic tugs were introduced to haul trains of boats.
As there was no ventilation to take away any fumes these tugs were
needed to be electric powered. Originally the tugs were
powered by motors using batteries but overhead electric
cables were soon introduced to improve efficiency. The tugs
worked a long day from 6.00am until 10.00pm as around 200
boats a day passed through the tunnel in trains of 21 boats!
Photograph
An electric powered
tug about to tow boats
through from the other
end of harecastle Tunnel."
SOURCE: Information Board
Type of Historic Marker: Information Board
Historical Marker Issuing Authority: British Waterways
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Age/Event Date: Not listed
Related Website: Not listed
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