Spinkhill Tunnel (501yds)
History
Spinkhill Tunnel 501 yards in length was opened by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway (later part of the Great Central Railway and subsequently the LNER) on 21 September 1898. It was the only tunnel on its Beighton Branch (occasionally referred to as the "Sheffield Branch") which ran north westwards from Langwith Junction to Beighton Junction. The LD&ECR and its successors always referred to Spinkhill station, tunnel and signalbox as "Spink Hill", though the spelling "Spinkhill" is now universal. The Beighton Branch lost its local passenger traffic at the outbreak of World War II but remained in use for excursions, diversions and relief, together with its prime purpose coal. Spinkhill station had an extra role - schools specials at the start and end of term at Mount St Mary's School in Spinkhill. The line through the tunnel was closed on the 9th January 1967 and the track was subsequently lifted, though tracks almost to the tunnel mouth from the north remained in use until 1984 for wagon storage and shunting at Westthorpe Colliery, Killamarsh. Now it stands silently in the woodlands used occasionally for livestock storage at the southern end, I believe the tunnel is the property of a local farmer and several attempts made to prevent access have been made, I haven’t been for some time, but have been told trees have been felled to restrict access and signs erected along with a couple tonnes of spoil dumped in the northern end. Images recorded over several visits during late 2019 early 2020.
Brief Explore Notes :-
Access is/was easy straight off the road in Spinkhill Village (Station Road) and onto the trackbed when I visited it was heavily water logged although recent pics I’ve seen the farmer has dumped tonnes of spoil in the northern end to prevent easy access.... anyhow there was a large pool of water just inside the portal made for some nice images (not sure what it’s like now) not a great deal to show & tell there’s a slight curve on approach to the southern end also a fence about 60m in to stop livestock wandering through each time I visited it would either be standing or broken I guess depending on the local youths... never seen any livestock and looked like it wasn’t really used much. Some nice iron oxide deposits, not the best Tunnel out there but ideal place to test light painting skills and to kill time if your at a loose end. Have a look at the images see what you think.. Comments and feedback welcome as ever. Thanks.
Thanks for looking
History
Spinkhill Tunnel 501 yards in length was opened by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway (later part of the Great Central Railway and subsequently the LNER) on 21 September 1898. It was the only tunnel on its Beighton Branch (occasionally referred to as the "Sheffield Branch") which ran north westwards from Langwith Junction to Beighton Junction. The LD&ECR and its successors always referred to Spinkhill station, tunnel and signalbox as "Spink Hill", though the spelling "Spinkhill" is now universal. The Beighton Branch lost its local passenger traffic at the outbreak of World War II but remained in use for excursions, diversions and relief, together with its prime purpose coal. Spinkhill station had an extra role - schools specials at the start and end of term at Mount St Mary's School in Spinkhill. The line through the tunnel was closed on the 9th January 1967 and the track was subsequently lifted, though tracks almost to the tunnel mouth from the north remained in use until 1984 for wagon storage and shunting at Westthorpe Colliery, Killamarsh. Now it stands silently in the woodlands used occasionally for livestock storage at the southern end, I believe the tunnel is the property of a local farmer and several attempts made to prevent access have been made, I haven’t been for some time, but have been told trees have been felled to restrict access and signs erected along with a couple tonnes of spoil dumped in the northern end. Images recorded over several visits during late 2019 early 2020.
Brief Explore Notes :-
Access is/was easy straight off the road in Spinkhill Village (Station Road) and onto the trackbed when I visited it was heavily water logged although recent pics I’ve seen the farmer has dumped tonnes of spoil in the northern end to prevent easy access.... anyhow there was a large pool of water just inside the portal made for some nice images (not sure what it’s like now) not a great deal to show & tell there’s a slight curve on approach to the southern end also a fence about 60m in to stop livestock wandering through each time I visited it would either be standing or broken I guess depending on the local youths... never seen any livestock and looked like it wasn’t really used much. Some nice iron oxide deposits, not the best Tunnel out there but ideal place to test light painting skills and to kill time if your at a loose end. Have a look at the images see what you think.. Comments and feedback welcome as ever. Thanks.
Thanks for looking
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