Silverdale Tunnel - November 2020
In 1846 the North Staffordshire Railway gained permission to construct a railway line from Stoke on Trent through Newcastle-under-Lyme partly laid upon Robert Heathcote’s canal. The line ran from Stoke on Trent to Market Drayton in Shropshire, in 1934 the line between Silverdale and Pipe Gate was singled although during nationalization on the railways in 1963 the line saw upwards of 10,000 tonnes of materials each week mainly coal product, however by 1965 passenger services had ended but Sliverdale Colliery kept the line operational until December 1998, rumors were the line was to be reinstated as a diversionary route from Stoke to the WCML at Madeley but this seems to have been nothing more than cheap talk, sections of track are still present between Keele Tunnel and as far as the M6 over bridge despite some track lifting in 2009. Silverdale Tunnel is 684yds in length and has a single ventilation shaft about 450yds from the eastern portal, built of blue brindle bricks a notably shallow tunnel with simple retaining walls almost identical at either portal, several refuges throughout, seems to have been gated more severely in recent years thankfully was open on this occasion, very easy to find parked on Pepper Road up from the school then through the trees and down the embankment... Some interesting mineral deposits inside although nothing spectacular! Unfortunately in 2019 the body of Jordan Taylor (18) was found perished inside on the morning of Thursday 5th April, Jordan had been missing since the previous Monday, a combination of drugs and medical illness were reportedly the cause.
Thanks All
Thanks for looking
:
In 1846 the North Staffordshire Railway gained permission to construct a railway line from Stoke on Trent through Newcastle-under-Lyme partly laid upon Robert Heathcote’s canal. The line ran from Stoke on Trent to Market Drayton in Shropshire, in 1934 the line between Silverdale and Pipe Gate was singled although during nationalization on the railways in 1963 the line saw upwards of 10,000 tonnes of materials each week mainly coal product, however by 1965 passenger services had ended but Sliverdale Colliery kept the line operational until December 1998, rumors were the line was to be reinstated as a diversionary route from Stoke to the WCML at Madeley but this seems to have been nothing more than cheap talk, sections of track are still present between Keele Tunnel and as far as the M6 over bridge despite some track lifting in 2009. Silverdale Tunnel is 684yds in length and has a single ventilation shaft about 450yds from the eastern portal, built of blue brindle bricks a notably shallow tunnel with simple retaining walls almost identical at either portal, several refuges throughout, seems to have been gated more severely in recent years thankfully was open on this occasion, very easy to find parked on Pepper Road up from the school then through the trees and down the embankment... Some interesting mineral deposits inside although nothing spectacular! Unfortunately in 2019 the body of Jordan Taylor (18) was found perished inside on the morning of Thursday 5th April, Jordan had been missing since the previous Monday, a combination of drugs and medical illness were reportedly the cause.
Thanks All
Thanks for looking
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