The Chatterley Whitfield Railway Line & Tunnel
How it looked then & How it looks now
This is the Tunstall Side below Clement Road - this was always known as the Suff
Approaching the tunnel coming round the bend on the Tunstall side
This is the Chatterley Whitfield side at Fegg Hayes
The tunnel entrance on the Fegg Hayes side - I think it was this side that there was a water filling station
Another before & after (or an after & before!) - The Chatterley Whitfield train & line & tunnel - Fegg Hayes side showing the tunnel & footbridge - anyone on here who used it?
Houses to the right are Eccleston Place - houses at the top are Bretherton Place with Chell Green Avenue behind them.
The approximate route of the tunnel under High Lane, Chell
Click on the "View larger map" below to get a closer look at how it is now & use Google Street to get in even closer!
The History Of The Tunnel
Here is an extract From the Chatterley Whitfield Friends Facebook Page - make sure that you go to the site & Like it as there is LOTS more Information on there.
The 'Suff'
Today we welcomed two new members of the 'Friends' and whilst I was showing them some old the number of plans we have, put one back and a piece of paper fell off the shelving. On picking it up discovered it was the plans for the tunnel under High Lane, know as the 'SUFF'. Took some photos of it, but will get some better ones next time.... What a find... Here is an extract form a page on the internet featuring Jim Worgan.....
As mentioned previously, Williamson recognised the value of the Biddulph Valley Railway and a connection was made from the Colliery shortly after it opened in 1859 This eventually however proved to be a burden because in order to feed the voracious appetite of the blast furnaces at Chatterley, vast quantities of coal were sent by the Biddulph Valley Railway via Milton to Stoke and thence by the N.S.R to Chatterley Junction to the North of Longport which proved to be very costly to the Company. With the coming of the N.S.R. Loop line to Tunstall by 1874 and the branch from Tunstall to Longport by 1875, a solution to the problem was sought.
A decision was therefore made to construct a Railway from Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, including a 404 yard long tunnel through the High Lane ridge, to the Pinnox area of Tunstall. Work commenced from both ends in 1874 and was complete by 1876, but the connection with the Biddulph Valley Branch remained.
The savings in both cost and time to the Company were tremendous and the line continued in operation until April 1964, when following the closure of the Branch from Tunstall to Longport, it ceased operation. Therefore all coal by rail was transported along the Biddulph Valley Branch as it originally was before 1876
CLICK THE IMAGES BELOW TO SEE TO SEE THE ORIGINAL FULL SIZE IMAGES IN THE FACEBOOK ALBUM
