Great Central Railway Catesby Tunnel

Welcome to Part 4 of our ‘Ghosts of the GCR mainline’ series.
We’re starting at the site of the former Charwelton railway station and progressing north up the abandoned Great Central Railway.

We’re telling the story of the Catesby Tunnel. A disused railway tunnel 2,997 yards (2.7 km) long. A beautiful blue brick construction, typical of the GCR. Built underneath the land of Henry Attenborough of Catesby House. He stipulated that the railway could not pass through his land via a cutting, and had to be tunnelled. The tunnel was contructed with a mixture of cut and cover and via construction shafts, with some of the blue brick turret shafts still visible today.

These days the tunnel is no so disused. It was renovated for use as a vehicle testing track in a controlled environment for race cars, bikes and cycles. Therefore on our flying visit, the only view we got inside the tunnel was a peak through the lock hole at the northern portal.

At the side of Charwelton station is the Catesby Innovation Centre.

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***About this series***
We are visiting various locations on the GCR between Culworth Junction in Northamptonshire and Rugby in Warwickshire. Visiting former station sites, bridges, junctions, old infrastructure, viaducts, tunnels and some other interesting stuff.

Great Central Mainline was built as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire railway. Opening in 1899, it was designed to be as straight as possible with as little gradient as possible. Speed was the aim and express trains travelled between London Marylebone, Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester. It was the last UK mainline to be built before HS1 over a century later.

It thrived initially, however with a lack of upkeep, neglect and dwindling usage, it was mothballed during the great railway rationalisation of Dr Beeching in the 1960s – known as the Beeching Axe. Lost railway artefacts and relics are left scattered along the route.

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Morning well or is it morning is it afternoon it’s still morning welcome to the next installment the next episode of our day out Northampton sh Great Central Railway we’re in uh the little village at the moment of char Welton now this episode is about uh the catesby

Tunnel which is just in that direction we’re not far away from South portal KES ponel very very interesting um story here um it’s actually found a new purpose a new life this is the Kates bit Innovation Center now we can’t go to the South portal of Kates bit tunnel we can’t walk through

It it’s um like I say it’s found a new purpose it’s like a test test track they’ve done it out where they can test mean there’s Formula 1 cars it’s where they do car tests cycling tests um in La a control environment so yeah brilliant

It’s got a new lease of life it’s been being cared for so we’re going to go to the other end and show you a little bit um of the north portal of the tunnel and the surrounding area so we are the other end now we um we’ve made our way we’ve

Not walked um we’ve driven around to the other side can you make it out that wall I’ll I’ll zoom in for you um that is the top of the north portal of of kesby tunnel which is making our uh our way down to it now um Let Me Get Me

Sheet out actually so kesby tunnel let’s just talk a little bit about catesby tunnel um didn’t really need to be a tunnel um this one it could have been built as a cutting um so it’s not I mean we’ve not gone over any Hills um that is one St thing

It is rolling Countryside but nothing that we haven’t seen that they could embankment and and cut in their their way through in fact then I think this bit actually was done as a cut and cover at this end I think it was the North End um but yeah the local landowner um chap

Called Henry atur um no relation I don’t think he he declared it was passing through his land bit like the Haden tunnel isn’t it this that he didn’t want a railway he want so you know he didn’t want the the sight of the Railway and the dirty steam trains or whatever

Reason I don’t know the reasons going through his land so the railway had to concede and put the line into a into a tunnel as it as it passed through his land just a smidgen under 3,000 y um which is what’s that 1.7 m long roughly

So not a short tunnel is it that’s quite a a decent length tunnel that it’s got a series of impressive blue brick shafts um one of which we’ve just passed on on the side of the road just driving up here yeah um there’s five of those I

Believe in total so there’s the top of the the tunnel portal that’s there so we go around the other side nine construction shafts were used during the building of the tunnel to dig down and then outwards from each shaft five still stand today and we used for ventilation as well as insisted that

The railway be hidden under his land the previously mentioned Mr atenor also wouldn’t allow a shaft near his residence so there is no shaft near the northern portal I bet the railway Builders loved him and there’s so there’s the north portal of the tunnel 1897 see the date on top of there so

Obviously this open the Line open in 1899 I believe the first train to use it was in 1898 though now one of the um is well known it’s a big a big tunnel I don’t mean lengthwise I mean the B of it is big and you can

See that from down here just how tall and how wide it is can hear noises coming from inside there can you hear that Jim what’s that noise like the air ventilations and things for the um the the testing facility inside what a masterpiece isn’t it good

Condition you have a look in there and it is got it is cared for obviously what is it this little inviting hole okay so like a sealed sealed entrance in there and you see it’s about as good as we’re going to get unfortunately it’s a little hole by the

Padlock I mean it is secure but you know it is it is in use it’s another got another purpose now so we’re not you know you’re not going to be getting your Iran explorers getting in there it’s not that’s a possibility here there are videos on YouTube um

Our good friend midi I think he had a look inside um they did do I don’t know if they still do these on I couldn’t find anything online about this recently but they did used to do tours um or open days or you could go in and have a look

Inside the tunnel but we’ve not got that facility today we’ve not got that luxury today just get a a look at the north north poort and that’s it just a short one that isn’t it just a short video so cheers for watching we’ll see you on the next Part W