WHY WAS IT BUILT?
Catesby Tunnel came about as part of the Great Central Railway’s ambitious plan to create a new line from Sheffield to London. This was built later than most of Britain’s railway network and to a much more modern standard, enabling higher sustained speeds. Although its rail gauge was the same as on older lines, its surrounding structures were sized to allow physically larger trains to fit.
PHOTOGRAPHY LUC LACEY
The tunnel was constructed in place of a cutting when local landowner Henry Attenborough decided he didn’t want to be disturbed by trains running through his estate.