Burdale Tunnel
Encyclopedia
Burdale Tunnel is a railway tunnel on the now abandoned Malton & Driffield Railway (MDR). It lies near the village of Burdale in North Yorkshire
, England
, between the former Burdale
and railway stations, and was built to take the rail line through the hills of the Yorkshire Wolds
.
Construction began in 1847 with the sinking of seven vertical shafts, but the tunnel, which was 1747 yards (1,597.5 m) in length, was not completed until 1853. The MDR has been closed since 1958, and the tunnel portals have been bricked up since 1961. In the late Seventies, a collapse occurred just north of the tunnel's second ventilation shaft - around half-a-mile in. The mid-80s saw another fall block the tunnel towards its southern end, creating a sealed section in the middle.
The East Yorkshire Bat Group (EYBG) have made recent excursions into the tunnel and have reported the structure to be in a very poor state.
This could involve restoring Burdale Tunnel to active use, although the costs would most likely be prohibitive..
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North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, between the former Burdale
Burdale railway station
Burdale was a railway station on the Malton & Driffield Railway, situated south of the 1746 yard Burdale Tunnel. It opened on 19 May 1853, and served the hamlet and large quarry at Burdale...
and railway stations, and was built to take the rail line through the hills of the Yorkshire Wolds
Yorkshire Wolds
The Yorkshire Wolds are low hills in the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire in northeastern England. The name also applies to the district in which the hills lie....
.
Construction began in 1847 with the sinking of seven vertical shafts, but the tunnel, which was 1747 yards (1,597.5 m) in length, was not completed until 1853. The MDR has been closed since 1958, and the tunnel portals have been bricked up since 1961. In the late Seventies, a collapse occurred just north of the tunnel's second ventilation shaft - around half-a-mile in. The mid-80s saw another fall block the tunnel towards its southern end, creating a sealed section in the middle.
The East Yorkshire Bat Group (EYBG) have made recent excursions into the tunnel and have reported the structure to be in a very poor state.
Preservation
In October 2008, The Yorkshire Wolds Railway Restoration Project was formed by a group of enthusiasts with the aim of restoring at least part of the M&D railway line as a heritage attraction, making it the only Heritage Railway in East Yorkshire,This could involve restoring Burdale Tunnel to active use, although the costs would most likely be prohibitive..
See also
- West (North) Portal:
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- http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/83192
- East (South) Portal:
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- http://photosforthefuture.thehistorychannel.co.uk/?cmd=ecard&photo_id=273 (This picture is incorrectly captioned as 1958, when in fact the bricking up took place in 1961.)