Black Harry

Aged unknown

Clifton Hall Tunnel, also called (locally) the Black Harry Tunnel, was a railway tunnel passing beneath much of Swinton and Pendlebury, in Greater Manchester, England. It was located on the Patricroft and Clifton branch of the London and North Western Railway line, linking Patricroft with Molyneux Junction. Originally opened in 1850, the Clifton Hall Tunnel was heavily used by freight trains to and from Clifton Hall Colliery and other neighboring collieries. Construction had been complicated by the unstable ground, which had already been subject to mining. Throughout its operational life, it was subject to routine inspections and several rounds of remedial work aimed at stabilising sections of the tunnel roof, principally using steel ribbing. The neighboring land around and above the tunnel was also subject to urbanisation, leading to housing being built directly above it. The tunnel acquired a level of public infamy when it suffered a partial collapse on 28 April 1953, which resulted in the deaths of five occupants of houses in Temple Drive, Swinton, located directly above one of the construction shafts that had been infilled and forgotten about. No danger was posed to rail traffic as a temporary closure had already been enacted earlier that month following the discovery of debris in the tunnel. The tunnel was subsequently stabilised and largely infilled; further measures were taken during 2007 and the 2010s to reinforce the closed tunnel and infill any remaining voids.

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