I've been approached by English Heritage regarding Stodhart Tunnel on the
Peak Forest Tramway in Derbyshire. This is reputed to be one of the oldest
railway (broadly defined) railway tunnels in the country.
English Heritage hope to be able to assist a local group gain sponsorship
for the conservation of the tunnel, which is in remarkably good condition.
Indeed, it seems to be more-or-less complete; the northern portal, which was
buried under road 'improvements' many years ago, seems to have survived and
not have been destroyed as widely reported.
'Inevitably', as my EH contact puts it, 'oldest, biggest, longest etc. would
make a difference to the potential project sponsors - and particularly with
regard to media interest....'. Personally I can come up with nothing better
than 'one of the oldest' or perhaps 'the oldest in the East Midlands/North
West, which is not going to excite too much interest beyond a specialist
audience such as ourselves. Can anyone do any better?
Colin
|