This beautifully illustrated book tells the history of the two canal and three railway tunnels once owned by the North Staffordshire Railway which have been driven through Harecastle Hill in North Staffordshire - together with coal and ironstone mining which took place in the vicinity of the tunnels. Only one of the tunnels remains in use today – Telford’s canal tunnel opened in 1827. James Brindley’s earlier tunnel opened in 1775 was closed in 1918 - it was was once the longest transport tunnel in the world. The three railway tunnels were opened in 1848 after the NSR had acquired the Trent & Mersey Canal; the ‘south’ and ‘middle’ tunnels were taken out of use in 1966 following British Railways’ West Coast Main Line electrification scheme. The third ‘north’ tunnel was opened out as part of this scheme but the present railway tunnel had to be built just to the south of Kidsgrove. The authors’ extensive research is presented here for the first time in this fascinating book from Lightmoor Press.

£25 + £4.00 postage