An air shaft within Hillhead Tunnel
Introduction
The photograph on this page of An air shaft within Hillhead Tunnel by James T M Towill as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
An air shaft within Hillhead Tunnel
Image: © James T M Towill Taken: 25 Sep 2021
A view of the air shaft's base within Hillhead Tunnel - this being the southerly of two air shafts in this modest structure. The tunnel, 351 yards long, accommodated the single track of the Alnwick and Cornhill Branch was in use from 1887 until 1953. The structure (number AKC/55) curves slightly westwards at its southern extreme before adopting a straight course. The tunnel was lined entirely in red brick which came from a local brickworks, connected to the construction site by a two-mile tramway. There were several refuges provided as well as two ventilation shafts, 4' in diameter, with concrete rings at their bases. The portals are similar in design - both fashioned from stone, with buttresses and triangular wing walls either side of the entrances. This photograph was taken during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic of 2020/21.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
55.391852
Longitude
-1.831531