Newchurch & Thrutch tunnels
Newchurch & Thrutch tunnels
![The imposing western portal of Newchurch No.2 Tunnel.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-172.jpg)
![A tree has taken root, forcing the masonry apart.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-172.jpg)
![Newchurch No.1 is 140 yards away, through the vegetation.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-172.jpg)
![Water penetrates the lining in several places.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-171.jpg)
![Lower down, the brick roof gives way to stone walls.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-171.jpg)
![Puddles form towards the tunnel's wetter central section.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-166.jpg)
![For 20 feet at No.2's eastern end, the tunnel was either relined in brick or, perhaps, extended when neighbouring Thrutch was cut.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-157.jpg)
![Neat masonry on a buttress between the two tunnels.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-141.jpg)
![Bricked-up Thrutch curves south and then north before emerging at Waterfoot, 592 yards away.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-121.jpg)
![The sealed adit which formerly provided access into Thrutch's heart.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image10-95.jpg)
![Detritus accumulated before the adit was airlocked.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image11-77.jpg)
![The shorter Newchurch No.1, hiding in the undergrowth.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image12-54.jpg)
![Back in the Seventies, there was little in the way of vegetation and air could still flow through.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image13-40.jpg)
![Light is visible at the end of No.1 but not so Thrutch which is curved and quarter-of-a-mile longer.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image14-32.jpg)
![The now-blocked western portals of Newchurch No.1 (left) and Thrutch look out over a missing bridge.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image15-18.jpg)
![A tidier scene from yesteryear, looking east into the tunnels.](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image16-13.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image1-172.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image2-172.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image3-172.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image4-171.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image5-171.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image6-166.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image7-157.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image8-141.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image9-121.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image10-95.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image11-77.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image12-54.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image13-40.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image14-32.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image15-18.jpg)
![](http://www.forgottenrelics.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/image16-13.jpg)
Four years after the East Lancashire Railway had first pulled into Waterfoot, an extension was opened eastwards through the Thrutch Gorge, hauling Bacup into the railway age. It was the autumn of 1852. The single line crossed the River Irwell before entering Newchurch No.1 Tunnel, the shorter of two at 162 yards. After emerging onto a ledge cut beneath into a cliff-face, trains buried their way underground again for 290 yards, through No.2.
As traffic pressures increased, another line was added in 1880. This necessitated the boring of a third tunnel to accommodate the westbound Up line. Work on it began early in 1878. Unlike its straight neighbours, this one headed deeper into the rock, curving south and then north. Thrutch Tunnel runs for 592 yards with its portals sitting alongside the outermost entrances of the Newchurch pair. As part of this exercise, an adit was cut at right angles into Thrutch’s middle, providing access from the ledge between the two older tunnels.
The service from Bacup to Bury was frequent. From 1956, DMUs shuttled back and forth every half hour. Despite this, Dr Beeching deemed the line surplus to requirements and the trains ground to a halt on 5th December 1966.
Today, Newchurch No.1 and Thrutch are bricked up, so is the latter’s adit. Newchurch No.2 remains open as a footpath although the western portal has begun to subside and its lining leaks like a baby.