Worth Valley helps with tragedies memorial at GNR Queensbury Tunnel

A MEMORIAL honouring 10 navvies known to have died while building the GNR's 7503ft Queensbury Tunnel between Bradford and Halifax has been installed by campaigners battling to reopen it as a walking and cycling route.

The memorial, erected by the Queensbury Tunnel Society, comprises two rows of wooden sleepers either side of the path linking the Great Northern Railway Trail to the tunnel entrance. The materials were mostly donated by the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway. Each sleeper is dedicated to one of the men and has a QR code on the back, linking to online biographies.

When opened in 1878, the tunnel was the longest on the GNR. The line closed in 1956.

The tunnel is owned by the Department for Transport and maintained on its behalf by Highways England's Historical Railways Estate team. Controversy has raged over Highways England plans to abandon the tunnel due to concerns over its condition; this would result in some sections being infilled.

In September 2019, the tunnel was named on the Victorian Society's list of the Top 10 Most Endangered Buildings in England and Wales for that year.