Husbands Bosworth Tunnel

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Husbands Bosworth Tunnel
Leicestershire

Husbands Bosworth Tunnel
Location
Type: Canal tunnel
Carrying: Grand Union Canal
Location
Grid reference: SP635846
Location: 52°27’21"N, 1°4’0"W
Structure
Length: 1,166 yards
Type: Canal tunnel
History
Opened 1813
Information
Owned by: Canal and River Trust

The Husbands Bosworth Tunnel carries the Leicester Section of the Grand Union Canal through the rolling ground north of Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire. It is 1,166 yards long. The towpath runs up over the hill to meet the canal again at the over side: before engines, boats would be legged through the tunnel.

The tunnel was opened in 1813; a broad tunnel for a working canal, and today it will accommodate will accommodate boats with a maximum beam of 7 feet, giving a maximum headroom of 6 feet 9 inches, which is generally sufficient to allow two way narrow boat traffic. The tunnel is cut as a straight channel, so that despite being two-thirds of a mile long, a boater entering one portal can see light at the end of the tunnel.

The path over the hill is straight and well maintained, and meets a disused railway line for a stretch, whose arched bridge still stands.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Husbands Bosworth Tunnel)

References