Driving the Clay Cross Tunnel

When George Stephenson first surveyed the route of the North Midland Railway from Derby to Leeds, he realised that the major engineering challenge was to drive a tunnel beneath Clay Cross, then a tiny hamlet. This book tells how, once opposition had been overcome and the Bill steered through parliament, the engineer, Frederick Swanwick, set hundreds of navvies to work to drive the tunnel; how they shattered the peace of the village with their drinking and fighting, as they faced privation, maiming and death to complete the task.

When the work was done and the navvies left, Stephenson and his Clay Cross Company stayed on. Tunnel and Company together transformed Clay Cross from a quiet rural community into a roaring industrial town.