Lees Moor Tunnel

Lees Moor Tunnel is an abandoned tunnel on the former Great Northern Railway Line between Queensbury and Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The former dual track tunnel is just north of the village of Cullingworth in West Yorkshire and when built was 1,533 yards (1,402 m) long. Due to the pitch black inside and the squealing of the wheels on the 1 in 50 radius curve, drivers nicknamed it the 'Hell Hole'. After closure to passengers, the tunnel was used in experiments involving the effects of smoke inhalation and cancer.

The line was promoted under the Halifax, Thornton & Keighley Act from 1873. Despite protestations from the Midland and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways (and with the Midland trying an alternative bill) the Great Northern venture was successful and the line opened to goods traffic on 1 April 1884, with full opening to Keighley on 11 November 1884.

The tunnel took almost six years to cut and line with masonry, with work starting in 1878 at Cullingworth and full opening in 1884. The ground through which the tunnel was bored was almost solid rock and had a radius of 1 in 50 with a decline of 1 in 78 towards Keighley. This meant that a train leaving Cullingworth going to Keighley actually entered the tunnel heading west and when leaving the tunnel at its northern portal it was heading north east.

In 1887, it was suggested that the northern portal would be useful as the position of a junction for a new railway over the moors to Colne. The projected railway would head westwards past Cross Roads and would use overbridges and viaducts to cross the Worth Valley Railway at a 90 degree angle before going on through Stanbury and Trawden and down into Colne. The Great Northern were favoured for this project as their railway climbed so high out of the Worth Valley as opposed to the Midland line which stayed on the valley floor.

A decapitated and horribly mutilated man's body was found in the tunnel near to the Cross Roads portal in March 1891 by a platelayer. It was estimated that his age was around 37 and that a train had caused his injuries rather than by other means as his body was still warm.

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