Mount Pleasant Tunnel
Mount Pleasant Tunnel, sometimes referred to as Burlish Tunnel, runs through a sandstone ridge on the Stourport Branch between Stourport and Bewdley, roughly one mile north of Burlish Halt.
Construction
The tunnel is 124 yards long, with moulded stone archivolts (an ornamental moulding or band following the curve on the underside of the arch) at each end. Although the original contract between the Severn Valley Railway and the Contractors specified a minimum width for tunnels of 24ft, Mount Pleasant tunnel was only 16ft wide at rail level and therefore only sufficiently wide for a single track. The roof was built with a brick arch throughout and the walls were brick lined apart from around 40 yards at the north end.[1]
During construction in 1860 and 1861 two navvies were known to have been killed or injured.
Preservation
At the end of December 1972, Sir Gerald Nabarro announced that the Southern section of the line from Alveley Colliery to Foley Park had been purchased from BRBritish Rail or British Railways subject to Light Railway Orders being granted. The purchase also included a portion of the Stourport Branch from Bewdley to a point 302 yards beyond (south of) the southern portal of Mount Pleasant Tunnel, this section having been purchased by the SVRSevern Valley Railway for an additional £100.[2]
The 1973 Light Railway Order allowed the SVRSevern Valley Railway to operate over this section. The first ¾ mile towards the tunnel was re-laid in 1975 for filming of The Seven-Per-Cent Solution to take place. Part of this short length of track is now used as a siding. However the section has never been used for public services and there is no record in SVRSevern Valley Railway News of any use being made of the tunnel in preservation. As the tunnel is situated on SVRSevern Valley Railway property, there is no public access to it.
The two portals of the tunnel are included in the Wyre Forest District Council Local Heritage List. Item SVR021A, the South Portal (Stourport end) is described as "Brick lined but some rock lining to N end. Modern brick revetment on E side." Item SVR021*, the North Portal (Bewdley end) is described as "Brick lined but some rock lining to N end".
In August 2023 palisade fencing was erected to inhibit public access, to help protect the SVRSevern Valley Railway from liability claims arising from trespass.
Disambiguation
Another ‘Mount Pleasant Tunnel’, 230 yards in length, is located on the ‘Marshlink Line’ between Ore and Hastings, East Sussex.
