Hallowe'en: The Fiery Jack Tunnel, Bridgehouses/Wicker

Here's one for the 'Night of fear'. Who remembers the Fiery Jack Tunnel? If you're not sure, it ran from near Bridgehouses to just beyond theWicker Arches, between Spital Hill and Saville Street. It was one of the really big 'dares' to go down this when I was a kid (late 60's).

The story is that during the late 19th century (or early 20th) a passenger train caught fire in it. Furthermore, a large number of people roasted (or choked) to death in it and their ghosts haunted the place from that day to this. A most 'fiery' demise, indeed. Scary, huh.

The questions are: Does anybody know if it is true? Did you go down there and come out with soiled underwear? Was it better to trust your luck than getting beat up by the 'big boy' who told you to go in?

Finally, an ex-pat is interested to know if you can still get in it. Go on, go out and have a look for me. It was bricked up at the Wicker end in my time (nineteen sixty summ'at) but the Brigehouses end was open.

So, if you've got nothing to do this hallowe'en, go frighten yourself in a tunnel.

SuperCol

I used to play in the Fiery Jack during the 50's and heard similar stories/legends to you.

The truth is, the tunnel was built to link the old Midland railway with what became the Great Central Railway. No one was roasted to death or otherwise in it during the blitz although it was used as a shelter. However several men were killed when it was being built (1850's) after falling through the roof working above it on Spital Hill.

Several people were killed on the footpath that went under the Wicker Arches nearest to the fiery jack by the bomb that went through the viaduct, (this also was used as a shelter) the repairs can still be seen. This may be the source of the story. The name Fiery Jack comes from the engines that moved goods between the two companies slipping on the steep incline and having to use more power resulting in more smoke and steam, very dramatic I think.

Hope this helps

Siren

Thanks for the info, Siren.

I can now see why it was called 'Fiery Jack'. With fire in the loco's boiler fully stoked up there must have been a shower of sparks bursting out of the chimney, not to mention the bright orange glow from the footplate. It must have been hellish in there. Very dramatic, indeed.

Still it was very scary wandering in there as a kid, with a bunch of other kids waiting to see if you were 'yellow' and run back out.

I remember my uncle telling me that as kids they used to watch two steam engines firing up and then struggle to push loads of wagons up through the tunnel from one line to the other..

The engines put off a fiery glow which lit up the tunnel with the steam and the smoke belching out of the tunnel.

The sound of slipping wheels, clanging wagons coupled with the tremendous roar of the loco engines echoed in a frightening sound from the tunnel,

It was a fearsome and exciting event for kids to watch during the dark nights.

The old boy is in his eighties now and still remembers those days of simple pleasures.

I used to live on Brunswick Rd . Till they pulled the houses down, mid 60's i think. Well my brother & I plus all the other local kids, ie. The Campbells, Earnshaws, Bucks, Cashmores, Saunders, Richard Pascoe and John Boyle, plus others whose names escape me, used to mess about on the bull rocks and the old railway sideings very close to the Firey Jack entrance

Many a time we used to walk the full length of the tunnel comming out into the big yard that is now part of Hartwell's Vauxhall dealers on Saville St. And in all the years we played in there we never heard of any one being killed in the tunnel.

Had a look down the top of the tunnel the other day, does anyone know when it was closed? Looked to be blocked up with a big pile of muck, but surely it won't be filled in all the way down?

B

I used to climb up and down the rocks (over the tunnel) four times a day on my way to and from Pye Bank School (c1944-1948).

It was a twin track tunnel but only one was used in my day. The transfer was always done by an LMS locomotive - usually an 0-6-0 with tender.

There were at least two transfers a day. A train would come up to Bridgehouses around 12:30pm (lunchtime), drop off a string of wagons on the transfer tracks and pick up whatever needed transfering to the LMS. There was another transfer around 7pm. Don't know if there were any overnight transfers.

Some times there were only one or two wagons going in each direction - other times anywhere up to a dozen. Mostly, they seemed to be open wagons (possibly coal wagons being sent back to the pit that owned them), very rarely were they vans.

The railways were nationalized in 1948 so I assume there was different routing of freight and therefore no longer a need to use the tunnel to switch systems.

Regards

The tunnel is now fenced off, and wouldn't recommend anyone to go there.

if anyone does go in please can you have a look for my shoe lovely tan moccasin last seen about 1974 somewhere in the middle of fiery jack

You can't get in any more. And if you did manage to get in it would probably be full of dead junkies.