Basford Brook Culvert - Crewe

History

“Crewe, a significant railway town, saw many of its brooks and streams covered up in the 19th century to facilitate railway expansion, including the Basford Brook. The brook flows beneath Basford Hall marshalling yard, built in 1901 by the London and North Western Railway Company. The yard was necessary to manage the heavy traffic of freight trains passing through Crewe railway station. It quickly became essential, and by 1937, it was recorded that over 47,000 wagons passed through in just one week. At that time, Crewe Basford Hall was the busiest marshalling yard in Europe, featuring more than 48 km of tracks for sidings and access. It is under this yard that the waterway known as Basford Brook passes. The brook begins in the hills around the nearby town of Audley, making its way through the Cheshire countryside, joined by various tributaries, until it reaches the hamlet of Basford south of Crewe. Here, the brook passes through a 500-meter culvert constructed concurrently with the marshalling yard. After exiting the culvert, the brook flows through Crewe and eventually joins the Valley Brook, which then flows into the River Weaver. The culvert appears to be a mix of sections built at different times. At the infall, the structure is built from engineering brick, common in railway construction at the time. Further in, there are more modern concrete sections, likely the result of collapses or above-ground works. The final 100 meters of the culvert is a plain concrete section, which appears to be the newest part”.