Catesby Tunnel used to be a railway tunnel that allowed trains to rumble unseen for nearly two miles under a green stretch of land.
The Catesby Tunnel is a place where people can drive at high speeds in controlled conditions (Image: Catesby Projects)
Ingenuity has long been at the heart of British engineering brilliance whether it’s the construction of the Channel Tunnel, or the development of world-beating racing cars.
What’s more, while Britons are also good at coming up with something new, they are also excellent at transforming something old into something innovative.
The Catesby Tunnel near Daventry, Northamptonshire, is a great example of this. Once an underground railway tunnel, today it is one of the few places in the UK where it is possible to legally drive at 150mph.
The story begins in the 1800s during the expansion of the Great Central London Extension and the objection by landowner Henry Attenborough.
The tunnel is used for testing all manner of road and racing cars (Image: Catesby Projects)
Mr Attenborough reportedly didn’t want railway lines crossing his land and the accompanying sight of locomotives.
To get around this problem, 1.68mile (2.7km) long tunnel was dug underneath his land so the extension could be finished and the route could be completed. Between 1898 and 1966 this is what the tunnel was used for until it was retired.
Between 1966 and the 2010s it was abandoned and left to decay quietly until Aero Research Partners decided it could be converted into an automotive test facility.
The total cost of the project was £13m which was finally opened a few years ago to allow road vehicles to be tested at high speed in controlled conditions.
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When we say controlled conditions, we mean really controlled. The 8.2m wide tunnel can be kept at a constant 10C and sits at a constant gradient of 1:176.
According to Top Gear surface of the track is reportedly so smooth that the biggest bump to be found on its surface is just half a millimetre.
The tunnel is currently open for service for testing. The cost of that testing depends on how long and how fast someone wants to use the tunnel with a full-day rate currently sitting at £15,000 for 10 hours of usage.
What’s more, although it is possible to drive very quickly through it, there are strict safety procedures and protocols to keep everyone safe.
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