Blisworth Tunnel was the only section unfinished. This was despite the tunnel having been under construction for seven years: the gap was filled by a temporary horse-drawn tramway over the top of the hill, with goods being transported from boat to wagon and back again. The tramway, built in 1801, was Northamptonshire's first railway. In March 1805, the tunnel was finally opened and the rails were used to connect the main line of the canal to the River Nene until the branch canal to Northampton was constructed. Until the 1870s travel through the tunnel was only achieved by men lying on their
Sapperton Canal Tunnel bring water from the River Severn toward the Thames Basin and London; if such a plan is realised the Sapperton Canal Tunnel could be utilised to transport water. In "Hornblower and the Atropos" by C.S. Forester, Hornblower helps the boatman "leg" through Sapperton Tunnel after the boatman's assistant is incapacitated. Forester spends the first two chapters of the book on the canal-boat journey, Roughly a third of the first chapter is devoted to the tunnel. In the novel "Gone" by Mo Hayder the tunnel is used extensively as a location in this crime thriller. Sapperton Canal Tunnel The Sapperton Canal