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 Sapperton Canal Tunnel The Sapperton Canal Tunnel is a tunnel on the Thames and Severn Canal near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England. With a length of 3,817 yards it was the longest canal tunnel, and the longest tunnel of any kind, in England from 1789 to 1811. Although the Thames and Severn Canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament on 17 April 1783, the details of the tunnel had not been worked out, and arguments about its size continued for two or three months. Boats on the Severn were trows and were wide, while those on the Thames were Thames