Welcome to the May update of Forgotten Relics.

Every Victorian tunnel brought death and injury with it, such were the challenges thrown up by the forces of earth and water. But the miners who overcame them to drive Cymmer Tunnel faced another threat: the recklessness of Richard Parsons - one of their own.

He was responsible for the act that wreaked devastation upon himself and a dozen others, including a lad of just 13 years. Read the inquiry report and learn how a catalogue of negligence and illegality on the contractor's part led to circumstances conspiring against Cymmer's workforce on the evening of 21st April 1876.

It was money - or a dearth of it - that had the greatest impact on the construction of Chipping Norton Tunnel. Sporadic bursts of activity were separated by lengthy dormant periods as the Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway struggled to raise funds. Having broken ground in 1875, it was 1887 before the first train rumbled through it. During that intervening period, its length was extended twice!

Warden Tunnel, built to help the Midland Railway reach the bright lights of the capital, settled down to a life of no importance after St Pancras Station opened and its trains were diverted via the company's new main line. One of its tracks was ripped up in 1911. But it enjoyed a belated moment in the spotlight - shortly after closure - when it featured in a stunt sequence for Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines.

Few structures can be quite so striking as the Connel Ferry Bridge which carried the Ballachulish branch over the mouth of Loch Etive. It says much about the prevailing culture that a comparatively insignificant branch line was blessed with such an ambitious and costly crossing. Its main span was second only in length to those of the Forth Bridge.

At the other end of the scale is Spofforth Viaduct. It is a perfect miniature, standing only 35 feet high and with arches that just about span a muddy track. But size isn't everything - this is a delightful little structure and anyone truly taken with it could recently have added it to their property portfolio as it came as a package with the house whose garden it partly stands in. Anyone got a spare £450k?

Finally, a quick nod to another recent anniversary. Sunday 28th April marked 60 years since the Clifton Hall Tunnel disaster. Five lives were lost when a backfilled construction shaft burst through the tunnel's lining, pulling the houses above it into the earth. An appalling tragedy - one that taught many lessons to those with asset management responsibilities.