(Photos 9-11 © Neil Cholmondeley Collection)

The tunnel, close to the summit of the old Scarborough-Whitby line, was only cut thanks to the obstinacy of one W H Hammond, the landlord of Raven Hall, who didn’t want an unsightly railway crossing his land. He died in October 1885 - just long enough to see 'his' tunnel brought into use.

It was actually the second tunnel under Ravenscar. Work on the original, unfinished one was brought to a halt in 1876 - it was on the wrong alignment.

Although short, the existing tunnel incorporates a tight curve. From Robin Hood’s Bay, the gradient up to Ravenscar is 1 in 39. Indeed the terrain locally proved so difficult that the line’s construction costs came in at around £27,000/mile - no small beer in 1885.

During the 1930s, plans were apparently hatched to blast the roof off as a result of southbound trains failing to make it up the severe gradient and coming to a halt in the darkness. As you can see, the scheme came to nothing.

(Many thanks to Mark Dyson for some of the above information)