The tunnel, and nearby station, were built by the Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway (LD&ECR) in the last decade of the 19th century and opened in 1898. It stands on the 12 mile long Beighton Branch from Langwith Junction to Beighton Junction, connecting Shirebrook in Derbyshire to the steel city of Sheffield. This small area has a rich railway history, with three major lines (the LD&ECR, the Great Central, and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway – the latter still in use in the form of ‘Old Road’) essentially running side by side near Rother Valley Country Park, and featuring a network of additional branches to nearby mills and collieries in this one-time beating heart of industry. Passenger traffic on the Beighton Branch ceased with the eruption of the Second World War and never returned except for diversion and the occasional special, such as those put on at the start of term for children returning to Mount St Mary’s College, a boarding school in Spinkhill village. The railway, by now nationalised, finally closed in 1967 with the last of the track lifted by 1984. By the mid-1990s the portals had been partially blocked by earth berms, presumably to prevent stolen cars being driven in, but otherwise remain unsealed. Please note, the tunnel is not on a public right of way.
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The Spinkhill tunnel is situated in a cutting due east of Station Road (between the road and Park Hall), which heads north from Spinkhill village to High Moor.
