to Whittle Dene; from where drinking water is supplied to Newcastle upon Tyne, Gateshead, and some surrounding areas. The reservoirs that form the chain are, from northwest to southeast: Catcleugh Reservoir → Colt Crag Reservoir → Little Swinburne Reservoir → Hallington Reservoirs → Whittle Dene. Newcastle and Gateshead had been provided with water from reservoirs at Whittle Dene, but the rapid growth of the towns in the mid-nineteenth century, coupled with several years of drought, meant that these were inadequate. The Whittle Dean Water Company, as it was then known, had attempted to get powers to build a reservoir on the Swin Burn, but their Act of Parliament obtained in 1854 had been amended after Thomas Riddell objected to the reservoir. Although the reservoir had been removed from the Act, they were empowered to build an aqueduct, which would intercept a number of streams between Hallington and Ryal, to the north west of Matfen. In order to convey the water to the main reservoirs at Whittle Dean, a tunnel was required through a ridge of higher land. Tenders for the construction of the tunnel were sought in 1856, and from the 25 received, the contract was awarded to R Mains & Co, who had quoted £7,101 for the work. An arrangement with the Duke of Northumberland was negotiated, to allow a brickworks to be built on his land, as a way of reducing transport costs for materials. Work on the construction began in 1857, but by February 1858 Mains had failed to get very far. He was paid £500 for the work he had done, and a second contract was awarded to Roper & Smith. By March, the new contractor was working on seven of the twelve shafts and some tunnelling had been started, although the works were hampered by the ingress of water. The directors were hoping for quick completion of the tunnel, to prevent difficulties with supplying water to the towns. They offered Roper & Smith an additional £300, if they would set men on to tunnelling from all of the available shafts. Roper & Smith were facing financial difficulties by November 1858, and the tunnel was not expected to be completed for another two years. The directors offered another £1,000 if the work could be completed in a year, but the contractor did not feel able to commit to such a deadline. As a consequence, Richard Cail