Gravel Extraction

At the end of the last ice age, melting glaciers deposited millions of tonnes of sand and gravel along the Nene Valley.

Sand and gravel, otherwise known as aggregates, are very important for the construction industry and, in the 1970’s, extraction began at Irthlingborough.

Before the gravel could be sold, it had to be washed and sorted.  A giant processing plant was built at Stanwick Lakes and an electric conveyor belt was constructed along the railway line to transport the stone from Irthlingborough to Stanwick.

In total, 1.5 million tonnes of aggregate were extracted from the lakes area.