SIR - Your article about the men who died while building Queensbury Tunnel (‘Focus on tunnel deaths’, March 27) draws attention to how much we owe to the working people who have bequeathed masterpieces of engineering to us.

And let’s not discount the part played by the womenfolk of that time.

We know enough history to imagine how they must have coped with children in lousy living conditions, working long hours at spinning and weaving looms and often going hungry to allow their men enough food in their bellies as they went to work underground.

We are very pleased indeed that Bradford Council officers are now actively considering options for the tunnel’s future.

Our campaign to preserve Queensbury Tunnel (queensburytunnel.org.uk) and see it start a new life as an iconic cycleway is based on a profound regard for the railway labourers who built it.

The history of the tunnel  is dishonoured unless we turn it into heritage – something gifted to us to be valued and put to good use for generations to come.

Norah McWilliam, Peel Street, Queensbury