Scarecastle - Halloween at Harecastle Tunnel, October half-term 2025

About this Event

Come along to the Harecastle Tunnel this half term for our annual Halloween Spooktacular Scarecastle event. Our site will be decorated and we will have a variety of Halloween themed activities available on site including:-

Face Painting,

Spooky graveyard,

Scary Monster coconut shy,

Children's quiz trail

Photo opportunities

Floating Traders and

A boat trip through the historic Harecastle tunnel

This is a once a year opportunity to spend 30 minutes deep underground in the cold, dark, damp, historic Harecastle tunnel on one of our trip boats. Unless you have access to a boat this is the only way of being inside this historic, landmark, Wonder of the Waterways, running for almost 1.7 miles between Tunstall and Kidsgrove.

This is an outdoor event and we cannot control the weather - although we will provide gazebos to offer some shelter should we get heavy rain. The site is uneven so you will need to wear sensible footwear. It will be cold and damp in the tunnel so make sure you have warm clothing - particularly for smaller children.

We have refreshments for sale including hot and cold drinks and snacks as well as floating traders selling food and drinks.

There is limited parking available on site at the South Portal (Tunstall end - ST6 4PX) of the tunnel.

Please follow staff instructions at all times and respect our site and neighbours by disposing of your litter at bins on site and keeping the noise down when arriving on site, during the event and when leaving.

Please note that this year we are all having a night off! We will be running the event from Monday 27th October to Wednesday 29th October. There will be no trips on Thursday 30th October but then we start again on Friday 31st October through to Sunday 2 November.

All trips start and finish at the South Portal (ST6 4PX) of the tunnel. Please note that we do not have the facilities to deal with people wanting to join us at the Kidsgrove end of the Tunnel. We will transfer you by minibus either before or after your boat trip to ensure that you end the event back where you started ie the South Portal (Tunstall End of the tunnel).

Please ensure that you arrive on site 15 minutes before your ticket time. This gives us time to fit you with a buoyancy aid and for alternate trips to transport you by minibus to Kidsgrove before getting the boat back to the South Portal

Please note that the design of the trip boats means that access is via a couple of metal steps. Staff will be available if you need a helping hand.

Bookings

This year, for the first time, we are having to make a charge of £5 for all tickets (Plus the Eventbrite administration charge of 98p). The Canal and River Trust is a Charity, and due to the increasing cost of running this event and the reduction in the Trust's funding, they are unable to meet all of the costs of the event.

Please book a ticket for every person in your party (including all children). Tickets are non-transferrable.

All under 18s must be accompanied by a responsible adult. For small children please bring along your car seat for the mini-bus journey.

Cancellations

This event is over subscribed every year. If for any reason you can no longer attend, please cancel your ticket via Eventbrite and please e-mail us at RXZlbnRzbm9ydGhzdGFmZnMgfCBjYW5hbHJpdmVydHJ1c3QgISBvcmcgISB1aw== as soon as you can. Cancellations giving us 2 clear days notice will result in your ticket price being refunded (minus the Eventbrite Administration charge). This gives us the best opportunity to re-allocate your seats.

If you are unable to get seats due to passages being full please keep on looking at the Eventbrite site as any cancelled seats will be re-advertised there as well as on the Harecastle Tunnels Facebook page.

Unfortunately short notice cancellations (within 2 days of the event) will not generally be refunded

Each night the last trip through the tunnel will end at about 9.45pm. The site will be locked up at 10.30pm

The Canal and River Trust retain the right to refuse access to any participant on safety grounds. There could be circumstances in which the Canal and River Trust needs to cancel the whole event (we are currently doing rain dances to maintain or even improve our water levels) If this should be necessary we would refund the total ticket cost and the Canal and River Trust would meet the Eventbrite Administration cost.

Follow us on Facebook @Harecastletunnels to keep up to date with the latest news of this and other events.

Also check out other Trips & Adventurous Activities in Kidsgrove.