3000 Strangers: The Building of the Kettering to Manton Railway By Ann Paul Silverlink - 2003 A unique insight into the lives and characters of the navvies who came to work and live in the district between 1875 and 1879 when the Midland Railway built the line between Manton Junction and Kettering, including the Welland Viaduct, the longest on Britain’s railway system. Ann Paul is the author of 3000 Strangers: The Building of the Kettering to Manton Railway. Over 400 attended the launch of this book at Gretton Village Hall on 20 July 2003. An audience of nearly 80 assembled in the Riding School at Rutland County Museum on 9 October 2003 to hear talk about the research she carried out on the building of this railway and the lives and characters of the navvies who worked on it. They lived in hutted settlements along the line, the largest being near Seaton and known at ‘Cyprus’.In fewer than 16 miles the line has four tunnels and five viaducts, including the Welland Viaduct, at 1,250 yards the longest on Britain’s railway system; as well as many high embankments and deep cuttings.