Bridges, Tunnels and Viaducts

The classic view of this splendid vision of British Victorian engineering. Best full screen

There is something magical about this viaduct.. Even without a spectacular steam train running almost silently atop these arches, this scene just makes you stop and stare. Behind is Whernside and to my left the beginning of Ingleborough mountains. Notice the scale of this from the people at the bottom best seen at full size. PiPs Essential full size.

A single track railway line went over this narrow bridge at one time and I am old enough to remember seeing Steam-shunters going over it too. To the left of the river here were old coal mine workings and a steam pump-house -hence the weir. The track to the right went through quarries and into a big iron works including foundries that made railway lines etc. All gone now, since many years. Enjoy the colours in the still water today.

Pisa on the River Arno is known to everybody. Not really for this beautiful view of its striking buildings on the river but for its famous leaning tower. – That will come later for us but in the meantime, stroll slowly with my wife and I, over its majestic bridges, and soak in the sights and colours on our way to it. Enjoy full screen.

As the C19 pandemic gains more repeated footholds around the world, here in my hometown of Oldham we have just been advised that as being in the top five worse places for new cases in the UK, we should take extra precautions again. This view encompasses one of our three ‘isolation walks’ along the old railway, now a linear park. The two Pips show, what I consider two more interesting views of the same bridge taken some time ago now, also here in Ipernity. Click on the pictures to be taken to the originals. Enjoy full screen

A scene from under one of the many bridges over the Rochdale canal near Walsden. The cottages may have once belonged to people who worked this canal which was built very much for the industry in these parts. The post on the left is a guideway for the 'Route 66' bicycle way that passes along here. - "The Rochdale Canal in Northern England runs for 33 miles, between Manchester and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, part of the connected system of the canals of Great Britain. In Sowerby Bridge it connects with the Calder and Hebble Navigation. In Manchester it connects with the Ashton and Bridgewater Canals. The canal was re-opened to navigation along its entire length in July 2002 and forms part of the South Pennine Ring. Its name refers to the town of Rochdale through which it passes. The Rochdale is a broad canal because its locks are wide enough to allow vessels of 14 feet width. A revised Rochdale Canal Bill was passed in 1794 and construction began. By 1799 the canal was open between Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden and from Manchester to Rochdale. A proposed 1.6 mile tunnel between Walsden and Sladen was replaced by more locks and a higher summit level at 600 feet. The resulting shorter summit level meant that many reservoirs were required to prevent the summit level drying up and to maintain an available supply of water for the 92 locks. The canal opened through to Manchester in 1804. This made it the first trans-Pennine canal route, as the Huddersfield, experiencing much difficulty in the Standedge Tunnel construction, did not open until 1811. The Leeds and Liverpool, with a much longer route, was not fully opened until 1816. The canal remained profitable for some time but by the twentieth century the tonnage being carried was in sharp decline. In 1937 the last boat made the through journey across the Pennines on the Rochdale Canal. In 1952, the canal was closed apart from the short section between Castlefield and the Ashton Canal junction at Piccadilly. The Ashton was abandoned in 1962 and by 1965 the nine locks on the Rochdale through Manchester city centre were almost unusable. Enthusiastic supporters re-opened the Ashton in 1974 and the Rochdale Canal in Manchester was made good. The Rochdale Canal Society was formed to promote the restoration of the canal and in the 1980s and 1990s small scale work began to re-open stretches of the canal between Todmorden and Sowerby Bridge. This involved restoring bridges and locks to navigable condition. In 1996 the canal was opened to navigation once again between Sowerby Bridge and the summit level. " Nice full screen.

Today is a grand ‘Wast Water’ walk and this bridge soon caught my eye. I tried to find exactly what this bridge was called but for the life of me I could not. We parked at a little carpark in a spot called ‘Cinderdale Bridge’ –which of course has a bridge, but on research via Google images etc, it is a single span stone bridge as is its close neighbour ‘Forest Bridge’ too. Anyway, here is my double arched bridge over what should be the River Irt, and it is quite typical of the narrow hump-back bridges of this area. Hope you enjoy it. Enjoy full screen

Whitby, a seaside, fishing town on the North Yorkshire coast. Made famous by its hilltop Abbey and the towns connections to Bram Stoker's Dracula. However the fact that Captain Cook once lived here is perhaps of more importance. This monochromatic view helps to remind us of another of its famous inhabitants, the photographer: Frank Meadow Sutcliffe. www.sutcliffe-gallery.co.uk/gallery.html Full size screen essential

After reading Rosalyn Hilborne's comment on the previous page I tried to take a look on line to see the bridge opened and was surprised of how few there were and also what poor quality ones there was of them. So I took a look in my archives and found this from 2014, when we were last there. Hope you enjoy it. As always, deserves full size.

Just ten minutes’ walk from my door is a small valley that sometimes shines in its beauty. This is that time, when frost and light makes us forget the old industrial wasteland that once this was. The river used to run with glowing neon colours of every description as it ran alongside many old cotton mills and industrial tips. One would never ever want to dip any part of unprotected skin into it. I used to walk along here with my old school mates whilst watching the many rats that ran in abundance here in the days when there were no trees in this place. Fortunately, that has all changed for the better and all I see nowadays is the odd dog-walker and keen landscape photographer. I even see the odd small fish. Enjoy full screen.

As we walk on the edge of this lake, we go into some woodland, over the ancient packhorse bridge above the River Irt. I must admit that I was lucky again with the dappled light here and it was certainly a place to dwell gazing down into this river. See Pip for the top view. As usual best full screen.

An arched pier to the inspection point on Norman Hill Reservoir catches my eye with this wonderful light. This is near Piethorne reservoir above Newhey, Rochdale. See PiP HFF and have a great weekend.

This little bridge, the target of many a photographer that visits Wastwater, allows the small road to go over the ‘Countess Beck’ as it finally runs into the lake. This little area (indeed also from my last two photos) is known as 'Landing Stage’. PiP for opposite side! Enjoy full screen.

A short walk from our holiday cottage in Aberfoyle, we find ourselves at this wonderful humped back footbridge over this infant part of the River Forth on its way to Edinburgh. Of course a nice set of fences accompany it. See PiP for alternative view. The second PiP show my previously posted lichens found on the top of this rail. HFF, enjoy the weekend.

Grosmont Tunnel was built as part of George Stephenson's horse-drawn railway that ran between Whitby and Pickering, which was completed in 1836. The tunnel is still in use today, with a footpath replacing the rail track. The horse-drawn railway naturally operated at fairly low speeds, so the earthworks or structures needed were minimal. There were some timber bridges but these have now been replaced. The 119m long tunnel is 3m wide by 4.3m high, with turrets and castellations on the portals. It was completed around 1834, and trains ran twice daily between Grosmont and Whitby from June 1835. A return journey took six hours. When steam traction came to the railway in 1847, a larger running tunnel was constructed alongside the original. Grosmont Horse Tunnel is probably the oldest railway tunnel in Britain. (http://www.engineering-timelines.com/)

As we leave Grosmont and the North Yorkshire moors Railway, we see a different running engine heading for the workshops and coal hopper at the other end of the tunnel. On the left, another small tunnel can be seen. This is called the Grosmont Horse Tunnel and was built as part of the George Stephenson’s horse-drawn railway of 1836. This is in fact the pedestrian way into the railway yard. See PiPs or previous pages. This is a Lambton Collieries 0-6-2T, No.29 built in Hunslet, 1904 and withdrawn from service after 65 years. (1969) ps L.H.&.J.C : Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Colliery (National Coal Board) I hope you have enjoyed bit of our railway nostalgia.

A visit to this wonderful small town brings us down to the banks of the River Lune. Here we see not only the old bridge, which now only takes walkers, but also the rather attractive road bridge set in the background. This is in the county of Cumbria and also said to be the Lower lake District. See PiPs “Spanning the River Lune to the south and east of Kirkby Lonsdale is Devil’s Bridge. This magnificent three-arched bridge, probably dates from the 12th or 13th century. ~ The bridge was later ascribed to the Devil. The story grew that the Devil appeared to an old woman and promised to build a bridge in exchange for the first soul to cross it. The woman agreed, so the Devil built the bridge. The clever old woman then threw a loaf of bread over the bridge and her dog chased it.” More info: www.kirkbylonsdale.co.uk/discover/13341-devils-bridge Enjoy full screen.

We are approaching the end of our round walk here on the River Keer from and to Carnforth. A rather nice and quite old wooden footbridge that would lead us back onto the seaward side of the river but that was not for us today. See PiP for top view. Best full screen