Bridges, Tunnels and Viaducts

Welcome on this wall that encircles the old city centre. We see here the wonderful gem of the Guild Hall with its Tap House being the rectangular building on the left. Both buildings used by the merchants of Derry/Londonderry since its predecessor in 1689. See the cannons ready to defend the city. Pips shows street view and another canon from walls. Nice full size.

We are now in Northern Ireland and in one of its most historic and interesting cities. So we are walking across this amazing structure. The Peace Bridge is a cycle and foot bridge across the River Foyle. It opened on 25 June 2011, connecting Ebrington Square with the rest of the city centre. It is called the peace bridge because it was thought to help improve relationships of a once very divided community. The largely Unionist 'Waterside' and the largely Nationalist 'City Side' and the bridge joins the two side together over the river. Enjoy full size and enjoy the weekend

Walking along the coastal path eastwards from Ballintoy eventually brings us to this this rope bridge. Now for some reason we had supposed that we could buy the inflated price ticket over it, at the bridge itself but it turned out that you had either to buy from a special café near a carpark some distance away or on-line. As we had not done this, our way was barred. We however still got some nice views from the mainland path as can be seen here. The PiP shows a lone adult leading a child over this wobbly bridge with the waves crashing below. Our viewing of this showed many people going over it with some trepidation and maybe understandable fear. They were only allowed over, singularly or in very small personal groups. The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is a rope bridge near Ballintoy in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The bridge links the mainland to the tiny island of Carrickarede. It spans 20 metres and is 30 metres above the rocks below. The bridge is mainly a tourist attraction and is owned and maintained by the National Trust. The name Carrick-a-Rede, from the Scottish Gaelic 'Carraig-a-Rade' means 'The Rock in the Road' - the island being an obstacle in the path of migrating salmon. Suspended across the 20-metre-wide chasm, this famous rope bridge was first erected in 1755 to connect salmon fishermen to the rocky island of Carrick-a-Rede. (The National Trust/Wiki) HFF, enjoy the weekend.

We see here the wonderful railway viaduct, a 51 span structure carrying the Carnforth and Whitehaven Line over the estuary of the River Kent immediately to the west of Arnside Station. Originally constructed in 1856 as a single line viaduct, the structure was extended to twin track in 1863. I think we are seeing the 1028 Manchester Airport to Barrow-in-Furness , Northern Line series 195 train here. Essential full screen

A quick lunch visit to the village of Arnside in Cumbria on the northern side of Morcabe Bay, brings to us some rare bright weather. The star of the show here is the famous railway viaduct. Just minutes before taking this we heard the second of two warning sirens, that warn people out on the sands that the tide is about to turn and that they should return immediately to the shore as the sands are covered up and turned into quick-sand in moments when the sea rushes in from the left here to fill this picturesque but dangerous River Kent estuary. See PiP (adjacent photo) for more a closer look at the viaduct. Essential full screen

This is part of the area known in the past as Manchester Docks. A large area just off the centre of Manchester but lying in the actual city of Salford. The waters here mainly form part of the Manchester ship canal that brought goods to and from Liverpool (mostly cotton from the deep south of America for our many mills). The Bridgewater canal also runs alongside. Nowadays Salford Quays, as can be seen, is a very up-market area with promenades, shopping malls, theatre, museum and a large media hub for our main TV services. We have just alighted the metrolink tram and we are on our way to the fabulous Lowry Theatre only metres away from this spot. (Two pips included from 2018 of the Quays just around the corner from here.) Enjoy full screen

A look at the Manchester ship canal as it makes its way up into the centre of Manchester at Salford Quays from Liverpool. Across the water we see the modern Media City buildings where our national BBC and ITV broadcasters have northern headquarters. Just by the brightly lit rounded corner sits the Lowry Theatre, our destination. There are a few very nice bridges around here and as can be seen, mostly lit up after dark. The PiP shows the scene around the corner some hours before. The whole capture is quite pleasing to me especially when considered it was hand-held on my phone. Have a good weekend.

The River Ribble has quite a few of these viaducts (not to be confused with the great railway Ribble Head Viaduct. (PIP) These carry drinking water from our Lake District to the Manchester area. This bridge is not far from the famous Stonyhurst college. The PiP shows another of these viaduct yet further downstream near Clithero in need of a boy with a large thumb! Enjoy full screen

The canals of Amsterdam are quite beautiful as well as practical in this watery city. Such bikes on these bridges have been photographed, painted and drawn many times by artist and tourist alike. Here is my attempt at being artistic with this subject too. Taken after a canal boat trip along this very same stretch of water. Enjoy this snowy weekend.

Just a couple of weeks ago we were spending a week’s holiday at a small Welsh village called Govilon. Here we are, in that tall white house by the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. I am stood on the road bridge just parallel to this attractive footbridge. The thing we never did was to take a boat ride on the canal but a great spot for many small adventures nevertheless. Wishing you a Peaceful Good Friday and Easter

Walking the linear path above Clydach affords us a look at the old railway viaduct. I rather liked this framing of the very old trees with their twisted trunks and subdued hues of green. Essential full screen

Once upon a time the 'Merthyr, Tredegar and Abergavenny Railway' used to run over this. Known as 'The Heads of the Valley line' it operated between 1860 and 1958. As opposed to many other local lines in this area, this one carried passengers from Abergavenny to Merthyr. In 1866 it was acquired by the L&NWR. See PiPs one of which shows a nearby tunnel to the old Clydach station. This old track is now a liner cycle & walking track. More info en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merthyr,_Tredegar_and_Abergavenny_Railway Enjoy full screen

A trip to the local beauty spot of Healy Dell Nature Reserve in Rochdale brought us to this lone 340 year old bridge. This was one of a pair here called ‘The Thrutch Bridges’ but known locally as the Fairy bridges. The other was washed away in a severe storm in December 2015. The two bridges were never foot bridges at all though, but supported an external wall of the Fulling Mill built in 1676, long since gone. Enjoy full screen.

Join me by the River Spodden underneath this splendid viaduct. Situated in the scenic Healey Dell Nature reserve this old railway viaduct used to carry the ‘Rochdale to Bacup Railway Line’. It was built in 1867 to carry passengers and operated until the late 60s with coal trains only. It is only single track wide and is 105ft (32m) high above the river, with eight arches, each with a 30 ft (9.1m) span. A footpath now runs along the top. See PiP Enjoy full screen.

A springtime sun shot from the lane going up to my local Dovestones reservoir. I have walked over here countless times and taken photos before but this looked a little different with the shadows and new paint. Enjoy the weekend

We are looking at the famous Barmouth viaduct here on the River Mawddach estuary. It is in fact the longest timber viaduct in Wales at 820m and the oldest in regular use. It was opened in 1867 and carries the Cambrian Railway line. It is also a pedestrian and cycle path. We don't see the impressive swing bridge here to the left for that is for another photo capture. The small town of Barmouth sits to the left too. We are standing near the terminus station of the Fairbourne Narrow gauge railway. The valley between the highest peaks here is were I took my Cregennan Lake and Pared-y-Cefn-hir photos from. see 3xPips Enjoy full screen.

A look at the Mossley end of Scout Tunnel on the Huddersfield narrow Canal. At 615 feet long it can feel quite daunting to walk (or I dare say, cycle) through here especially without some kind of torchlight. A lot of narrowboats would have come through here in its heyday but now they are a rare sight. The other end is in the small town of Stalybridge. It has recently had restoration work to stabilise the roof and towpath. The PiP shows the entrance on approach. Enjoy the weekend.

A view from the Barmouth side of this impressive viaduct showing far more detail of the old swing-bridge. Unfortunately it no longer swings but it functions quite well as a rail bridge. We see here too some pedestrians talking a stroll over the viaduct for which there is normally a small toll. The train is in fact a tfw (Transport for Wales) Class 158 DMU doing the Cambrian Coastal route from Pwllheli to Mchynelleth, possibly the 2J23 service. See next photo for another view of this bridge.