Viaducts
of Lancashire. On 24th and 25th June 2013, the club's Webmaster
visited the Bolton area for a two day board meeting of Railway Paths
Ltd., which included a series of fascinating site visits to view some
of the county's now railless railway viaducts. Some of them will soon
be re-used in new multi use trails: some are in good condition, others
much less so; but this and the next page reveal them in all their
variety ... |
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Above:
Grade II listed Burnden Viaduct, which straddles the A666
dual carriageway south of Bolton town centre, will soon be part
of a new railway path linking Bolton and Bury via the Lancashire
& Yorkshire Railway's former line (which used to serve a similar
purpose until closed completely in 1970). Unles you happen to be
travelling along the A666 upstairs in the front seat of a double
decker bus, the structure is a difficult one to photograph in the
summer. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
Burnden Viaduct has been repaired in recent years; we understand
that Sustrans was involved in the work, although Graeme
Bickerdike states that the British Railways Board (Residuary)
was responsible for the new decking – and, we would guess, the
railing repairs. It couldn't really be much easier now to run a railway
path over the top! 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Left:
Between the east end of Burnden Viaduct and Lower
Darcy Street, Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council has already
cleared the trackbed of vegetation ready for the new trail
to be installed. What appears to be a bridge arch in the distance
is actually an optical illusion caused by the curving branches
of trees. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
The section of trackbed illustrated in the previous picture
comes to an abrupt end above Lower Darcy Street, where a rail-over-road
bridge was removed many years ago – but Bolton Council intends
to install a replacement. Just to the left of centre on the far side
of the road, one can see where locals access the continuation of the
trackbed to reach the next engineering feature on the line. 24th June
2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
At the moment, one has to take a diversion via Lower Darcy
Street and the B6209 (Radcliffe Road) to reach Darcy Lever Viaduct,
which is first glimpsed over the roof tops as one descends Lower Darcy
Street. The viaduct is a large one, with eight iron spans supported
by stone piers carrying the old line over the valley of the River
Tonge. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
The board of directors of Railway Paths Limited, together
the company's bridge engineer and members of staff from Bolton Council,
view Darcy Lever Viaduct from Radcliffe Road. This photograph shows
only three of the eight spans, which conveys some impression of the
viaduct's length, which is about 612 ft. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
This is the view looking south along the River Tonge from
the bridge on Radcliffe Road. This spot became well known locally
as the site of a competition to throw a potato over the viaduct –
a feat which proved beyond most until some bowlers from the England
cricket squad heard of the competition and gave it a try. 24th June
2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
This view of Darcy Lever Viaduct is taken from the footpath
on its east side which connects Radcliffe Road (ahead) with Gorses
Road. Even this view shows only four of the eight spans. The RPL minibus
can be seen on the very right of the picture. 24th June 2013. (Jeff
Vinter) |
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Above:
This is the only photograph in this batch which shows the
entire length of Darcy Lever Viaduct, and we venture to submit that
it is impressive! Like nearby Burnden Viaduct, Darcy lever has received
a lot of attention in recent years including the new decking seen
here, which – as at Burnden – will make it very easy to
put a trail over the top. No doubt more secure fencing will be installed
when this happens. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |