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PHOTO
GALLERY GROUP 79
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Viaducts
of Lancashire (continued). This page concludes the review
of Lancashire viaducts started in Photo Gallery 77. The features this
time are at Padiham and Martholme on the Lancashire & Yorkshire
Railway's former line from Blackburn to Rose Grove via Great Harwood.
Some usefuil parts of this route have been opened in recent years
as railway paths, namely Rose Grove to Padiham (grid reference SD
806321 to SD 791336), the south end of Martholme Viaduct to Mill Lane,
Great Harwood (SD 751338 to 749328), and from the south end of Cross
Street, Great Harwood, to Norden (SD 738320 to SD 726310). At Norden,
the rail trail connects with the cycle trail that runs along the towpath
of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal: this gives traffic-free access
to Blackburn in the west and Accrington in the east. At Accrington,
it is worth crossing to the south east of the town, where NCN6 (see
Photo Gallery 78) provides a largely traclkbed-based route south to
Stubbins, just north of Ramsbottom. |
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Above:
This is the newly-restored bridge at grid reference SD
791336 on Park Road, Padiham, on the west edge of the town's old
station site. The line remained open to serve Padiham Power Station,
but became disused when that closed in 1993. As a result, the trackbed
had 'enjoyed' 18 years of dereliction before Sustrans and Lancashire
County Council teamed up to create the exemplary multi use trail
– the Padiham Greenway – which now re-uses it. 24th
June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Left:
Just west of Park Road bridge, before the Padiham
Greenway reaches Padiham Memorial Park, this three-arch viaduct
carried the old railway line over the River Calder. As can
be seen, the L&YR incorporated into its viaduct a pedestrian
footbridge, which was also restored as part of the Padiham
Greenway project. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
The crowning glory of the Padiham Greenway is not its engineering
features, but this section between Cardwell Street on the left and
Russell Terrace on the right. The railway here once travelled along
the top of an embankment, which robbed the houses of light and deprived
them of any kind of view. As can be seen, the embankment has now been
demolished and a gently curving multi use trail installed in its place.
In 2011, the European Greenways Association awarded the Padiham
Greenway a prize for being an 'Exemplary Initiative' in the association’s
annual awards; it is hardly surprising. 24th
June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
In a quiet moment on the Padiham Greenway, a lone cyclist
rides west towards the end of the trail at Padiham Memorial Park.
However, to judge from recent aerial photographs, the Memorial Park
may no longer be the end of the trail: it looks as if the greenway
has been extended another three-quarters of a mile west to the A6068
at SD 780335. This is not shown yet on Google Earth, but does appear
to be the case from the aerial photographs available on Ordnance Survey's
Get-a-Map service. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
Martholme Viaduct straddles the River Calder at grid reference
SD 751338. A permissive route extends from its south end to Mill Lane,
on the eastern edge of Great Harwood, but there is no acces from the
north side of the viaduct back towards Padiham, which is why this
outstanding structure remarks closed to the public. 24th June 2013.
(Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
Despite the lack of public access over it, Martholme is a
lucky viaduct. It was extremely well built and has its feet on some
very sound geology, which means that it has not required the substantial
maintenance budgets of similar disused structures around Lancashire.
The minibus seen in this picture (and several others in this series)
was used to transport the directors and bridge engineers of Railway
Paths Ltd on a tour of the company's structures in the area. 24th
June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
A view along the east parapet of Martholme Viaduct, which
was constructed between 1870 and 1877 by the engineer Sturges Meek.
It comprises ten spans of 40 ft. each and, at its highest point, is
65 ft. above the River Calder. English Heritage designated the viaduct
a Grade II listed building in 1984. The walkers are members of staff
of Railway Paths Ltd. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
The view over the west parapet of Martholme Viaduct looking
towards Cock Wood, which can be seen in the distance. It may surprise
readers to learn that this viaduct was intended originally to be of
timber construction, but possibly this was to make for a lighter structure
which would not subside into the planned coal mines in the area. In
the end, the railway decided to build the structure from stone, but,
in order to ensure its long term stability, had to pay local landowner
James Lomax £1,800 as compensation for not mining
coal from beneath it. 24th June 2013. (Jeff Vinter) |
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