Ribblehead Viaduct

Ribblehead Viaduct
File:Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire.jpg Ribblehead Viaduct
Coordinates
Crosses	Batty Moss
Owner	Network Rail
Maintained by	Network Rail
Characteristics
Total length	440 yards (400 m)
Height	104 feet (32 m)
Number of spans	24
History
Designer	John Sydney Crossley
Construction begin	12 October 1870
Opened	3 August 1875

Settle-Carlisle Line
Legend
Area railways  West Coast Main Line to Glasgow Carlisle Cumbrian Coast Line & West Coast Main Line Tyne Valley Line to Newcastle Petteril Goods Scotby Cumwhinton Cotehill Armathwaite Armathwaite Tunnel 325 yd  297 m  Baron Wood Tunnel No 2 251 yd  230 m  Baron Wood Tunnel No 1 207 yd  189 m  Lazonby and Kirkoswald Lazonby Tunnel 99 yd  91 m  Little Salkeld Langwathby Waste Bank Tunnel 164 yd  150 m  Culgaith Tunnel 661 yd  604 m  Culgaith New Biggin British Gypsum Works, Kirkby Thore Long Marton Eden Valley Railway to Penrith Appleby Junctions Appleby East Appleby West Eden Valley Railway Ormside Viaduct 200 yd  183 m  Ormside Helm Tunnel 571 yd  522 m  Crosby Garrett Crosby Garrett Tunnel 181 yd  166 m  Eden Valley Railway Scandal Beck South Durham & Lancs Union Rly to Tebay Smardale Viaduct Kirkby Stephen East x20px South Durham & Lancs Union Rly to Darlington Kirkby Stephen West Birkett Tunnel 424 yd  388 m  Ais Gill Summit 1169 ft  356 m  Shotlock Hill Tunnel 106 yd  97 m  Moorcock Tunnel 98 yd  90 m  Dandry Mire/Moorcock Viaduct 227 yd  208 m  Wensleydale Rly to Northallerton Hawes Moss Dale Head Tunnel 245 yd  224 m  Garsdale(formerly Hawes Junction) Rise Hill Tunnel 1213 yd  1109 m  Dent Artengill Viaduct 220 yd  201 m  Dent Head Viaduct 199 yd  182 m  Blea Moor Tunnel 2629 yd  2404 m  Ribblehead Viaduct 440 yd  402 m  Ribblehead Horton-in-Ribblesdale Stone Quarries, Arcow & Dry Rigg Stainforth Tunnel 120 yd  110 m  Settle Leeds-Morecambe Line to Lancaster Settle Junction Leeds-Morecambe Line to Leeds

The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle-Carlisle Railway across Batty Moss in the valley of the River Ribble at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, is 28 miles (45 km) north-west of Skipton and 26 miles (42 km) south-east of Kendal. It is a Grade II* listed structure.

The land underneath and around the viaduct, where the remains of the construction camp and navvy settlements known as Batty Wife Hole, Sebastopol and Belgravia were located, is a scheduled ancient monument.

History

The viaduct was designed by engineer, John Sydney Crossley. The first stone was laid on 12 October 1870 and the last in 1874. One thousand navvies built the viaduct and established shanty towns on the moors for themselves and their families. They named the towns after Crimean War victories, well-to-do districts of London and biblical names. There were smallpox epidemics and deaths from industrial accidents. Around one hundred navvies were killed during its construction. There are around 200 burials of men, women, and children in the graveyard at Chapel-le-Dale dating from the time of its construction. The church has a memorial to the railway workers.

The line over the bridge was opened to goods traffic on 3 August 1875, but passenger trains did not commence running until 1 May 1876, following approval of the works by Colonel F. H. Rich, an Inspecting Officer of the Board of Trade.

In 1964, several brand new Humber cars being carried on a freight train that was crossing the viaduct were blown off the wagons they were being carried upon and landed on the ground by the viaduct.

Description

Ribblehead Viaduct is 440 yards (400 m) long, and 104 feet (32 m) above the valley floor at its highest point. It is made up of twenty-four arches of 45 feet (14 m) span, with foundations 25 feet (7.6 m) deep. The north end of the viaduct is 13 feet (4.0 m) higher in elevation than the south end. 1.5 million bricks were used in the construction and some of the limestone blocks weighed 8 tons each.

Location

Ribblehead Viaduct is the longest on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Ribblehead railway station is less than half a mile to the south and to the north is the Blea Moor Tunnel, the longest tunnel on line. It is near the foot of Whernside.

The Settle-Carlisle Line is one of three north-south main lines, along with the West Coast Main Line through Penrith and the East Coast Main Line via Newcastle. British Rail attempted to close the line in the 1980s, citing the reason that the viaduct was unsafe and would be expensive to repair. A partial solution was to single the line across the viaduct in 1985, preventing two trains from crossing simultaneously. A 20 mph speed limit is also in force. The closure proposals generated tremendous protest and were eventually retracted. The viaduct, along with the rest of the line, was repaired and maintained and there are no longer any plans to close it.

Two taller viaducts on the route are Smardale Viaduct at 131 feet (40 m) high and near to Crosby Garrett, and Arten Gill at 117 feet (36 m).

Usage

In 2016 the line and viaduct carries six passenger trains from Leeds to Carlisle per day in each direction, plus regular long distance excursions, many hauled by steam locomotives. Regular diesel-hauled heavy freight trains also use the route to help reduce congestion on the West Coast Main Line. Colas Rail operate a timber train most Friday afternoons which passes over the Viaduct when it departs its yard opposite Ribblehead railway station. The combination of the rarely seen timber train and the British Rail Class 56 locomotives used to pull the train has built quite an enthusiastic following.

In popular culture

The building of the viaduct was the inspiration behind the ITV period drama series Jericho.

Gallery

• Ribblehead Viaduct5.jpg

  Ingleborough seen through an arch of the viaduct

• 1 Ribblehead viaduct Wiki.jpg

  Close-up of an arch of the viaduct

• Rly Ribblehead Viaduct 2 12.03.14R edited-2.jpg

  The Viaduct in 2014 from the west side of the line looking northwards

External links

• Pictures of the viaduct at the BBC
• List of Viaducts on the Settle-Carlisle line