The Ribblehead Viaduct (or Batty Moss Viaduct) is the longest on the Settle-Carlisle Railway.
It lies between the Ribblehead Railway Station and the Bleamoor Tunnel (also the longest on the line).
Designed by engineer, John Sydney Crossley, the 1st stone was laid on 12 October 1870. Iit took 4 years to complete and took the lives of about 100 navvies.
Incidentally, navvy is short for navigator and originates from the term navigation engineer, originally a military occupation. The navvies cut the canals and went on to lay the rails.
Ribblehead Viaduct is 400 m long, and 32 m above the valley floor. It is made up of 24 arches of 14 m span, with massive foundations. Interestingly, the north end of the viaduct is 4 m higher in elevation than the south end. A whopping 1.5 million bricks were used in its construction and some of the limestone blocks weighed 8 tons each!
There is an excellent circular walk described HERE! which starts and finishes at SD 765792.
The Ribblehead Viaduct (or Batty Moss Viaduct) is the longest on the Settle-Carlisle Railway.
It lies between the Ribblehead Railway Station and the Bleamoor Tunnel (also the longest on the line).
Designed by engineer, John Sydney Crossley, the 1st stone was laid on 12 October 1870. Iit took 4 years to complete and took the lives of about 100 navvies.
Incidentally, navvy is short for navigator and originates from the term navigation engineer, originally a military occupation. The navvies cut the canals and went on to lay the rails.
Ribblehead Viaduct is 400 m long, and 32 m above the valley floor. It is made up of 24 arches of 14 m span, with massive foundations. Interestingly, the north end of the viaduct is 4 m higher in elevation than the south end. A whopping 1.5 million bricks were used in its construction and some of the limestone blocks weighed 8 tons each!
There is an excellent circular walk described HERE! which starts and finishes at SD 765792.
