TOP 10 VIADUCT WALKS

Recommended by expert Graeme Bickerdike, editor of forgottenrelics.co.uk

PERTHSHIRE

Glen Ogle viaduct

Sited grandly halfway up a hillside in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs, this 12-arch viaduct of 1866 was part of an ambitious cross-country line connecting Callander with the coastal port of Oban, some 72 miles distant. You can walk to it from Lochearnhead on a lovely six-mile circular up and down the glen.

SOUTH YORKSHIRE Conisbrough viaduct

An absolute Goliath of a structure from 1909 on the Trans Pennine Trail straddling the River Don in South Yorkshire. Built from bricks, stone and girders and featuring 21 arches, you can walk over it on a 3-mile walk from Conisbrough station taking in the castle and Windgate Hill, or under it on a six-mile riverside loop from the same start following the Don as far as Sprotborough Bridge.

CUMBRIA

Waterside viaduct

The Waterside (or Lune) Viaduct of 1861 is a beautiful structure built for the Ingleton branch line which soars 100ft over the River Lune. You can walk under it and pair it with a second, Lowgill Viaduct, by following the Dales Way from Beck Foot completing a 6 ½ mile circuit by returning via Fox’s Pulpit.

DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY Big Water of

Fleet viaduct

A remote, remarkable, great, granite headache of a viaduct: the imposingly ugly 20-arch Big Water of Fleet was built in 1861 but began to crack and in 1924 needed its too-spindly piers encasing in thick brick

jackets. Today you can park right by it for an explore or incorporate it into a 12-mile circular walk over the Cairnsmore of Fleet via Loch Grannoch.

DEVON

Meldon viaduct

One of only two wrought iron trestle viaducts that remain open to walk, this huge 150ft high Dartmoor spectacle from 1874 is a highlight of a 5 ½ mile circular walk from Okehampton station. Head to the viaduct on the Two Castles Trail and return via a climb over Black Down.

GWYNEDD

Cwm Prysor viaduct Between Bala and Trawsfynydd lies this wonderful nine-span viaduct of 1882, the biggest

feature of a line which carried passengers and freight to Blaenau Ffestiniog until 1961. It’s curved, and you can follow the trackbed 5 ½ miles, and over the viaduct, from the layby at grid reference SH784386.

BRADFORD

The Great Northern Railway Trail

A fascinating walk of nearly seven miles, west of Bradford, the GNRT takes in Cullingworth, Hewenden & Thornton viaducts. Currently two sections of reclaimed railway linked by footpaths, it’s hoped in future three tunnels can be reopened to create an uninterrupted 6.2 mile footand cycle-path along the old Cullngworth-Queensbury route.

DERBYSHIRE

Headstone viaduct

This elegant five-arch viaduct across Monsal Dale was decried by John Ruskin for spoiling the valley when it was built in 1863. But today along with the 533yard Headstone Tunnel at its southern end is a highlight of the wonderful 8 ½ mile Monsal Trail, a jewel of the Peak District which runs from Bakewell to Wye Dale.

NORTH YORKSHIRE Larpool viaduct

Leggy Larpool is a 13-arch brick viaduct from 1885, which vaults 120ft across the River Esk on elegant tapering piers. Departing Whitby en route for Scarborough, it’s now part of the 23-mile Scarborough to Whitby Railway Path. It was built from five million bricks, weighs 26,000 tonnes and merited a mention in Bram Stoker’s Dracula!

SOMERSET Pensford viaduct The gorgeous village of Pensford south of Bristol boasts a colossal 16-archer, with twin footpaths threading under it on either side of the River Chew. Built in 1874 it’s just shy of 1000ft long and 100ft high and didn’t get off to an auspicious start, partially collapsing as it was being built.