Wednesday 13 April 2011

Northwich Viaduct.............underneath the arches

Northwich Viaduct ........steam from a bygone age.
 River Dane
My walk on Sunday was to get images of the biggest structure in my home town of Northwich. A massive Victorian construction built in the 1850's and now a Grade II Listed Building.
The object of my walk soon came into view.
Northwich Railway Viaduct....47 arches spanning two rivers and a navigation.
A beautiful structure.

The viaduct looking west towards the River Dane.
 River Weaver
River Weaver sluice beneath the viaduct.

Modern repairs support the arch
The railway crossing the Weaver Navigation at Hunt's Lock
47 Arches.......The facts.

The Manchester South Junction Altrincham Railway opened in 1854. 
In 1863 the Cheshire Midland Railway opened an extension from Altrincham to Northwich.
 In 1869 the West Cheshire Railway opened a futher extension form Northwich to Helsby at the western end of the Wirral.
This became part of the Cheshire Lines Committee in 1866. The route westward from Northwich had to cross the river Weaver and the Weaver Navigation for which a long viaduct was designed.
The engineer proposed to use bricks, but when it became part of the Cheshire Lines Committee, the engineers agreed that local red sandstone should be used.
 In all it is 676 m (739 yds) long and carries the railway over 47 arches and a wrought iron bowed plate girder span over each of the two waterways, with a further stone arch between them. It is a massive and impressive structure.
It is a Grade II Listed Building.

A beautiful structure.
River Weaver Navigation.

8 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

the viaduct is remarkable, and the river is GORGEOUS!!! More, please!

grammie g said...

Hi Andrew..Amazing, impressive work of art.
True beauty in old structures you have shared!!
Lovely there Andrew,.. thanks! Grace

Adam Tilt said...

I really like these old railway viaducts. My house looks over one that is still in use across the Loughor estuary.

Veronica said...

Very nice! There is so much beauty out there, I wish I had lots of money and could just roam around the world taking photos.

joo said...

Fabulous place, Andrew!

Unknown said...

Great tour Andrew!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Unknown said...

That's fantastic! My son is a 'rail fanner' and thinks we should make this for his layout. :) I don't think so!

ShySongbird said...

A very impressive structure Andrew.

I enjoyed seeing all your garden birds on the earlier post too, hope the nest box is successful!

Just a thought but regarding the graveyard you showed in an earlier post, I did wonder if the local authority had laid the old grave stones down due to the fact they were unstable, that has happened here in the name of health and safety! :(