Ribblehead Viaduct

Our annual trip on the Dales Rail over the Settle Carlisle Railway was on today's agenda. We took the train to Dent Head Station and walked over to the Station at Ribblehead. That sounds like an easy trip however there is a one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks in the way, Whernside, and at 2,415ft (736m) it just had to be scaled. I had suggested a route along Dentdale then over the Craven Wold path and past the Whernside Tarns to the summit. Mrs Wild wanted to go a different way by the route over Blea Moor and the line of the railway tunnel which is 1.5 miles long and at it's deepest 500ft below the moor. This involved more ascent but Mrs Wild was happy to do it. It was very blustery with periods of sun to lift the chill but the sense that Autumn is on it's way was very evident. The final stretch of the walk takes you under the famous landmark of Ribblehead Viaduct took four years to build and was opened in 1875. It is a Grade II listed structure and a scheduled ancient monument. For those who can remember the Viaduct and railway itself was under threat of closure in the 1980's only to be saved by local and national campaigning. In the summer there is a regular steam hauled train once a week over the line no doubt the viaduct is a prime location for a phalanx of steam loco anoraks and their camera's. We've had a cracking day out as a family and as usual had a good bit of banter and laughter.