Explored with Foxylady
I usually explore alone these days but I figured that if I didn’t team up with Foxy soon, I wouldn’t get the opportunity to see her excellent film photography skills displayed alongside my digital efforts. The other pressing reason for the second visit to this fantastic place was that the traverse up top had become, at least temporarily, possible. A big thank you to JT 1965 whose info turned out to be spot on.
There was mutual enthusiasm for the subject at hand. This imposing Viaduct quite literally looms up in front of you as you approach from either direction and is both passive and exciting in turns.
I must say at this point that you have to have a fair degree of respect for anyone who is absolutely terrified of heights clambering onto a Viaduct trackbed.. This structure is very old at 105 or so years and made largely from un-reinforced concrete. Foxy suffers from acrophobia and her initial unease was palpable, which only makes her achievement of completing the traverse in both directions more admirable.
Simple fact is that, once she was up there and making her way along it, she was even more of a kid in a sweet shop than I was, except on the odd occasion when I leaned over the parapet to get a shot and it became more obvious where we were.
If you need a full history fix for this place, visit my original thread posted in July this year.
[ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=15844[/ame]
For those of you who prefer not to flick around forums, some info taken from said thread – sourced from Kent Rail;
The viaduct was required to span a valley 5½ route miles from Axminster, and at the time became an engineering project of some note, for it was one of few such structures to be made entirely of concrete, rather than brick. Building work was subcontracted to ‘’Baldry & Yerburgh’’ of Westminster, London (a partnership between one Henry Osborne Baldry and one John Eardley Yerburgh), and cement for the concrete was shipped in by sea to Lyme Regis Cobb. The concrete itself was the product of flint extracted from cuttings in the local area. A 1000-foot-long cableway was suspended above the valley, supported on either side by wooden pylons, and was used to move materials in place for construction. The viaduct’s design comprised ten elliptical arches of 50-foot span, the tallest of which rose to a height of 92-feet. Overall viaduct length and width were 606-feet and 16-feet respectively, and the Light Railway Order meant that the foundations were not required to penetrate deeper than 10-foot below the ground. These foundations would permit a pressure of 3½-tons per square foot to be exerted on the structure. The arches were formed using sections of pre-cast concrete, whilst the remainder of the viaduct was built using mass concrete that had not been reinforced. Unfortunately, the nature of the terrain, coupled with the need to keep construction costs low, saw Cannington Viaduct become problematic early on in its existence. The structure was built upon a surface of sandstone and clay, and before completion, the western extremity of the viaduct began to suffer from subsidence. As a result, a permanent supporting jack, also of concrete construction, had to be built within the third viaduct arch from the western embankment.
The branch line opened to traffic on 24th August 1903, and thereafter the viaduct led an unproblematic life, despite the initial incidents of subsidence. The nature of the route’s construction ensured that it was restricted to operation by small tank engines from the outset. The branch was closed completely on 29th November 1965, under Western Region auspices, when the lines west of Salisbury had entered the nadir of their fortunes. The Lyme Regis service had been operated by WR diesel multiple units since 4th November 1963. The viaduct is now protected with a Grade II listing.
On with a few pics from me, Foxy will add her account of the explore to the thread later.
Ground shot.
The Viaduct’s own ‘tag’ at the east end.
And the chav additions a bit further in.
Hmmnn, wonder what they’re doing here.
A most pleasing sun shot made itself aware to us.
When I started taking shots like this one below, there were audible groaning noises coming from the structure. At least I think that’s where they were coming from.
The valley floor, and the stream that trickles through it.
Mid-point west to east.
Close to the west end looking east.
West end valley shot, stunning.
At the west end a very rare sight was just visible among the undergrowth, not often glimpsed this high up.
All in all a great day and full of achievements. Make sure you see Foxy’s report later in this thread. If you’ve got this far, I think your gonna like it.
Thanks for looking.
I usually explore alone these days but I figured that if I didn’t team up with Foxy soon, I wouldn’t get the opportunity to see her excellent film photography skills displayed alongside my digital efforts. The other pressing reason for the second visit to this fantastic place was that the traverse up top had become, at least temporarily, possible. A big thank you to JT 1965 whose info turned out to be spot on.
There was mutual enthusiasm for the subject at hand. This imposing Viaduct quite literally looms up in front of you as you approach from either direction and is both passive and exciting in turns.
I must say at this point that you have to have a fair degree of respect for anyone who is absolutely terrified of heights clambering onto a Viaduct trackbed.. This structure is very old at 105 or so years and made largely from un-reinforced concrete. Foxy suffers from acrophobia and her initial unease was palpable, which only makes her achievement of completing the traverse in both directions more admirable.
Simple fact is that, once she was up there and making her way along it, she was even more of a kid in a sweet shop than I was, except on the odd occasion when I leaned over the parapet to get a shot and it became more obvious where we were.
If you need a full history fix for this place, visit my original thread posted in July this year.
[ame]http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=15844[/ame]
For those of you who prefer not to flick around forums, some info taken from said thread – sourced from Kent Rail;
The viaduct was required to span a valley 5½ route miles from Axminster, and at the time became an engineering project of some note, for it was one of few such structures to be made entirely of concrete, rather than brick. Building work was subcontracted to ‘’Baldry & Yerburgh’’ of Westminster, London (a partnership between one Henry Osborne Baldry and one John Eardley Yerburgh), and cement for the concrete was shipped in by sea to Lyme Regis Cobb. The concrete itself was the product of flint extracted from cuttings in the local area. A 1000-foot-long cableway was suspended above the valley, supported on either side by wooden pylons, and was used to move materials in place for construction. The viaduct’s design comprised ten elliptical arches of 50-foot span, the tallest of which rose to a height of 92-feet. Overall viaduct length and width were 606-feet and 16-feet respectively, and the Light Railway Order meant that the foundations were not required to penetrate deeper than 10-foot below the ground. These foundations would permit a pressure of 3½-tons per square foot to be exerted on the structure. The arches were formed using sections of pre-cast concrete, whilst the remainder of the viaduct was built using mass concrete that had not been reinforced. Unfortunately, the nature of the terrain, coupled with the need to keep construction costs low, saw Cannington Viaduct become problematic early on in its existence. The structure was built upon a surface of sandstone and clay, and before completion, the western extremity of the viaduct began to suffer from subsidence. As a result, a permanent supporting jack, also of concrete construction, had to be built within the third viaduct arch from the western embankment.
The branch line opened to traffic on 24th August 1903, and thereafter the viaduct led an unproblematic life, despite the initial incidents of subsidence. The nature of the route’s construction ensured that it was restricted to operation by small tank engines from the outset. The branch was closed completely on 29th November 1965, under Western Region auspices, when the lines west of Salisbury had entered the nadir of their fortunes. The Lyme Regis service had been operated by WR diesel multiple units since 4th November 1963. The viaduct is now protected with a Grade II listing.
On with a few pics from me, Foxy will add her account of the explore to the thread later.
Ground shot.
The Viaduct’s own ‘tag’ at the east end.
And the chav additions a bit further in.
Hmmnn, wonder what they’re doing here.
A most pleasing sun shot made itself aware to us.
When I started taking shots like this one below, there were audible groaning noises coming from the structure. At least I think that’s where they were coming from.
The valley floor, and the stream that trickles through it.
Mid-point west to east.
Close to the west end looking east.
West end valley shot, stunning.
At the west end a very rare sight was just visible among the undergrowth, not often glimpsed this high up.
All in all a great day and full of achievements. Make sure you see Foxy’s report later in this thread. If you’ve got this far, I think your gonna like it.
Thanks for looking.
