Jagdpanther
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Lands Viaduct near Cockfield, County Durham was opened in 1863 to carry the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway (the Stainmore Line) across the River Gaunless between Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle. 161 feet high and 640 feet long it carried the railway across the Gaunless valley and the Haggerleases branch of the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The double track was carried on a steel lattice supported on huge brick built double pillars between brick butresses. The line closed in 1962 and the steelwork was removed for scrap two years later. Shortly after two of the twin pillars were deemed to be unsafe and were blown up by the army in 1966; the remains now lie strewn across the valley floor. The remaining pillar and the huge butresses remain today.
Access is easy from the south side and the site is well worth a visit. Either park at NZ 115254 and walk along the valley floor on the trackbed of the Haggerleases railway, crossing the Gaunless on the Skew Bridge, one of the very first railway bridges to cross an onstacle at an acute angle. Or park near the site of Cockfield Station, NZ 113249 and cross Cockfiel Fell on the SD&LUR trackbed.
Make it a circular walk - Cockfield fell is Englands largest scheduled ancient monument, full of old ancient mining and settlement remains, quarries, the two railway trackbeds, the viaduct and the Skew Bridge. And I saw a Kingfisher!
Complete site looking towards the west.
Remaining pillars on north side
Southern side buttress with collapsed pillars in foreground
The tops of the collapsed pillars.
View from southern butress
Access is easy from the south side and the site is well worth a visit. Either park at NZ 115254 and walk along the valley floor on the trackbed of the Haggerleases railway, crossing the Gaunless on the Skew Bridge, one of the very first railway bridges to cross an onstacle at an acute angle. Or park near the site of Cockfield Station, NZ 113249 and cross Cockfiel Fell on the SD&LUR trackbed.
Make it a circular walk - Cockfield fell is Englands largest scheduled ancient monument, full of old ancient mining and settlement remains, quarries, the two railway trackbeds, the viaduct and the Skew Bridge. And I saw a Kingfisher!
Complete site looking towards the west.
Remaining pillars on north side
Southern side buttress with collapsed pillars in foreground
The tops of the collapsed pillars.
View from southern butress
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