Fledborough Viaduct is a former
railway viaduct near
Fledborough,
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...
which is now part of the national cycle network.
History
The viaduct is a substantial structure which carried the double-track
LD&ECR's Chesterfield Market Place to
Lincoln Central Lincoln Central may refer to:
* Lincoln railway station in England, formerly named Lincoln Central
* Lincoln/1st Avenue and Lincoln/Central Avenue stations, in Phoenix, Arizona
{{Disambiguation ...
main line over the
River Trent
The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...
.
It is situated between the former stations of
Fledborough and
Clifton-on-Trent, but nearer the latter.
Opened in 1897, it consists of 59 arches spread either side of four metal girder spans which cross the river itself. Nine million bricks were used in its construction which cost £65,000.
Timetabled passenger services over the viaduct ended in September 1955, though summer weekend excursions from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to Cleethorpes and Mablethorpe and from
Manchester Central to
Yarmouth Vauxhall continued until 1964.
From the 1960s traffic east of Langwith Junction was overwhelmingly coal, much of which went straight from collieries to High Marnham Power Station which opened in 1959, this traffic therefore turned off about half a mile before the viaduct. The Grimsby to Whitland express fish train ran until at least 1962 via Fledborough and through
Mansfield Central.
The four original steel truss spans over the River Trent were replaced with steel plate girder spans of single track width in 1965. These were positioned within the existing spans before the old spans were removed.
Traffic continued to run over the viaduct until 21 February 1980 when a goods train derailed at Clifton-on-Trent seriously damaging the track. Reinstatement was deemed uneconomic and the line from Pyewipe Junction over the viaduct as far as High Marnham was closed and ultimately lifted.
Coal traffic continued from the west to High Marnham power station until this closed in 2003. Since 2009 that stretch of line has become
Network Rail's High Marnham Test Track
The High Marnham Test Track is a linear railway test track created in 2009 and centred on Lodge Lane, Tuxford, in Nottinghamshire in the United Kingdom. It houses Network Rail's Rail Innovation & Development Centre (RIDC), originally known a ...
.
Modern Times
Today the railway trackbed eastwards from the site of
Fledborough station, across the viaduct, through
Clifton to
Doddington & Harby forms an off-road part of
National Cycle Route 647 which is part of the
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...
.
From Harby onwards through the site of
Skellingthorpe
Skellingthorpe is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the village at the 2011 census was 3,465. It is situated west of Lincoln, England, Lincoln, southeast of Saxilby, north ...
almost to Pyewipe Junction the trackbed forms an off-road part of ''National Cycle Route 64''.
Fledborough to Lincoln by Bike: via ''cycle-route''
/ref>
See also
* List of crossings of the River Trent
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{refend
External links
Fledborough Viaduct on old OS map
''npemaps''
Fledborough Viaduct signalling and trackwork plus High Marnham Power Station
''signalboxes''
''forgottenrelics''
''transportheritage''
* ttps://archive.today/20130707050014/http://www.oldminer.co.uk/Fledborough_Viaduct%20Frame.htm Fledborough Viaduct photos''oldminer''
Fledborough Viaduct and High Marham Power Station
''neolithicsea''
Fledborough Viaduct and Dukeries Trail
''nottinghamshire''
Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway structures
Railway viaducts in Nottinghamshire