Giltbrook Viaduct was a sigmoid railway

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

built in the

Erewash Valley The River Erewash is a river in England, a tributary of the River Trent that flows roughly southwards through Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, forming the boundary between the two counties for much of its length. It rises near Kirkby-in-Ashf ...

between

Giltbrook Giltbrook is a village in England situated approximately northwest of Nottingham and within close reach of junction 26 of the M1 motorway. It is part of Greasley (Giltbrook and Newthorpe) ward, which had a population of 6,076 in 2001, increasi ...

and Awsworth Junction in

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 ...

. It was demolished in 1973 to make way for the

A610 A610 may refer to: * Renault Alpine GTA/A610, an automobile produced by the Renault-owned French manufacturer Alpine * A610 road (England), a road connecting Nottingham and Ambergate * Quebec Autoroute 610, a short spur road located in Sherbrook ...

bypass.

Origins

The viaduct was built between May 1873 and November 1875 and forms part of the Great Northern Railway Derbyshire Extension which was built in part to exploit the coalfields in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

and

. The contract was given by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) to Joseph Firbank with the line laid out by, and the viaduct designed by

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

(Chief Civil Engineer of the GNR); Samuel Abbott was the resident engineer. At Awsworth Junction the railway branched, one line passed over the

Bennerley Viaduct Bennerley Viaduct (originally Ilkeston Viaduct and known informally as the Iron Giant) is a former railway bridge, now a foot and cycle bridge, between Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and Awsworth, Nottinghamshire, in central England. It was completed ...

, the other turned North towards

Pinxton Pinxton is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire on the western boundary of Nottinghamshire, England, just south of the Pinxton Interchange at Junction 28 of the M1 motorway where the A38 road meets the M1. Pinxton is part of the Bolsover D ...

crossing the Giltbrook Viaduct (or Kimberley Viaduct but known locally as Forty Bridges). This viaduct was built of red bricks used to create 43 arched spans with a total length of and a height of . The viaduct was S-shaped and built in four sections. The first section consisted of a single long skew span arch crossing Awsworth Lane followed by 13 arches each spanning . The second section consisted of one skew span arch over the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 in rail transport, 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had ...

's Bulwell to Bennerley branch line followed by 15 arches each spanning . The third section started with a long skew span arch, skewed in the opposite direction, crossing the Midland Railway's line to Digby Colliery which was immediately to the East of the viaduct followed by 3 arched spans of . The fourth section started with a long segmental arch which crossed the

Greasley Greasley is a civil parish north west of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. Although it is thought there was once a village called Greasley, there is no settlement of that name today as it was destroyed by the Earl of Rutland. The built up ...

arm of the

Nottingham Canal The Nottingham Canal is a canal in the English counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As built, it comprised a long main line between the River Trent just downstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham and Langley Mill in Derbyshire. At the sam ...

followed by 8 arched spans long. Each section was separated by stop piers. To the South West of the viaduct next to the Nottingham Canal arm was a Nottingham Gas Light and Coke Company chemical works of which

Thomas Hawksley Thomas Hawksley ( – ) was an English civil engineer of the 19th century, particularly associated with early water supply and coal gas engineering projects. Hawksley was, with John Frederick Bateman, the leading British water engineer of the n ...

was once the managing engineer.

Great Midlands Raid

Houses were built into arches 8 and 23 counting from the Awsworth end. These dwellings were used as makeshift air raid shelters by school children from Awsworth during a

First World war World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

German

Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...

Airship An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying powered aircraft, under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the ...

bombing raid which dropped bombs at Bennerley Junction. This bombing raid was part of what became known as the Great Midlands Raid.

References

External links

* *{{cite web, title=RCTS Mystery Photographs: Giltbrook Viaduct, author=Courtney Haydon, J, publisher=The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, url=http://www.rcts.org.uk/features/mysteryphotos/show.htm?img=B-74-28, access-date=14 August 2011, archive-date=28 September 2011, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928025105/http://www.rcts.org.uk/features/mysteryphotos/show.htm?img=B-74-28, url-status=dead Railway viaducts in Nottinghamshire Arch bridges in England Skew bridges Brick bridges Demolished bridges in England Bridges completed in 1875 Buildings and structures demolished in 1973 Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)

Origins

Great Midlands Raid

References

Further reading

External links