Upon leaving Ilkley, there’s a viaduct well worth a visit, Arthington Viaduct.
You drive down a single track road until you reach the end and park under the viaduct. A short walk (literally less than five minutes) brings you to the riverbank and the view of the viaduct.
About Arthington Viaduct
Arthington Viaduct, listed known as the Wharfedale Viaduct, carries the Harrogate Line across the Wharfe valley between Arthington in West Yorkshire and Castley in North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade II listed structure.
The viaduct was built, between 1845 and 1849, in a curve some 500 yards (460 m) in length, with 21 semi-circular sandstone arches on high piers. It was built to carry the Leeds to Thirsk Railway over the River Wharfe.
Construction was supervised by Chief Engineer of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway Thomas Grainger, who built the line from Leeds to Stockton-on-Tees via Harrogate and Thirsk.
The foundation stone was laid on 31 March 1846 by Henry Cowper Marshall, Chairman of Leeds and Thirsk Railway Company and the line opened on 10 July 1849 when the nearby Bramhope Tunnel, another key component of the line, was complete.
In excess of 50,000 tons of stone were used in its construction.
Alternate compositions
I wandered further up the path alongside the river away from the viaduct to try and get a wider view of it.
As I was trying a different composition, I took a shot as the train came over the viaduct – it’s a shame the water was moving because still water, a reflection and the train may have delivered an epic shot.
Final thoughts
This viaduct is well worth a visit and would probably be great with a stormy cloudy sky. I found it quite challenging as we were there near the middle of the day/ early afternoon with the harsh bright sunlight.
I had to use graduated filters to bring the bright exposure of the sky down and balance out the foreground.
I’m pleased with the shots I got though, and would probably visit again.
Onwards and upwards…