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| Ribblehead
Station was opened for traffic on the 4th of December 1876. Facilities
were reduced during the run-down of the 1960's although the station buildings
are now back to original condition after extensive refurbishment. Just
opposite the station is a siding, controlled by a ground frame, that was
formerly used for loading stone extracted from the "granite" quarry at
Ingleton and transported to Ribblehead by road.
It is now back in use again but this time as as a ballast dump in preparation for the November 2000 S and C track relaying programme. The original Northbound platform was demolished in 1974 to make way for the installation of the sidings although traffic from the quarry had ceased by 1986. The present platform is of quite recent construction (1993) and became necessary as travellers on the Dalesrail service to make their journey to Ribblehead via Dent. |
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A
2 car Super Sprinter leaving Ribblehead Station
7.09 pm 10th July 2000 The line is crossed on the level here, so pedestrians have to watch out for the possibility trains passing on the up line. |
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Ribblehead
Station - Looking North to the up platform
7.00 pm 10th July 2000 The line on the left is the spur into Ribblehead Quarry. This is currently out of use but was installed to allow trans-shipment of aggregate from the "Ingleton Granite Quarry" a few miles away in Chapel-le-Dale near the village of Ingleton. |
 Inside the restored ticket office at Ribblehead Station |
 The windows in the refurbished station are particularly attractive. Here we see the crests of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the crest of the Midland Railway. |
| Following
extensive refurbishment over a two year period, the buildings at Ribblehead
Station were formally opened to the public on Saturday October 14th 2000
and are now back in regular use.
The total cost of restoration
amounted to over £200,000. The former ticket office, waiting room
and porters room have been converted into an visitor centre and now house
an interpretative display relative to the history of the Settle-Carlisle
Railway.
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Ribblehead
Station - The
view back to the down platform.
10th July 2000 7.09 pm
The siding into Ribblehead quarry can be seen to the right of the picture.
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| Very shortly
after leaving Ribblehead Station the famous 24 arch and 104 feet high Ribblehead
Viaduct is reached. The viaduct is a quarter of a mile long and each sixth
pier was designed with increased strength. The first stone was laid by
William H. Ashwell on October the 12th 1870. The piers were sunk 25 feet
below moor level and set in concrete in order to provide a suitable foundation.
It has been said that the viaduct was "built on wool" but this alludes
to the fact that the Midland Railways backers included some of the wealthy
Bradford wool merchants. In 1984 the track over the viaduct was singled
and slewed to the centre. The viaduct became the focus of a determined
attempt by British Rail to abandon the line, using the excuse that due
to its deteriorating condition and expenditure of several millions would
be needed for refurbishment. This triggered a concerted campaign by lovers
of the line and resulted in the formation of a pressure group to oppose
closure plans.
Following a more serious assessment of repair costs (which proved to be much lower than those claimed by British Rail), the viaduct was repaired during a 2 week line closure at the end of 1999 and the short-term future of the line was secured. |
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The
bridge over the B6255 Ingleton to Hawes road.
OS Grid Reference SD 763 791 The building on the right is the Station Hotel. The station entrance (the track leading up to it) is just to the left of the bridge. |
| On
the viaduct approach
On January 12th 2002,
the first day of West Coast Main Line engineering diversions, a Class 156
unit forming the 09.41 am departure to Carlisle moves forward on to the
approach embankment.
Click here for a larger picture |
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Batty Green and the Station Inn - March 2003 |
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Ribblehead
viaduct on a misty afternoon
Saturday 15th July 2000 A 2 car sprinter crosses the viaduct from Blea Moor. The photograph was taken from from near Gearstones Lodge. The 736 metre high bulk of Whernside is looming out of the mist on the right hand side of the photograph. |
Ribblehead Viaduct - March 2003 |
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viaduct crosses Batty Moss and attains a maximum height of 165 feet above
its foundations. In the above photograph, taken on 26/03/03 the northbound
FGD train from Drax power station bound for Kirkby Thore emphasises the
length and curvature of the viaduct.
During the construction of the viaduct, Batty Moss was the site of an extensive shanty town which housed over 2000 railway workers. The shanty town housed gangs of immigrant railway workers or "navvies" as they were known (the original workers of the earlier canal age were known as "navigators" - hence the term) for in the 1870's a great deal of manual labour was still needed for civil engineering works. |
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shanty towns of Ribblehead had colourful names such as Inkerman, Sebastapol
and Jericho. The camp at Batty Green housed over 2000 workers and their
families at the height of construction activity.
Construction accidents were frequent and by 1873 the local undertaker had delivered 110 bodies to St. Leonard's church at nearby Chapel-le-Dale. Small pox broke out in the camps and an isolation hospital had to be built as part of the controls. |
 St. Leonards Church, Chapel le dale |
 The Millenium memorial to those who died. |
The burial ground had to be extended to accommodate the extra influx of burials. The remains of the old construction lines, the old contractors loco shed, ash pit and a brickworks can all be traced with a bit of careful searching. |
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Tramway
embankment near Ribblehead Viaduct
6.30 p.m. 27/07/00 Here the line of this old tramway embankment can be clearly seen. Several other embankments and trackways associated with various construction phases can still be followed. The remains of the old construction lines, the old contractors loco shed, ash pit and a brickworks can all be traced with a bit of careful searching. |
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Ribblehead
Viaduct viewed from the North-East
This view shows the North embankment and Batty Green and was taken from the public footpath which leads past Blea Moor signal box and eventually leads to the top of Whernside (736m high). In the distance is Park Fell (563m high). |
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The
approach to Blea Moor
28th December 2000 The cold snap after Christmas brought clear skies and a sprinkling of snow to upper Ribblesdale. This 2 car sprinter was caught just having crossed the viaduct and is about to pass Blea Moor signal box. |
| To Blea Moor | |
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