Distance: 5 miles Time to complete walk: 2 hours
Safety Tips: Part of the walk is on a stream bed and can be marshy - take a walking stick and test the ground before you step on it.
A satisfying walk with the spectacular Ribblehead Viaduct as its focal point. This Victorian marvel is a great backdrop to the walk which includes walking on farm tracks and fields. At the very start and the end of the walk you get a brilliant close up of the viaduct which is fully functional and was the subject of the recent ITV drama Jericho. This is definitely a walk that train buffs will love! If there has been recent rain a walking stick is an essential accessory to take with you.
The Ribblehead Viaduct walk
Getting There
From Middlesbrough follow the A66 to Darlington and then head onto the A1
southbound. Look for the Harrogate turn off which is junction 47. Follow the A59 through Harrogate itself and then stay on the A59 to Skipton. When you come into Skipton itself you can take a pitstop and then double back out of Skipton on the A65 or alternatively you can drive through Skipton and turn right onto the A629 and then take the exit on the roundabout onto the A65. Follow the A65 into the village of Ingleton. Take a right turning into Ingleton and follow the B6255 to the Ribblehead Viaduct. Parking is can be found just after the road junction with the B6479.
Map of the Ribblehead Viaduct walk
The Walk
From the car park cross the road and follow the track signposted as the Whernside Trek. This will take you towards the Ribblehead Viaduct but at the start of the walk you will continue to pass by it.
Follow track that passes the viaduct
Continue your walk following the track to the side of the viaduct and a short climb so you are walking parallel to the railway line.
Follow path
Follow the path until you come to a railway signal and then go under the railway bridge to your left following the public bridleway sign.
Go under railway bridge
Follow the path down to a stream and then follow the path to the left parallel to the stream and head towards the farmhouse Winterscales.
Stay to the left of the stream
Head for Winterscales farm
Go through a gate to pass through the farm buildings and over a small humpback bridge below a cottage. Follow the lane over a cattle grid and then take the path that forks to the right which is almost straight ahead.
Pass cattle grid
Keep following the path to pass an isolated cowshed and continue onto the next farm which is Ivescar farm.
Pass by the cowshed
Walk past the farmhouse and through a gate and then bear left through a gate and walk across fields until you walk over a small bridge made from railway sleepers.
Go through gate
Go over small bridge made of railway sleepers
Immediately after the bridge turn right and follow the track to a small gate. Keeping a straight course walk over fields heading for Broadrake Farm.
Head towards the farm
When you reach the farm turn left down a track away from the farm.
Turn left and follow track
When you come to a cattle grid and as the track bends to the right go over the cattle grid and then turn left round the fence onto a track to reach a bridleway sign which points you to a ladder stile.
Turn left after the cattle grid
Follow sign to the left
Go over the ladder stile and follow the track to cross a stream bed. Be careful on this part of the walk and use your walking stick to check you don't stand on marshland, you will be fine if walking during the summer.
Go over ladder stile
Stay on the track until you come to the stream bed and cross over it heading to the right of the stream. You will eventually come to a road which you should join.
Head to the right towards a road
Turn left onto the road
Back on solid ground, follow the road to the left and over a bridge. The Ribblehead Viaduct is now clearly ahead in the distance. Where the road divides go right towards the viaduct.
Go through gate to the right
Follow the road towards another farm and go through the gate and turn right over the footbridge to pass underneath the viaduct and back to the car park.
Go through gate at the farm
Turn right and go over footbridge
Views of the Ribblehead Viaduct
Ribblehead Viaduct
The Ribblehead Viaduct or Batty Moss Viaduct carries the Settle-Carlisle Railway across Batty Moss in the valley of the River Ribble at Ribblehead, in North Yorkshire, England. The viaduct, built by the Midland Railway, is 28 miles (45 km) north-west of Skipton and 26 miles (42 km) south-east of Kendal It is a Grade II* listed structure.
The land underneath and around the viaduct is a scheduled ancient monument. The remains of the construction camp and navvy settlements (Batty Wife Hole, Sebastopol, and Belgravia) are located there.The viaduct was designed by engineer, John Sydney Crossley. The first stone was laid on 12 October 1870 and the last in 1874. One thousand navvies built the viaduct and established shanty towns on the moors for themselves and their families. They named the towns after Crimean War victories, well-to-do districts of London and biblical names. There were smallpox epidemics and deaths from industrial accidents. Around one hundred navvies were killed during its construction. There are around 200 burials of men, women, and children in the graveyard at Chapel-le-Dale dating from the time of its construction. The church has a memorial to the railway workers.
The line over the bridge was opened to goods traffic on 3 August 1875, but passenger trains did not commence running until 1 May 1876, following approval of the works by Colonel F. H. Rich, an Inspecting Officer of the Board of Trade.
In 1964, several brand new Humber cars landed on the ground after being blown off their wagons while being carried over the viaduct on a freight train.
Ribblehead Viaduct is 440 yards (400 m) long, and 104 feet (32 m) above the valley floor at its highest point. It is made up of twenty-four arches of 45 feet (14 m) span, with foundations 25 feet (7.6 m) deep. Every 6th pier is 50% thicker to mitigate against complete collapse should any pier fail. The north end of the viaduct is 13 feet (4.0 m) higher in elevation than the south end leading to a gradient of 1:100.1.5 million bricks were used in the construction and some of the limestone blocks weigh 8 tons each.
Ribblehead Viaduct is the longest on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Ribblehead railway station is less than half a mile to the south and to the north is the Blea Moor Tunnel, the longest tunnel on line. It is near the foot of Whernside.
The Settle-Carlisle Line is one of three north-south main lines, along with the West Coast Main Line through Penrith and the East Coast Main Line via Newcastle. British Rail attempted to close the line in the 1980s, citing the reason that the viaduct was unsafe and would be expensive to repair. A partial solution was to single the line across the viaduct in 1985, preventing two trains from crossing simultaneously. A 30 mph speed limit is also in force. The closure proposals generated tremendous protest and were eventually retracted. The viaduct, along with the rest of the line, was repaired and maintained and there are no longer any plans to close it.
Two taller viaducts on the route are Smardale Viaduct at 131 feet (40 m) high and near to Crosby Garrett, and Arten Gill at 117 feet (36 m).
In 2016 the line and viaduct carries six passenger trains from Leeds to Carlisle per day in each direction, plus regular long distance excursions, many hauled by steam locomotives. Regular diesel-hauled heavy freight trains also use the route to help reduce congestion on the West Coast Main Line. Colas Rail operate a timber train most Friday afternoons which passes over the Viaduct when it departs its yard opposite Ribblehead railway station. The combination of the rarely seen timber train and the British Rail Class 56 locomotives used to pull the train has built quite an enthusiastic following.
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