Clancy Tucker's Blog: STRUCTURES

Showing posts with label STRUCTURES. Show all posts

14 April 2022 - WHALLEY VIADUCT - ENGLAND

WHALLEY VIADUCT

- ENGLAND -

G'day folks,

This magnificent railway viaduct, built between 1846 and 1850 in a combination of red and blue bricks, is far less well known than the famous Ribblehead Viaduct, located about 25 miles to the north, but in many ways, it is more impressive not least because it is longer. Taking the Blackburn to Clitheroe railway line across the valley of the River Calder, close to the border of Lancashire and Yorkshire, it is in a magnificent setting under the shadow of the famous, Pendle Hill, widely associated with the Pendle Witch Trials. It is located just on the southern edge of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The viaduct consists of 48 elegant arches, two of which have a distinctive decorative brick infill. They look rather ecclesiastical from a distance and may have been introduced to reflect the importance of the 14th-century gatehouse of the nearby Whalley Abbey which the road serves. The gatehouse and abbey ruins are worth a visit in their own right.

At over 600 yards long, and 70 feet above the valley, the viaduct, known locally as the Whalley Arches, required over six million bricks and over 12,000 cubic yards of stone to complete. During construction two of the arches collapsed, leading to three fatalities. The engineer was Terence Woulfe Flanagan who later constructed the railways between Antwerp and Rotterdam and between Lisbon and Santarem.

The line connects with lines in West and North Yorkshire. It was closed to most passengers in 1962. It was kept open just for freight, and occasional passenger train diversions (due to track maintenance elsewhere) until 1994. In 1994 a public campaign secured the re-opening of the line to passengers between Blackburn and Clitheroe (and onward to Hellifield on Sundays). Currently, the line is known as the Ribble Valley Line and serves both commuters and tourists.

In addition to the regular diesel-powered services the line often runs special steam-hauled heritage services for which the crossing of this amazing viaduct is one of the unadvertised highlights. Plans are in place to assist local tourism by re-opening the line fully to passengers to allow scheduled passenger trains to join the famous Settle to Carlisle line.

Clancy's commment: These structures have always intrigued me, and not only in the UK. The workmanship is amazing.

I'm ...

10 February 2022 - COLIN'S 'TOLKIEN' BARN - ENGLAND

COLIN'S 'TOLKIEN' BARN

- ENGLAND -

G'day folks,

Colin Stokes just wanted to build a barn to store hay and house his sheep. Then he “got a bit carried away,” and ended up with a castle that looks like something out of The Lord of the Rings.

The Hobbit House, also known as Colin’s Barn, in Chedglow, England, has been abandoned since Stokes moved away in 2000 to avoid the noise of a forest marble quarry opening up nearby. He never finished his project, which he had started 1989 using rocks and stones from around his property, and concrete to hold them together.

Inspired by buildings he had seen over the years, Stokes started with a simple rectangular structure, put up with dry-stone techniques. Then he just kept going. He added turrets and dovecotes, stained glass windows featuring the seasons and the elements (which Stokes made himself), a spiral staircase, and beautiful arches. All of it was done by hand, and with no plans drawn up in advance.

Several birds, including an owl, lived in the turrets and dovecotes while Stokes was building, and those parts are now dominated by birds. On the second floor, Stokes added a room for himself so he could live in the structure during lambing season, though he mostly lived in a nearby cottage.

Built to blend into its surroundings, the building has come to be known as the “Hobbit House,” though Stokes takes issue with the nickname. He thought of it simply as his barn. To be fair, unlike a hobbit’s home, the structure is not built into the side of a hill. But it does look a bit like a hill itself. The barn is a little difficult to find, and is on private land. A sign discourages visitors, but it doesn’t seem to work. The structure is still in very good condition—a testament to the builder’s skill.

Clancy's comment: Wow, how cool is that?

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28 February 2021 - Hidden Details Found in Everyday Objects

Hidden Details Found

in Everyday Objects

G'day folks,

How observant are you?

Just when everything seems painfully familiar and unsurprising, taking a closer look at things might change your whole perspective. In the photos below, people have documented little moments of joy and wonder, when they found a small hidden detail in an otherwise ordinary object or place. As it turns out, the world has more delightful secrets, stashed away from plain sight, than you could imagine.