The regular symmetry of the arches of the famous Ribblehead viaduct contrasts dramatically with the rugged limestone pavement of the hillside above. This was one of the few photos I managed to get at this location that didn't have rain spots on the camera lens. As fast as I wiped them off, more landed!
This impressive 100 foot high viaduct, with its 24 limestone arches, carries the Settle-Carlisle railway line over the wonderfully named Batty Moss. It was built in the early 1870s by over a thousand navvies, who lived in shanty towns on the moors with their families. It must have been a bleak existence. A nearby small churchyard has over 200 men, women and children buried there from this period, victims of smallpox epidemics, industrial accidents and other tragedies that must have been particularly hard to deal with in the circumstances.
Bleak but beautiful. If I remember rightly one of the shanty towns was called Belgravia!
ReplyDeleteThis picture is really beautiful, very strong !
ReplyDeleteI'd love to know more about the shanty towns on the moors. I'll have to try and Google it. Lovely brooding photo.
ReplyDeleteGreat composition. Sounds like you need to invest I a lens hood.
ReplyDeleteIt is very well done. Like Wayfarin', I was going to suggest a lens hood. My camera has a lens hood on it at all times.
ReplyDelete