Monsale Dale Railway Viaduct - Little Longstone, UK - Arch Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Bridge
The bridge is a tall five arch bridge and carried the former railway high over the river. These days the impressive structure is a well visited tourist attraction but was once very controversial as this quote demonstrates...
Leading culture critic John Ruskin thought it was a hideous blot on the landscape, commenting that “There was a rocky valley between Buxton and Bakewell, once upon a time, divine as the Vale of Tempe... You Enterprised a Railroad through the valley - you blasted its rocks away, heaped thousands of tons of shale into its lovely stream. The valley is gone, and the Gods with it; and now, every fool in Buxton can be in Bakewell in half an hour, and every fool in Bakewell at Buxton; which you think a lucrative process of exchange – you Fools everywhere.”

The bridge is a Historic England Grade II Listed Building with the following text. "Viaduct.1862-3 to carry the Peak railway line. Rubble limestone with blue brick dressings. Repairs in gritstone and red brick. 300 feet long and 70 feet high, crossing the river Wye. Five round arches with Staffordshire blue brick voussoirs. Brick parapets. Denounced by Ruskin for its impact on the natural beauty of the Wye valley." link

"The Manchester, Buxton, Matlock and Midland Junction Railway ran from a junction with the Midland Railway at Ambergate to Rowsley north of Matlock and thence to Buxton.

In time it would become part of the Midland Railway's main line between London and Manchester, but it was initially planned as a route from Manchester to the East of England, via the proposed Ambergate, Nottingham, Boston and Eastern Junction Railway which would meet it a little further north along the North Midland line at Ambergate. The Act for a line from just south of Stockport to Ambergate was passed in 1846." link

Monsal Trail
"The Monsal Trail is a traffic free route for walkers, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchair users through some of the Peak District's most spectacular limestone dales.

The trail runs along the former Midland Railway line for 8.5 miles between Blackwell Mill, in Chee Dale and Coombs Road, at Bakewell.

Most of the route was opened to the public in 1981 but four former railway tunnels had to remain closed due to safety reasons, with public footpaths taking people around them. From 25 May 2011 the four railway tunnels - Headstone Tunnel, Cressbrook Tunnel, Litton Tunnel, Chee Tor Tunnel – opened for trail users. Each tunnel is about 400 metres long and is lit during normal daylight hours." link

Length of bridge: 70 ft Height of bridge: 300 ft What type of traffic does this bridge support?: Cyclists, walkers and horse riders What kind of gap does this bridge cross?: The River Wye Date constructed: 1863 Is the bridge still in service for its original purpose?: No - now a 'rails to trails' path rather than a railway bridge Name of road or trail the bridge services: The Monsal Trail Location: Little Longstone, Derbyshire

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