Ribblehead Viaduct is a well known feature in the North Yorkshire landscape as it carries the Settle to Carlisle railway across the picturesque, sprawling moors. It was built in the mid-Victorian times by 1000s of ‘Navvies’ to expand the growing rail network northwards, and is now a ‘Grade II* Listed Structure’. The land around the viaduct once housed the workers and their families and is classed as a schuduled monument. Life must have been very hard for the workers and they slaved in open countryside in tough working conditions, sadly a number of men perished in the construction.
The viaduct is 400m long, 32m high and has 24 arches.
It was constructed between 1870-1875 from limestone.
There weather was typical ‘Spring’, a mix of sunshine and showers amongst clouds of many shades. This, of course, meant lots of waiting around, hoping that the setting sun would illuminate the viaduct and surrounding fells. Fortunately there were odd patches when things came together so having found a foreground to suit it was a matter of composing the image.
Once the Viaduct had been captured I set about looking for other viewpoints and settled on some shots where trees were framed by the arches. Just as I was leaving the fading light played out a dramatic last act under a moody, threatening sky.
Shots were taken using a Canon R5mk2, 24-70mm lens and a Giottos Silkroad tripod. All images were shot RAW and edited in Photoshop CC.