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Bennerley Viaduct

1877 establishments in EnglandBridges completed in 1877Former railway bridges in the United KingdomGrade II* listed buildings in DerbyshireGrade II* listed buildings in Nottinghamshire
Grade II* listed railway bridges and viaductsGreat Northern Railway (Great Britain)Railway viaducts in DerbyshireRailway viaducts in NottinghamshireUse British English from March 2023
Bennerley Viaduct Ilkeston
Bennerley Viaduct Ilkeston

Bennerley Viaduct (originally Ilkeston Viaduct and known informally as the Iron Giant) is a former railway bridge, now a foot and cycle bridge, between Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and Awsworth, Nottinghamshire, in central England. It was completed in 1877 and carried the Great Northern Railway's (GNR) Derbyshire Extension over the River Erewash, which forms the county boundary, and its wide, flat valley. The engineer was Samuel Abbott, who worked under Richard Johnson, the GNR's chief engineer. The site required a bespoke design as the ground would not support a traditional masonry viaduct due to extensive coal mining. The viaduct consists of 16 spans of wrought iron, lattice truss girders, carried on 15 wrought iron piers which are not fixed to the ground but are supported by brick and ashlar bases. The viaduct is 60 feet (18 metres) high, 26 feet (8 metres) wide between the parapets, and over a quarter of a mile (400 metres) long. It was once part of a chain of bridges and embankments carrying the railway for around two miles (three kilometres) across the valley but most of its supporting structures were demolished when the line closed in 1968. The only similar surviving bridge in the United Kingdom is Meldon Viaduct in Devon. The viaduct opened in January 1878. Its working life was uneventful except for minor damage inflicted by a Zeppelin bombing raid during the First World War. Plans to demolish the viaduct failed because of the cost of dismantling the ironwork and it became a listed building in 1974. After closure, the viaduct received little maintenance and fell into disrepair. Railway Paths, a walking and cycling charity, acquired it for preservation in 2001 but work faltered due to a lack of funding. The viaduct was listed on the Heritage at Risk Register in 2007 and the 2020 World Monuments Watch for its condition and lack of use. A detailed survey was undertaken in 2016 and funding for restoration work was secured in 2019. The work included rebuilding an embankment to allow step-free access. It opened to the public as part of a cycling and walking route in January 2022.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bennerley Viaduct (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Bennerley Viaduct
Bennerley Viaduct, Erewash

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N 52.989538 ° E -1.298532 °
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Bennerley Viaduct

Bennerley Viaduct
DE7 8PX Erewash
England, United Kingdom
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Bennerley Viaduct Ilkeston
Bennerley Viaduct Ilkeston
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Ilkeston railway station
Ilkeston railway station

Ilkeston railway station serves the town of Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England. It is located at the site of the former Ilkeston Junction and Cossall station, on the Midland Main Line between Nottingham and Langley Mill. It is served by Northern Nottingham to Leeds services and by East Midlands Railway. During 2013, Derbyshire County Council presented its business case for the construction of a railway station for Ilkeston; at this point, it was considered to be the largest town to have an operational passenger line running through it but without any station serving it. Later that year, the project gained official backing and financing from the UK government via the New Stations Fund, which is managed by national railway infrastructure maintenance company Network Rail. Despite original plans to open the station during 2014, construction work was repeatedly delayed to account for numerous factors at the site selected, including the potential for flooding, ground instability from historic mining activity, and the presence of endangered species. During April 2016, work finally commenced at the site; the construction process, which involved several bespoke designs to accommodate site conditions, was completed within ten months. The new station was opened on 2 April 2017. It has two platforms, ticket vending machines, a wheelchair-accessible footbridge, a sizable car park and a taxi rank. Early passenger numbers have exceeded expectations.

Ilkeston Town railway station
Ilkeston Town railway station

Ilkeston Town railway station was a railway station which served the town of Ilkeston in Derbyshire, England. It was opened in 1847 by the Midland Railway. This station was connected to the Erewash Valley Line by a short branch from Ilkeston Junction, the route of which roughly followed the present Millership Way and which was served by horse-drawn railway carriages for some years.By 1853, three trains were running daily each way between Nottingham and Ilkeston via Long Eaton. However, local newspapers contain many letters of complaint in the 1850s and 1860s regarding the poor standard of waiting rooms and other facilities at the local stations and even about the rudeness of the staff. Some of the Midland Railway's Directors, their General Manager and Engineer visited Ilkeston in 1860 to discuss rail users’ concerns, although little seems to have been accomplished from the visit.The original station, opened on 6 September 1847 and named Ilkeston, was closed on 2 May 1870 but remodelled in response to the arrival of the Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) Derbyshire Extension line through its station later known as Ilkeston North. The station, now named Ilkeston Town, re-opened on 1 July 1879.It carried a shuttle service from Ilkeston Junction which was never particularly popular since the GNR provided a direct main line service. Some services were also provided to Nottingham and Chesterfield From 1882 the former were routed along the Bennerley Junction route to Basford, with six services a day, but they ended at the beginning of the First World War.In the Grouping of all lines (into four main companies) in 1923 the station became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway . The station closed to passengers on 10 July 1950, having been open on a restricted basis since 16 June 1947, and goods operations had ceased by 1960. The tracks were lifted and the footbridge removed. The site is now occupied by a roundabout at the end of Ilkeston's Chalons Way by-pass and a large Tesco supermarket.

Newthorpe, Greasley and Shipley Gate railway station

Newthorpe, Greasley and Shipley Gate railway station was a railway station which served the villages of Newthorpe, Greasley and Shipley Gate on the border of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It was opened by the Great Northern Railway (Great Britain) on its Derbyshire Extension and closed in 1963. The main, red brick buildings of the station were on the Up platform at the north side of the double track with access for passengers from Mill Lane. The Up and Down platforms were connected by a latticework footbridge. There was a signal box at the East end of the Down platform, which also accommodated a small waiting room. There were brickworks served by railway sidings on both sides of the line directly to the East of the station. The Eastwood Brick and Pottery Company was to the North of the line and the Erewash Brick, Pipe and Pottery Company to the South. These later became amalgamated as the Manners Brick Company. Directly to the North of the station sidings served the Wilkins Wire Rope Company later known as the Birnam Products subsidiary of Tinsley Wire Industries which, as of 2009, is owned by Magna International, manufacturing car seats. Directly to the West of the station a branch line left the railway on the south side of the track which once served the Eastwood Colliery. Both the branch line and the main line passed under a substantial three span bridge which carried Mill Lane (more recently known as Newmanleys Road) over the railway. When this colliery was closed the branch was used as a siding.