NY7063 : Plaque, Alston Arches Viaduct
taken 11 years ago, near to Haltwhistle, Northumberland, England

Link
Railway viaduct (currently disused) over the River South Tyne, known as the Alston Arches. It is a six arch structure, with the water spanned by four wide segmental skew arches originally built to carry a single track railway line.
It was built for the Alston Branch Line for the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway (later North East Railway) and opened in 1852. The line, which finally closed in 1976, left Haltwhistle Station in a south-easterly arc, steadily gaining height on a high embankment above the river flood plain. The unusual line of openings through the piers are said to have been intended to take a footbridge but there are no indications that one was ever built and it is probably more likely that they were provided to reduce the weight of the piers and loading on the foundations, which are supported on timber piles.
To the south of the viaduct the embankment was breached in 1996 by the new A69 Haltwhistle by-pass. The viaduct was opened to the public as a footpath following restoration in 2006.
The viaduct is a Grade II Listed Building and is now owned by the North Pennine Heritage Trust. A primary aim of the South Tynedale Railway is to eventually extend their narrow gauge heritage steam railway line along the whole route from Alston to Haltwhistle.
Transport Heritage Trust Link
South Tynedale Railway Link
