The River Ribble

from source to sea
Part 9 - The Railway

Click to see a map showing the southern section of the line.
Click on the map to zoom in on where you think the photographs were taken.
This section closely follows the River Ribble. Use the scroll arrows on Multimap to see which river valley the northern part of the line follows.

There have probably been more words written about the Leeds - Settle - Carlisle Railway, than about any other line in Britain. I don't intend to add much more. For a brief history and description follow this link to pages, provided by Leeds City Council.

Batty Moss (Ribblehead) Viaduct

The viaduct carries the railway across this large, exposed area of moorland, below Whernside (see Part2). The line runs parallel to the River Ribble, as the river flows south west, then in a more southerly direction.

Horton Station

This is one of the stations on the line which re-opened following the reprieve from the threatened closure in 1989. As mentioned in Part 5 of this series, the coming of the railway played an important part in the development of the village and the surrounding quarries.

Railway and River

Between Horton and Settle, the valley narrows, and the railway runs even closer to the river, crossing it three times. This is looking north, from the B6479, about 2 kilometres north of Stainforth.

View of valley

This shows the wooded valley, with open fells beyond, and Ingleborough in the distance. Not only rail communications follow the river valley closely, but so does the B6479. Although the railway line is not visible, the cutting through which is passes meets the left of the picture about one third of the way up. A railway bridge can also be seen, about one third of the way into the picture from the left. The photograph is taken looking north west from above Stainforth.

Hellifield Station

This Grade II listed building was wonderfully restored in 1994. A few metres south west of the station the track to Leeds leads east, whilst a line used only for transporting minerals, and special trains continues to follow the Ribble, to Clitheroe. Beyond Clitheroe, it is possible to travel by rail, following the river to the estuary at Lytham St Annes (changing trains at Blackburn and Preston).

Go to:
River Ribble Part 8
River Ribble Part 10
River Ribble index page. Graham and Lin Dean's home page.