Potholes expose hidden past

Recent bad weather has left many of our roads dimpled with assorted sized potholes.

A report from the cyclist organisation CTC estimates that there is an average of one pothole for every 110m of road.

Many councils have embarked on the massive challenge of repairing the road surfaces in their areas. Since January 2010 Gloucestershire County Council alone have repaired over 15,000 potholes.

With the top layer of road surface broken away our road heritage is revealed below and often this takes the form of cobbles or sets.

Rather than rip up the millions of shaped stone blocks, road builders simply lay the asphalt over the existing road surface.

Cobblestones or sets

Applying cobblestones or sets to a road dates back many hundreds of years and was done to improve the durability of mud tracks in bad weather.

The stones allowed for carts to travel over a solid road surface rather than a mud or sandy surface where frequently the track would churn up in bad weather.

A road made of cobblestones has a very random surface, whilst one made of the regular shaped granite or sandstone block work has a uniform pattern.

“Cobblestone” is derived from the very old English word “cob”, a small rounded object.

Rectangular setts are often between 75mm and 100mm wide, with lengths between 150mm and 300mm.

The cube shaped setts are often made from granite 100mm cubed.

Each stone needed to be placed individually into a bed of sand with more sand or a grout placed around it to keep it in place.

Local stones are frequently used in place of granite to savework, time and costs.

Block paving is in some ways the modern equivalent of the granite setts and can now be seen on many driveways and in public spaces throughout the world.  However, the granite sett still has a use as it lasts a lot longer than the fired brick and is more resistant to modern date dirt such as chewing gum

Recycled

Many roads constructed with cobbles or setts have preservation orders placed upon them.  This ensures that if they are lifted to allow access to underground pipes or works that they are returned.

Many dealers specialise in supplying recycled setts which are used on driveways or for historical restoration. Prices are currently around £100 per ton.

Potholes

Many websites have sprung up in response to the increasing number of potholes, however not all are a rallying call to arms or a way of getting at the assorted road maintenance organisations.

Mypotholes.com has been set up by Montreal artists Claudia Ficca and Davide Luciano and  showcases rural craters in a comedic and creative fashion.

Further information

The Sett makers of Dartmoor – The very hard life of the rock shapers high on Dartmoor.

Fill that hole – Website from the CTC.

Potholes.co.uk – Warranty based website highlighting potholes.

Pothole gardens - An ongoing series of public installations highlighting the problem of surface imperfection.

Greta Bridge, Keswick

Carrying the busy A66 between the M6 and Keswick is what is possibly the largest concrete span bridge in Cumbria, the Greta Bridge.

Four lanes of thundering traffic pass over this bridge everyday, however many motorists are unaware of the valley below or what an achievement it was to build it.

The structure, is said to have been designed purely by engineers with no architectural input and is renowned for its aesthetic qualities which ensure it blends well with the surrounding Lake District countryside.

Opened in 1977 Greta Bridge spans the River Greta and is sandwiched between the edge of the town of Keswick and the fells including Latrigg.

Passing underneath the bridge is the National Cycle network route 71.

This path and the associated Keswick railway footpath uses the old track bed of the Keswick railway which closed in 1972.

Construction began on the bridge in 1974 and forms part of the Keswick Northern Bypass project.

With five spans the 220m long structure sits on very tall pillars spanning the valley below.

It was one of the longest bridges of it’s type at the time.

The bridge is said to be one of the first structures to be designed using finite element analysis.

Leading Expert

One of the major structural engineers involved in the bridge design and in particular the use of pre-stressed concrete in road building was Roy Rowe.

He devised mathematical formulae to work out stresses and loads on concrete structures and was to become one of the leading experts in the use of concrete as a building material in civil engineering.

Roy Rowe died of heart disease on December 18, 2008, aged 79.

Proud

Writing in the NCE (New Civil Engineer) Mr. Peter Donaldson who was the structures Agent for the main contractor Tarmac Construction, says that the building of Greta Bridge was not without difficulty.

Mr Donaldson writes “In plan, the bridge follows a reverse curve which requires a constantly changing carriageway crossfall from one abutment to the other. In turn, this varying crossfall geometry is repeated in the cross sectional alignment of the deck itself, resulting in webs which, although apparently vertical, are actually at right angles to the deck soffit and upper slab”.

Mr Donalson was writing to the letters section of the New Civil Engineer in response to the announcement that the Great Bridge had been nominated as Britain’s best civil engineering structure of the century (NCE 4 November 1999).

Mr Donaldson adds ”  I think I can speak for all of us involved in its construction when I say that we remain immensely proud of what we achieved”

Award winning

In 1977 the bridge was awarded a Highly Commendation by the Concrete Society.

Readers of Concrete magazine however voted it Best Civil Engineering Structure of the Century in 1999.

Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for the Environment, unveiled a plaque, which is positioned beneath the bridge.

The Plaque reads:- ‘GRETA BRIDGE Voted Best Concrete Engineering Structure Of The Century September 1999 / Consulting Engineer : Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Partners / Contractor : Tarmac Construction / Maintained by The Highways Agency.

Other links

The urban morphology of Keswick

Location details from Google Maps      54.605880, -3.114635 +54° 36′ 21.17″, -3° 6′ 52.69″ Link:

Hethersgill Vintage Club Rally – 2009

A fine but very blustery day saw Carlisle Airport filled with machines and items of a byegone era.

The 26th Annual Hethersgill Vintage Rally seemed as popular as ever, with over 1000 exhibitors displaying steam powered traction engines to collections of match boxes and lawn mowers.

Cumbria being an agricultural area, it seemed only natural that the vintage tractors would dominate the scene.

The famous battleship grey, ferguson tractors revolutionised farming in the 1930’s with the use of hydraulics and are still useful workhorses to this day.

These were closely followed by other vehicles, both domestic and commercial.

A luxuriant Model T Ford would have been the talk of the town in 1912 and a local logging truck has led a double life, being built on a WWII Artillery Tractor Chasis,

A section for motorcycles was dominated by BSA with the 1925 Rover WG and 1931 Honda Benly being the two oldest bikes on display.

Of course the darlings of the show had to be the six steam traction engines. Marshall 1 is a local 99 year old beauty, lovingly restored by father and son team Gerald and Mike Burns, with a little help from their friends.

Ten Miniature, scale steam engines chugged around the site and were equally as resplendent as their full size counterparts, bearing the names of famous manufacturers such as Burrell, Marshall, Foden and Scammell.

An eclectic range of memorabilia filled the large marquee, numbering among them an extensive matchbox collection, started by a single box on a flight to Canada many years ago.

A collection of cameras and photographs showed how we have rapidly evolved from the Plate cameras to the film versions that we are more familiar with, but of course all redundant in this day of digital technology and storage.

Alan Head from Penrith, brought along many household and agricultural items and amused onlookers with his witty stories about gadgets to train bull horns, a six hole mouse trap and even a mechanical shaver which you stopped operating at your peril!

The on site auction sale, proved ever popular for the engine restoration enthusiast, memoribilia collector or even a budding Lewis Hamilton.  In fact everything right down to the kitchen sink.

Contact
Hethersgill Vintage Rally, Carlisle Airport. Norman Elliott, tel: 01228 675336 or 07831 127138.

Furlongs from Kirkby Stephen

At the junction of the A685 Market Street and the B6259 Nateby Road (NY 775 085) in Kirkby Stephen is a unique road sign.

The black and white fingerpost sign, set a little higher than the road, is unusual because the distance measurements are in furlongs and not, as is customary, miles.

The furlong, now used mainly as the distances in horse racing, originating in Anglo-Saxon England is the  equivalent to 220 yd or 201.168 m.

Searching the web and little is reported about the history of the sign.  Maybe you can add to this article by using the comments section below?

The Northern Viaducts – Upper Eden Valley

Starting at Hartley Quarry on the outskirts of Kirkby Stephen the history trail follows the trackbed of the former Stainmore Railway crossing the two viaducts of Podgill and Merrygill.

Being a former railway line the path is well drained and  ideal for wheelchairs, horses, cyclists and walkers. It is a permissive right of way.

The route is owned by the Northern Viaduct Trust.

Set up in 1989 to to acquire, restore and maintain the spectacular Smardale Gill viaduct near Ravenstonedale the Trust then moved on to this second project and has created a circular walk which takes in some spectacular views and has preserved some of our Cumbrian heritage.

Passing the noticeboards that give a history and brief overview of the project you arrive at one end of the Merrygill Viaduct.

With a total length of 366ft, 9 arches built from local limestone span the Hartley Beck valley.

Originally being one track wide it cost just over £3k to build and it is over 70ft from the beck below.

Work to widen the viaduct to two tracks was completed around 1892.

The restoration of this viaduct cost around £50k  and was completed in 2005.

Children and animals are protected from the view as the high stone sides offer great natural security.

With the gradient of the walk sloping gently downhill you find a former platelayers hut to your right.  Pictures from former times when the railway was in full usage are displayed on the walls along with the history of the area.

Hartley Quarry is a good source of high quality limestone and operations were started in 1925 by Sir Hedworth Williamson’s Limeworks Ltd. 

During the Second World War the limestone was needed in ever greater amounts for the steel industry and as a ground powder to improve fields for food production.  This work at the quarry became a reserved occupation as it was essential to the war efforts.

Two lime-burning kilns were in operation at the quarry upto 1996.

As you continue along the path you may spot some out of season flowers or other quirks of nature.  

The high, sheltered sides of the railway cuttings have created a unique micro climate.  

Trees, planted along the edge of the embankments, create a canopy from harsh sunlight and are helping to trap self seeding plants and no doubt sustaining animals and insects.

The gentle walk continues towards the next viaduct, Podgill.

You could continue straight across the bridge however to your right is a steep set of steps to some picnic tables and a great view back up underneath the viaduct.  A word of caution here is needed as these steps are steep so please take care.

If you do venture down to the bottom of the viaduct you will be able to see the full glory of this local limestone construction.

Originally only 12 feet wide between parapets for single track, it was built by contractors Chambers & Hilton at a cost of £6,189.

Sir Thomas Bouch was the engineer on this project and the Merrygill viaduct visited earlier.

He was born at Thursby in North Cumbria and is best known for his work on the Tay Bridge in Scotland.

When the Podgill viaduct was widened, around 1890, a new, almost identical, viaduct was built alongside the existing, to which the new structure was tied.  You can still see the join if you look up from below.

Podgill Viaduct was acquired by the Northern Viaduct Trust direct from the British Rail Property Board in 2000.

As you continue along the upper path another platelayers hut comes into view. Here you will find details of the hayday of the railways in this area.

The South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway, connecting the Eastern coalfields to the Western iron ore and the evolution of the many single rail companies into the larger railway boards is all explained using maps, photographs and text.

Art meets industy

Keep your eyes alert as your journey continues because hidden in the woods is some heavyweight art.

The Poetry Path comes into contact with your railway walk as large carved stones appear.

Depicting a year in the life of a hill farmer. The Poetry Path is a celebration of the hill farmer’s ancient and enduring relationship with the beautiful landscape in and around the upper Eden valley.

Twelve short poems written by local poet Meg Peacocke have been carved by lettering artist Pip Hall into blocks of stone.

Further details of this trail are available below.  

You are almost at the end of this trail as your route now takes you back towards Kirkby Stephen  however one last delight remains.

From the approach you see the bright blue railings and can hear what sounds like steam escaping from the trains of former years, but as you cross the Millennium Bridge you are in for a surprise.

Below you is the bubbling and dramatic River Eden on its way towards Carlisle and the sea.

The bridge was designed by local civil engineer, Charles Blackett-Ord.

It is constructed of galvanised steel with a pre-cast concrete deck and a span of 65ft.

This spectacular bridge provides the access between Stenkrith Park at the south end of Kirkby Stephen, to the trackbed of the former railway which forms the footpath to Hartley from where you have just walked.

 

Further information

The Northern Viaducts Trust brochure can be found via  -  Exploring the Eden Viaducts - leaflet NVT

Further details on the walk and the trail are via  - Walks Guide - Kirkby Stephen

Details about the Poetry Path are via  - Kirkby Stephen Poetry Path

Leyland Motors Clock at Kendal Brewery Arts Centre

From a time when motorways were a dream and drivers could read the time from a clock at the side of the road comes the Kendal Leyland clock.

Originally sited on the A6 at Shap the clock was moved to the Kendal Brewery Arts Centre in 1973.

Confusion exists as to how many of these clocks were installed at various locations around the UK.

Some reports indicate 11 being installed and some indicate only seven or five.

Leyland Clocks were located at prominent positions on major UK roads in the 1930s by Leyland Motors Limited. 

The towers were designed by Franco Reflex Signs of London and the mechanism by William Potts and Sons Limited, clockmakers of Leeds.

The location was chosen to mark the half-way point between Lands End and John O’Groats.

Lenore Knowles recalls the harsh winters of many years before and tells the story of her family’s role as keepers of the Leyland clock – a former landmark on the A6 north of Kendal. The Jungle Café was a popular transport café on this stretch of the A6.  Hear her memories here.

The outer shell of the clock was removed and preserved in the 1970s. But the clock’s innards were only found after an appeal by local enthusiasts.

A £2,500 restoration project was funded by Cumbria Steam and Vintage Vehicle Society after an appeal by local vintage vehicle enthusiast Tim Holt.

The clock now has pride of place at Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre.

A retired GP from Carlisle discovered the missing workings of the clock in items left to him by a former patient 20 years ago.

At the foot of the clock’s stand is a slate plaque explaining it all.

Other Leyland clock locations include

In England:

• On the top of Shap
• halfway between Catterick and Boroughbridge
• The Bath Road, 3 mile E of Calne
• the London Basingstoke road, 39 miles from London, 7 from Basingstoke
• the Great North Road, 70 miles from London.
• close to the Shack Café on the A30 at Hook in Hampshire
• Here is a photograph of the one situated on a roundabout in Leyland

Update – Oct ‘08

The Cumberland News is reporting that the clock is undergoing further restoration.

The work is being carried out by volunteers from Cumbria Steam & Vintage Vehicle Society.

‘It is the latest move in a £2,500 restoration funded by the society, which will see the monument fit for another 75 years’ service’  the article goes on to say.