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 I had to look hard at this image (taken from a hand tinted postcard) as I thought it had been reversed I don’t remember a footpath at that side of the beck only Glover’s path on the left hand side. But I have been assured that there was a path on that side and of course you can see Liverton Mine in the background, telling it hasn’t been reversed.  You can see from this much earlier image how light and open the valley was originally. I wonder if the viaduct had been built with arched spans whether the problem would still have manifested itself. I’d need an engineer to tell me – is there an engineer in the house? Simon Chapman advises: ”Kilton Viaduct opened for traffic in 1867 and was later filled in with shale to create a massive embankment so that mining could take place beneath it. During this work which took years, one of the pillars showed signs of stress possibly because of uneven tipping, so traffic over was stopped for a fortnight until the problem was remedied. So if the viaduct had been built with arches it would still have ended up as we see it today.” Image courtesy of the Pem Holliday Collection and others, thanks to Simon Chapman for the update.  This is another shot of the accident in an earlier post. This clearly shows how the N.E.R. overcame the problems that accidents caused to its passenger timetable. Drawn up close to the head of the accident (on the Loftus side) is a commuter train. The passengers from a Whitby-bound train can be seen walking along the trackbed, some with small children, to board the commuter train, which will then take them on the rest of their journey. The accident occurred in 1909 and the wagons involved were fairly new. Unusually for mineral wagons they had continuous (air) brakes and were being used on trains between Liverton Mines and Cargo Fleet Works. Many thanks to Simon Chapman for information.  Derailments were not uncommon on this viaduct, the curve and excess speed brought a few trains to grief! This image gives us a chance to see a good view of a heavy steam crane in action and also the damage caused – bet this took some rectifying!  But not by this train – a local commuter makes its way across the skyline towards Loftus as the biggest shale heap in the area takes shape! This image provoked several comments: Graham Suggett asked: “Is the Kilton Viaduct the same as the Carlin How to Loftus Viaduct? Did the infilling start because of a cracked pier in 1911 to 1914; due to the mining of ironstone from underneath? My memories go back to the 1930′s. I was born in Carlin How and my grandparents lived at Liverton Mines. We moved to Darlington at the outbreak of WWII to escape the expected raids by the Bosch on the steelworks and Skinningrove Harbour. However, I was a regular visitor to Liverton Mines both during and after the War (I was there and saw the Lockheed Lightning crash). I knew the viaduct and Kilton Woods well, but never ventured beyond the railway station on the hill between Liverton Mines and Loftus.” Andrew Pryce commented: “As far as I know the Kilton Viaduct is indeed the Carlin How to Loftus viaduct, I used to cycle from Carlin How to Loftus along the railway track (before they were re-laid) it was a lot easier than going along the road used to get onto the old trackway from Kilton Lane by the footbridge, then it was an easy cycle to Loftus and my mate (Dave Bullock) lived in the old station house, that would have been about 1966.” Derick Pearson supplied the following: “ The reason for the burying of Kilton Viaduct was the subsidence that resulted from Ironstone mining underneath the pillars. This became so bad that the line was closed in January 1911 and rail passengers carried between Loftus and Skinningrove in Motor char-a bancs. Approximately three-quarters of a million tons of spoil from the nearby mines were used to earth up the viaduct. Another railway bridge in the neighbourhood had also suffered considerably from the effects of subsidence. The railway line between Boosbeck and Brotton crosses the road from Lingdale to New Skelton by a single arch bridge. When this subsided a second bridge was built on top of it in order to maintain the railway at its correct level. The lower of the two brick arches has also had to be heavily reinforced with old rails. Simon Chapman tells us: ”Messrs Bell Brothers wanted to mine ironstone from beneath the viaduct from their Carlin How Mine so arrangements were made to fill in the viaduct to support it from 1907. In January 1911 it was found that one of the piers had begun to crack because of unequal infilling so rail services were suspended for a fortnight to enable extra tipping to take place. Shale was tipped from Liverton and Loftus Mines and was completed by 1914.” Image courtesy of the Pem Holliday Collection, thanks to Graham Suggett, Andrew Pryce and Derick Pearson for their updates. Many thanks to Simon for that definitive comment.
This is an image I haven’t seen before; Kilton Viaduct in its ”embanked” state. It completely alters the aspect of the valley – not for the better either unfortunately.
A view of Kilton Viaduct (prior to filling-in) to create the embankment of more recent times with – New London – being the planned name for the present day community 0f Liverton Mines when investors took on the venture. The investors had even suggested a variation in the name to Little London if they could get aggrement of the locals. The long sweep of the viaduct is easily visible in this image, as are the calcining kilns at Liverton Mine; the fumes from which used to rot the clothes of the labourers working on them. Norman Patton says ”Our family moved from “Brickyard” to Liverton mines in 1952. The promise of a fitted bathroom and hot and cold running water; with a garden front and back was too much to resist! Wages at Kilton pit were good at the time and the journey on push-bike much easier for our father. We even had a television before the Coronation and the Stanley Matthews Cup Final (12” Black and White, Console model no less)”. The new estate of council houses inspired the name ” New London” for the village and the council estate was the “Holy City”. ”Brickyard” being the local name for the Hartington Street, High Row and St Hilda’s Terrace area of Loftus; similar epithets applied in Brotton and elsewhere in Cleveland. Thanks to Norman Patton and Derick Pearson for additional information.
This Kilton Valley Viaduct view comes from an undated and unused postcard, possibly previous to 1905 and the in-filling between the supporting arches. It is possible that the locomotive will give a possible dating and the Archive would welcome any assistance. Geoffrey Allen has responded to our request with:”The locomotive appears to be a N.E.R Class O 0-4-4T (LNER/BR Class G5) it is in Lined NER Livery. These engines were built at Darlington Works between May 1894 and December 1901; 110 in total so a 1905 date is possible. They were used on the Saltburn to Scarborough service and the number of coaches may suggest that this is such a train. Of the six coaches the second to last appears to be an earlier 6 wheel coach, the last of which were built about 1897 all the rest are bogie coaches, the first is a birdcage brake coach and the last may also be the same but the details are obscured. The other 3 appear to be low roofed bogie coaches built from about 1895 to 1906.” Image courtesy of Julie Tyrka; thanks to Maurice Dower for the update and many thanks to Geoffrey Allen for the excellent update.  This postcard view of the Loftus Viaduct is one of a series of cards (all bearing the Loftus coat of arms), we have no idea of date as all are unused. Derick Pearson reminds us that the viaduct was filled in in 1913 and that the works cooler building and chimney were in-situ before 1905. We believe this dates from the period 1895 to 1905. But we await verification on this date. Image courtesy of Olive Bennett, many thanks to Derick Pearson for the advice.
This postcard is a lovely example of early colour hand tinting to a black and white photograph and was produced by Cooke’s Fancy Bazaar in Loftus; the original was posted in Loftus on 30th July, 1905. Image courtesy of John G. Hannah. |
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