Wigan Album
Railway
7 CommentsPhoto: Charnock
Item #: 14334
Im not sure where this would be can anybody help
its twenty bridges nr boars head in the distance is the dominoe towers.
its twenty bridges nr boars head in the distance is the dominoe towers.
The picture will have been taken from close to pendlebury lane. If you were to follow pendlebury and under the viaduct you would then drop left into the valley. Icidently there is also a pit shaft or two in that field
It's all at the back of Chorley Road near Boar's Head - this is looking towards Standish - photographer has his back towards Haigh Hall. Viaduct to the left carried the Whelley Loop line through the plantations; it's still standing, the other viaduct on the right carried the line from Boars head through Red Rock up to Adlington - only the brick pillars stand today - they're nicknamed 'the dominoes'
The Douglas Valley Viaduct, known localy as the Twenty bridges. An impressive structure around 1000 feet in lenth combined with brick arches and iron spans. It carried the line from Standish to Bamfurlong know as the Whelley loop. Hundreds of railway builders (navvies) built the bridge over the valley in the late 1800s, and some almost certainly would have lost their lives. Today, the brickwork is crumbling away and the steel is corroding fast. We need to to do something about it now before its too late. fundings from the lottery, Wigan council and Railways would be a massive help to restore it.... it can be achieved!
The contract to construct the line was awarded to Holme and King in 1880 for just short of £50,000.
The majority of which would be used to built the Viaduct.
The Viaduct was built consisting of 13 brick arches, 8 at the Northern end and 5 at the Southern. At the centre there are 6 Iron and Concrete spans carrying the line over the river Douglas Valley at a hight of 50 feet. The line was commissioned in 1869 for the Lancashire Union Railway known locally as the Whelley loop line and Twenty Bridges. It's over 50 years (as of 2024) since the line closed, the Viaduct stills stands, but the brickwork is weathered and damaged by frost and getting weaker as time goes by.