Ribblehead: 23 piers (24 arches), a span of 1,328 feet, max height of 105 feet, 30,000 cubic yards of masonry and 6,000 of concrete. Construction started in 1870 and finished in 1875 with up to 2,000 railway navvies living around & about in shanty towns

Storming north through Ribblehead station

Under the flat-topped Ingleborough

Ribblehead with cloud covered Whernside behind

Storming north through Ribblehead station

Northbound steam at Ribblehead with cloud covered Whernside behind

Northbound steam at Ribblehead with cloud covered Whernside behind

Southbound coal

9th May 2008: Ribblehead station with southbound coal train

We took the train from Ribblehead to Dent and walked down into Upper Dentdale. Eventually we climbed up onto Blea Moor, over the top and descended upon Ribblehead. About 6.5 miles total

Upper Dentdale: northern portal of Blea Moor tunnel on horizon

Blea Moor tunnel: northern portal

Northern portal of Blea Moor tunnel

On top of Blea Moor (which reaches 1753 feet) looking down onto the 10 arches of Dent Head viaduct. The ventilation shaft can't be far short of the summit

Descending Blea Moor; Whernside to right. Never let it be said that I don't know how to show a woman a good time...

Blea Moor. Piles of spoil left by the Victorian engineers of the S&C

Blea Moor. Piles of spoil left by the Victorian engineers of the S&C

Descending Blea Moor; the flat top of Ingleborough beyond

Blea Moor. Piles of spoil left by the Victorian engineers of the S&C

Freight heading north towards Blea Moor tunnel (2,629 yards long)

Blea Moor signal box: 1100 feet above sea level

Southbound coal at Blea Moor

Northbound tankers

Northbound tankers

These wheels once belonged to a contractor's waggon used for the construction of the Settle to Carlisle line. Unearthed at Dent Head during clear-up operations following a coal train derailment in July 1998

Ribblehead station; the start and finish of our walk along Upper Dentdale and over Blea Moor. May 2008

Redmire station August 2007: the western end of the Wensleydale Railway

Wensleydale Rail Aug 2007

Askrigg 2008: the long abandoned trackbed of the 22 mile Garsdale to Northallerton branch line. The Wensleydale Railway is pushing to reinstate this line