Showing posts with label Bilston Climbing Frame. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bilston Climbing Frame. Show all posts

Tuesday 26 March 2024

Skulferatu #116 - Bilston Glen Viaduct, Loanhead, Midlothian

 


I do love wandering around bits of our industrial past, whether that be an old railway, a derelict factory, old mineworks or a repurposed power station.  On a stroll from Roslin to the outskirts of Edinburgh, I walked over a piece of our industrial heritage – Bilston Glen Viaduct, or as locals refer to it, the Bilston Climbing Frame.  Wandering down a steep and narrow path under the viaduct I could see why it had acquired that name with the criss-crossing of the iron lattice work underneath.

 

A photo showing three black metal bollards across a pathway that leads along the walkway of a bridge.  The latticed metal railings of the bridge rise at both sides of the path.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Bollards by the viaduct

 

A photo on the pathway across the bridge (Bilston Glen Viaduct) with the iron latticed railings at each side. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Path across the viaduct

 

A view of trees in a woodland scene.  Green ferns grow in between them.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Wooded area of Bilston Glen

 

A view of the iron girders beneath Bilson Glen Viaduct. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Underneath the viaduct

 

A view across the underneath of the viaduct showing a mass of criss-crossed iron that makes up the supports and frame of the bridge. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
The criss-crossing iron lattice work underneath the viaduct

 

A view showing one side of the iron viaduct crossing over to the other bank.  Trees grow on the left-hand side. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of the viaduct

 

Another view showing one side of the iron viaduct crossing over to the other bank.  Trees grow on the right-hand side. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of the viaduct from Bilston Glen

 

Bilston Glen Viaduct is an old iron railway bridge above the steep gorge of Bilston Glen. The Edinburgh, Loanhead and Roslin Railway used to run across it.  This railway carried coal and ironstone from mines at Penicuik, Roslin, Bilston, Loanhead and Gilmerton.  It also carried passengers to Roslin.

 

The viaduct was built in 1892, and replaced an earlier one built at the same spot in the 1870s.  It appears that there had been concerns about the earlier bridge due to movements of the ground caused by the mineworks.  Concerns were also raised about the design of that bridge, as it had been designed by Sir Thomas Bouch, the designer of the infamous Tay Bridge that had collapsed in 1879.

 

Bilston Glen Viaduct was built with a single deep wrought iron span supported on low piers with granite abutments at each end to support it.  The separate pieces of the bridge were all made in Glasgow and then brought out to the site where the bridge was then assembled.  As the viaduct is made of iron it expands and contracts in the heat.  On a hot summer’s day, it could be up to 2 ½ inches longer than it was on a cold winter’s day.  To avoid this damaging the supports, the bridge was fitted with expansion mountings.  These allow the bridge to move. 

 

 In 1969 the section of the railway that ran over the viaduct was closed.  In 1999 restoration work was carried out on the viaduct and it opened again as part of the walkway that follows the old railway line.

 

While wandering around under the viaduct, I left a Skulferatu in a gap in the granite stonework of the abutments supporting it.

 

A hand holding up a small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #116) with the underneath of the viaduct in the background. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #116

 

A small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #116) sitting in a gap in a stone slab covered in lichen. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #116 in a gap in the granite stonework

 

A close-up view of the small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #116) sitting in a gap in a stone slab covered in lichen. A small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #116) sitting in a gap in a stone slab covered in lichen.​ Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #116 in a gap in the granite stonework

 

TomTom Map showing location of Skulferatu #116
Map showing location of Skulferatu #116

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.87089

Longitude -3.150976

 

what3words: herb.windmill.widen

 

I used the following sources for information on Bilston Glen Viaduct –

 

Tourist Information Board at site
 
Canmore
 
Edinburgh and Lothians: Exploring the Lost Railways
Alasdair Wham
2006