Ilkeston Town Walk - Stage 02 - The Bennerley Viaduct
w/e 15 September 2002
Before leaving the grounds of the Erewash Museum, the leaflet
I am following for this walk around the town directs our attention
to the left and the views of the Erewash Valley. It also points
out, from left to right, the parishes of Heanor beyond the houses
on the left; Eastwood towards the centre of the picture; Greasley
behind and to the right of the tree and Cossall on the right.
The built up area in the middle distance is Ilkeston Junction
and it is just possible to make out the Bennerley Viaduct to
the left of centre.
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This view is to the right of the first one and looking across
Ilkeston's inner relief road, Chalons Way, looks towards the
parishes of Cossall and Strelley. Leaving the museum our walk
will take us under the road via an underpass in the bottom right
hand corner of the picture.
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But first, although strictly speaking not on the town walk, let's
take a closer look at the Bennerley Viaduct. This is the view
from Newton's Lane on the way to Awsworth with the Bennerley
Coal Screening Plant visible through the viaduct on the left.
The viaduct was built in 1879 and is now a listed structure.
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And this is how the viaduct appears from close to the Awsworth
By Pass. Notice the viaduct crosses the Erewash river and in
wet weather, the fields of the flood plain often become waterlogged.
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As a teenager I remember crossing the viaduct with two school
friends on a passenger train pulled by a steam engine bound for
Nottingham and a Christmas shopping expedition. Although only
eight miles away it was quite an adventure in those days for
three young boys. How times have changed. Dr Beeching's axe fell
on the rail service in the sixties and it now seems today's adventurers
need to scale the wrought iron structure to paint their names
on it.
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But now back to the museum and the start of our walk. Two paths
lead from the museum gates. One is a gentle slope from where
this picture was taken and the other leads down the steps in
the picture. Both however lead to the underpass which is where
we'll pick up the walk in the next part.
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