Doe Lea Viaduct is a former railway

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

near Carr Vale, Bolsover, Derbyshire, England.

Location

The viaduct was originally, formally known as Bolsover Viaduct and is often referred to as Carr Vale Viaduct. It was a substantial, double track structure carrying the LD&ECR's Chesterfield Market Place to

Lincoln Central Lincoln railway station (previously Lincoln Central) serves the city of Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway. East Midlands Railway provides the majority of services from th ...

main line over the Midland Railway's Pleasley to Staveley Doe Lea Branch a short distance south of the latter's Bolsover Castle station. The River Doe Lea passed through a culvert under the viaduct's western approach embankment. The structure was also situated near Bolsover's "Model Village" at the bottom of Bolsover Hill.

History

The viaduct, which consisted of eight brick arches, was opened to goods traffic in February 1897, with passenger traffic following from 8 March. The section between Chesterfield and Langwith Junction (by then renamed Shirebrook North), was closed to passenger traffic by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

in December 1951, due to the unsafe condition of

Bolsover Tunnel Bolsover Tunnel is a disused and infilled twin-track railway tunnel between Carr Vale and Scarcliffe in Derbyshire, England. At it was the 18th longest railway tunnel in Britain prior to its closure in 1951. History The tunnel was opened by t ...

and concerns over the safety of Doe Lea Viaduct, both of which were affected by colliery subsidence. Bolsover South and Scarcliffe were closed completely. Track lifting from Markham Junction, over the viaduct and on to Shirebrook North commenced immediately. The viaduct itself was demolished on 24 August 1952 by the army using explosives. This was filmed and the film later used in a commercial war film, becoming a bridge in war torn France. The viaduct was approached by substantial embankments from both ends. That from the eastern end was removed some years ago, but that from the western, Chesterfield, end is readily accessible as part of the Peter Fidler Reserve and can be walked westwards for about 300 yards from the reserve's Point 11.

Modern access

The Doe Lea Branch is now the "Stockley Trail" public bridleway from near

Glapwell Glapwell is a village and civil parish on the A617 road in the Bolsover District of north east Derbyshire, between the towns of Chesterfield (7 miles) and Mansfield (5 miles) and Bolsover (3 miles to the north). With 1,467 residents, increasing ...

to near the location of Bolsover Castle Station. Anyone walking from the A632 end to Carr Vale FlashCarr Vale Flash via ''derbyshirewildlifetrust''
/ref> nature reserve or beyond would walk under the viaduct, had it still been in existence.

References

Notes

Sources

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Further Material

* {{refend

External links

''npemaps''
The viaduct on many old maps
''National Library of Scotland''
Bolsover railway structures
''Signalboxes''
The viaduct seen from the air in 1952
''Britain From Above (free login needed to zoom)'' Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway structures Railway viaducts in Derbyshire Demolished bridges in England Bolsover Buildings and structures demolished in 1952