'Dales Road Trip’ Ribblehead Viaduct, North Yorkshire, England.

 

Several months ago we mapped out our plans for the first of our Yorkshire Dales Road Trips. Stage one was to head up above Settle to the Ribblehead Viaduct.

The Ribblehead Viaduct carries the Settle–Carlisle railway over Batty Moss at Ribblehead, North Yorkshire.

This structure has been photographed by many notable photographers and I was determined to try a few standout shots which I hope you enjoy.

There are many words to describe Ribblehead viaduct, a few that come to mind are – imposing, dramatic, stunning, amazing, impressive, but when seen close up it really comes down to a short intake of breath and WOW!!!

What a feat of planning and engineering! You cannot imagine the blood, sweat and tears that must have gone into its construction. There were many fatalities amongst the railway builders (navvies) through accidents and illness, so many in fact that the local graveyard had to be enlarged.

We set out that morning in cloudy and overcast weather conditions but when we arrived at this monumental construction the clouds had cleared leaving me with ideal conditions for the aspects of photography I had in mind. On this Dales Road Trip I had left my Canon 7D SLR and an assortment of lenses (the heavy gear) at home and intended to use the camera in my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max which I had been trialling for the last few months and had been particularly impressed with the performance of the wide angle lens, this generally produces converging verticals but I happen to like this effect and it does pack a lot of landscape in.

What a photogenic structure, taking into account the weather, time of day and the many viewpoints available it is inevitable that we will make many return trips to photograph it in its full glory.

To view all the photographs in our Album

'Ribblehead Viaduct, Yorkshire'

 please follow the link.

Peter W. Clark photographer

We do hope you will enjoy the photographs and perhaps find some which will inspire and enhance your article or publication.

(downloads and prints are available)

More location photographs of our

'Dales Road Trip'

to follow.

Sedbergh (In the Yorkshire Dales National Park)

Dent (In the Yorkshire Dales National Park)

Aysgarth

Askrigg

Hawes

Gayle

Bainbridge

and finally Buckden

Germany on a BMW, Part 2

After all the eager anticipation and planning the day had finally arrived. Two bikes from Silsden, one from Burley in Wharfedale and two from Ilkley, we were away on a five day tour bound eventually for Einbeck in Germany. Five bikers and myself as a pillion passenger.

Self Riding Pillion

The trip to our port of departure Hull was made in good weather, perhaps a little cool but not uncomfortable. Our bike arrived first and had no problem having our passports checked and getting our boarding cards and cabin keys. Unfortunately  there was a delay with the other bikes and we had to wait twenty minutes due apparently to a booking problem, it was resolved and on we went to strap the bikes down on the car deck. Our ferry that night was the MS Pride of Rotterdam and according to the technical data sheet available on board was built in Venice and launched on the 29th September 2000. We were to travel to Rotterdam Europort a distance of 204 nautical miles/378 km

Our cabins were small but functional for our one night trip, all bags were quickly stowed and we made our way to the bar and relaxation. The entertainment that night was in the form of a guitarist/singer with backing tracks followed by another singer also with backing tracks, I think the ferry company must be making cut backs as the last time I had the pleasure of travelling with them we were entertained by a full band, much more atmospheric but to give our evenings entertainment their due we all enjoyed that part of the evening.

Dining in Style

We decided as it was our first night to dine in the Four Seasons Buffet Restaurant, I seem to recollect the price was about eighteen pounds, it was well worth it including several courses and virtually all you could eat. One word of advice based on our experience, don't leave it to late to eat as some dishes at the buffet appeared not to be replenished as the night goes on. One nightcap after the meal and then away to bed, unfortunately I had drawn the short straw and found myself in the top bunk, okay to climb into but if you need to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night in the dark its an adventure. The next morning we were awakened by the tannoy announcing our imminent arrival at Europort.

Europort