Saturday 30 May 2026 - A Short Walk from Ribblehead

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Nine of us assembled at Victoria station for the 8 am train to Ribblehead, a ramblers special on which we were delighted to encounter Reg's daughter, Sangeerththa. Whernside towered above the railway line as a train arrived from the other direction.

We grabbed coffees and enjoyed looking around the small museum that chronicles the history of the railway and the Ribblehead Viaduct.

At this stage - mid morning, we strolled past the Railway Inn and headed towards the viaduct and the track that leads to Blea Moor.

Today's trip was organised by Jeanette for the 'Potatoes', a group of Hale citizens who decline to spend their retirement on couches. Paul, Jeanette, Rufus, me, Sue, Colette, Nick, Steve, Chris and Liz.

There's a lot of information available on the viaduct, including on Wikipedia, a short extract from which is as follows:

By the end of 1874, the last stone of the structure had been laid; on 1 May 1876, the Settle–Carlisle line was opened for passenger services. During the 1980s, British Rail proposed closing the line. In 1989, after lobbying by the public against closure, it was announced that the line would be retained. Since the 1980s, the viaduct has had multiple repairs and restorations and the lines relaid as a single track. The land underneath and around the viaduct is a scheduled ancient monument; the remains of the construction camp and navvy settlements (Batty Wife Hole, Sebastopol, and Belgravia) are located there.

Goods trains were using the line as we rose gently to the level of the railway near the Blea Moor signalbox.

There were lots of folk on the path. The 'Three Peaks Challenge' - Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough - was popular today. The timings would bring those challengers past Ribblehead at around this time. Given the lack of rain, bridges across the streams weren't necessary today, but they could be utikised - just because they are there.

We reached the point where our view of the railway sees it disappearing into a long tunnel.

We took photos in both directions before heading back to Ribblehead by an altenative route that afforded good views towards Ingleborough and across to the viaduct..

Near the Inn, a plaque commemorating the workers who constructed the viaduct by hand in the 1870s, and those who revived it in the 1990s using state of the art equipment.

Here's the route we took - 8.5 km, with 80 metres ascent, taking a good couple of hours.

After beers in the garden of the Railway Inn, we adjourned to a table indoors and a substantial meal.

Then a picturesque journey to Carlisle, followed by the West Coast Epress to Oxford Road and a tram home to complete a very enjoyable outing.

Artwork at Carlisle Station