49-419: The Ingleton branch line was a rural railway line in the West Riding of Yorkshire , Lancashire and Westmorland in England (now North Yorkshire , Lancashire and Cumbria ). It was originally planned in 1846 to form part of a main line route from London to Scotland, but fell victim to rivalry between railway companies. Completion was delayed until 1861, and it was only ever a rural branch line, serving
98-654: A county; rural districts , Urban districts and municipal boroughs were under the administrative county while county boroughs were in the wider geographic county. The term "West Riding" continues to be used by organisations based in the historic area of the riding, such as the West Riding Sailing Club, the Ramblers , the West Riding County Football Association , and the Freemasons . It
147-481: A goods service between Clapham and Ingleton continued for another five months after that. The line was maintained as a possible relief route until April 1967 when the tracks were lifted. A section of the trackbed south of Kirkby Lonsdale was used by the re-aligned A65 road between Cowan Bridge and Ingleton. Several of the old stations have been adapted as private residences (e.g. Kirkby Lonsdale , Barbon and Sedbergh). Both stations at Ingleton have been demolished –
196-597: A large rural area to the north including part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park (the remainder of the park being in the North Riding). The subdivision of Yorkshire into three ridings or "thirds" ( Old Norse : Þriðungr ) is of Scandinavian origin. The West Riding was first recorded (in the form West Treding ) in the Domesday Book of 1086. Unlike most English counties, Yorkshire, being so large,
245-555: A man but a steam shovel ." Being a navvy labourer became a cultural experience unto its own during the 19th century. Most accounts chronicling the life of a navvy worker come from local newspapers portraying navvies as drunk and unruly men, but fail to provide any mention that families were formed and raised despite the navvy's travelling demands. The navvies working on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway were paid daily and their pay reputedly went on ale , leaving little for food. When
294-514: A mile (1½ km) between the two Ingleton stations, descending into the valley below and climbing up the other side, where they often had a long wait as the companies did not cooperate over timetabling either. Soon after, the MR agreed to allow LNWR trains to terminate at the Midland station, but both Ingleton stations remained open and connections were not timetabled. Ingleton (LNWR) station was closed in 1917 but it
343-493: A newsletter and charity work. The construction tycoon Sir Samuel Morton Peto encouraged religious services for his workforce, as well as providing some social services to the navvy populations. Many of the navvies employed to build the railways in England during the early part of the 19th century lived in squalid temporary accommodations referred to as " shanty towns ." Due in part to constructing through rural areas, and, in part,
392-632: A riot broke out between the two nationalities in one navvy shanty town, causing local magistrates to arrest 12 individuals. Though, this is not necessarily indicative of relations between the English and Irish in all navvy gangs. Over time, housing arrangements progressed positively, with the structures being built with more care, and even attached land being offered for use so navvies and their families could grow their own food. In addition to their nomadic living arrangements, navvies confronted varying degrees of dangerous work environments that depended both on
441-555: Is also retained in the name of some British Army squadrons, such as the 106 (West Riding) Field Squadron, and some historical re-enactment groups. A flag designed to represent the West Riding was registered with the Flag Institute charity in 2013. 53°52′N 1°09′W / 53.86°N 1.15°W / 53.86; -1.15 Navvy Navvy , a clipping of navigator ( UK ) or navigational engineer ( US ),
490-580: Is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects and occasionally in North America to refer to mechanical shovels and earth moving machinery. The term was coined in the late 18th century in Great Britain when numerous canals were being built, which were also sometimes known as "navigations". A study of 19th-century British railway contracts by David Brooke, coinciding with census returns, showed that
539-507: The Local Government Act 1888 , and covered the historic West Riding except for the larger urban areas, which were county boroughs with the powers of both a municipal borough and a county council . Initially there were five in number: Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, and Sheffield. The City of York (also a county borough) was included in the county for census and lieutenancy purposes. The number of county boroughs increased over
SECTION 10
#1733085501062588-404: The 18-mile (29 km) line. Before construction, the line had been referred to as the "Orton branch" or the "Lune Valley line", but, once built, it was officially known as the "Ingleton branch". There are no tunnels along the line, except for a short one on a mineral railway that branched off from the main line at Ingleton. The line was opened to passengers on 16 September 1861, by which time
637-575: The 1840s, but were not considered cost effective until much later in the 19th century, especially in Britain and Europe where experienced labourers were easily obtained and comparatively cheap. Elsewhere, for example in the United States and Canada, where labour was more scarce and expensive, machines were used. In the States the machine tradition became so strong that "[...] the word navvy is understood to mean not
686-718: The 20th century, they were the predominant workforce. The construction of canals in Britain was superseded by contracts to construct railway projects from 1830 onward, which developed into the railway manias , and the same term was applied to the workmen employed on building rail tracks , their tunnels , cuttings and embankments . There were 250,000 navvies employed during the apex of British railway expansion efforts. Navvies working on railway projects typically continued to work using hand tools, supplemented with explosives (particularly when tunnelling, and to clear obdurate difficulties). Steam-powered mechanical diggers or excavators (initially called 'steam navvies') were available in
735-457: The Enquiry of 1846, which eventually led to the need for the formation of and evaluation by a Select Committee on Railway Labourers 1846. The natural tension between locals and outsiders sometimes bred distrust of the navvies. Occasionally, this strain between the two would result in violence such as riots, or death. One such instance occurred at Sampford Peverell in 1811. John Chave, a local who
784-464: The L&;CR itself, which wanted to block its rival GNR's ambitions to reach Scotland. The L&CR route differed from the proposed NWR route in two ways: it passed closer to the town of Sedbergh and it joined the main L&CR line significantly further south at the existing Low Gill station . A Commons' Committee decided to accept the L&CR scheme, and its bill was passed on 25 August 1857. The line
833-578: The LNWR had taken control of the L&CR, and its rival the MR had taken over the NWR, which still owned the line beyond Ingleton. The rival companies could not come to agreement over the sharing of the Midland station at Ingleton , and so the L&CR built its own station at Ingleton , the two stations being at opposite ends of the Ingleton Viaduct. In the early days of the line, through passengers had to walk nearly
882-617: The Midland obtaining a bill in 1866 to construct the Settle–Carlisle Line , which would serve the same purpose. Subsequently, the MR and LNWR came to an agreement over the Ingleton branch and the MR wished to abandon its plan for the Settle–Carlisle Line but Parliament refused in 1869, so the line was built anyway. This sealed the fate of the Ingleton branch to remain a rural branch line and never obtain main line status. Nevertheless,
931-650: The River Rawthey near Sedbergh, 120 feet (37 m) long and 53 feet (16 m) high, the other over the River Lune, known as Waterside Viaduct, 530 feet (162 m) long and 100 feet (30 m) high, both with a cast metal central arch of similar style to each other. It was awarded to Coulthard and Allen, who had built the Clapham to Ingleton NWR line some 10 years earlier. Contract 2 covered 7 miles 27 chains (11.8 km) over flatter ground with no major works, and
980-472: The entirety of Todmorden with the West Riding administrative county, and also in its lieutenancy area ("county"), though the postal address for Todmorden was Lancashire. Other boundary changes in the county included the expansion of the county borough of Sheffield southward in areas historically in Derbyshire such as Dore . Fingerposts erected in the West Riding until the mid-1960s had a distinctive style. At
1029-670: The existing West Coast Main Line . Over the next few years were many negotiations between the NWR and the L&CR, the Midland Railway (MR), the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). The original time limit, set by Parliament in 1846, for the construction of the line was about to expire, so a further five-year extension was obtained by the NWR in 1852. However, negotiations failed and it became clear
SECTION 20
#17330855010621078-406: The former LNWR depot is now a commercial unit while the ex-MR site is a car park and community/tourist information centre. The three major viaducts at Ingleton , Sedbergh and Lowgill are now Grade II listed buildings as is the iron girder arched truss bridge over the River Rawthey near Sedbergh (which now carries a gas supply pipe). West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire
1127-694: The great majority of navvies in Britain were English. He also stated that "only the ubiquitous Irish can be regarded as a truly international force in railway construction," but the Irish were only about 30% of the navvies. By 1818, high wages in North America attracted many Irish workers to become a major part of the workforce on the construction of the Erie Canal in New York State and similar projects. Navvies also participated in building canals in Britain, and by
1176-511: The industrial region, other urban districts included Bingley , Bolton on Dearne , Castleford , Cleckheaton , Elland , Featherstone , Handsworth , Hoyland Nether , Liversedge , Mexborough , Mirfield , Normanton , Rawmarsh , Rothwell , Saddleworth , Shipley , Skipton , Sowerby Bridge , Stanley , Swinton , Thornhill , Wath-upon-Dearne , Wombwell and Worsborough . Outside the industrial region were Goole , Ilkley , Knaresborough , Otley and Selby . The West Riding also contained
1225-548: The initials LMR stamped upon them. This reduced the problems of drunken navvies and eliminated the local farm labourers freeloading from the food caravans. Tokens and a description of their use can be found in the Museum of Science & Industry in Manchester . In the mid-1800s some efforts were made by evangelical Anglicans led by Elizabeth Garnett to administer to the perceived religious needs of navvy settlements, with preaching,
1274-494: The line could not be built even within the new timescale. Eventually, in 1857, two rival bills were put before Parliament. One was from the NWR, with the support of the GNR who hoped to form a mainline route from London to Scotland. The proposed route was from Ingleton to Kirkby Lonsdale , then straight up the Lune valley to join the L&CR line just south of Tebay . The other bill was from
1323-419: The line was used as a relief route whenever other lines to Scotland were temporarily closed. The line was double throughout. The steepest gradient was the final 4 + 3 ⁄ 4 miles (7.6 km) to Low Gill at 1 in 100. The ruling speed limit was 60 mph, with 45 mph at Ingleton and the last 5 miles, and 20 mph over Waterside and Rawthey bridges. Each station controlled its signals and there
1372-428: The local inhabitants of the regions the navvy worked in, when they arrived. In many cases, though, as time passed, the local establishments benefited from navvy business, which strengthened relations, and even forged friendships with an occasional local helping teach reading and writing to some navvies. Many slang terms were used as a method of communication among navvies, which facilitated bonding amongst them, as it
1421-474: The navvies negative reputation, two-thirds of the railway construction sites had housing erected specifically for the navvy. Initially, the housing "huts" were constructed quickly and meant to be temporary. As a result, little thought was given to comfort, let alone sanitation, which was actually a prominent issue for everyone during the Victorian era . Shanties "were clearly unhealthy places in which to live, and it
1470-399: The old style still survive within the West Riding boundaries. By 1971 1,924,853 people (or 50.85% of the West Riding's population) lived in the administrative county, against 1,860,435 (or 49.15%) in the ten county boroughs. In the Domesday Book of 1086 they were eleven wapentakes, these were as follows: In the end of regular use, the wapentakes were: During the West Riding's time as
1519-594: The part of the East Riding of Yorkshire around Goole and southwest of the River Ouse . The West Riding encompassed 1,771,562 acres (7,169 km ) from Sheffield in the south to Sedbergh in the north and from Dunsop Bridge in the west to Adlingfleet in the east. The southern industrial district, considered in the broadest application of the term, extended northward from Sheffield to Skipton and eastward from Sheffield to Doncaster , covering less than one-half of
Ingleton branch line - Misplaced Pages Continue
1568-465: The riding. Within this district were Barnsley , Batley , Bradford , Brighouse , Dewsbury , Doncaster , Halifax , Huddersfield , Keighley , Leeds , Morley , Ossett , Pontefract , Pudsey , Rotherham , Sheffield , Todmorden (partly in Lancashire until 1888, when fully incorporated into Yorkshire) and Wakefield . Major centres elsewhere in the riding included Harrogate and Ripon . Within
1617-456: The terrain, and the locals' reception of them. Due to limited safety protocols, navvies were frequently injured or killed on the job. For each mile of rail laid, there was an average of three work-related deaths, which was even higher when working on sections that required tunnelling. The particularly high incidence of navvy mortality during the construction of the Woodhead Tunnel prompted
1666-403: The top of the post was a roundel in the form of a hollow circle with a horizontal line across the middle, displaying "Yorks W.R.", the name of the fingerpost's location, and a grid reference. Other counties, apart from Dorset , did not display a grid reference and did not have a horizontal bar through the roundel. From 1964, many fingerposts were replaced by ones in the modern style, but some of
1715-627: The village of Ingleton and towns of Kirkby Lonsdale and Sedbergh . It closed to passengers in 1954 and was dismantled in 1967. In 1846, the North Western Railway (NWR) was formed to connect the Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway at Skipton to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (L&CR) south of Tebay , with a secondary branch from Clapham to Lancaster . In 1849, the route between Skipton and Ingleton opened, but further work northward
1764-607: The workers were unfit to work, monies were subtracted from their wages and meal tokens were issued. These tokens could be handed in at meal caravans for a bowl of soup and a portion of bread. At first the token was a slip of paper called a "flimsy" because of its thickness. In today's terms it would be similar to a grade called " bank paper " . As these tokens could be copied by the forgers , the Liverpool and Manchester Railway supplied its contractors with six-sided food tokens that were surrendered for meals. These were cut from brass and had
1813-660: The years; Rotherham gained this status in 1902, Barnsley and Dewsbury in 1913, Wakefield in 1915 and Doncaster in 1927. The boundaries of existing county boroughs were also widened. Beginning in 1898, the West Riding County Council was based at the County Hall in Wakefield, which was inherited by the West Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council in 1974. The Local Government Act 1888 included
1862-401: Was abandoned due to financial difficulties, the company deciding to concentrate instead on the cheaper branch to Lancaster . When the route from Skipton to Lancaster opened in 1850, the short section from Clapham to Ingleton closed. Other railway companies had an interest in the line north of Ingleton being built, as it could form part of a main-line route from London to Scotland shorter than
1911-667: Was an intermediate block post at Newby Moor until 1937, installed after a crash on 22 July 1891 between a goods and a mixed train. All the stations were of stone, with low, short platforms. Sedbergh had a water tank and column. Ingleton Midland had a bay. Mostly the line had 1 goods and four 2-coach passenger trains a day in each direction, but reduced to 2 in 1944, 1947 and 1951. All but Ingleton and Barbon stations were distant from their towns, collieries at Ingleton closed in 1925 and 1935, as did 2 limestone quarries, Barbon creamery switched its traffic to road and Middleton on Lune station closed on 1 May 1935. After rail nationalisation in 1948, it
1960-518: Was awarded to James Taylor. Contract 3 covered the final 5 miles 78 chains (9.6 km) ending at the Ingleton Viaduct of 11 arches each 57 feet (17 m) wide, 800 feet (240 m) long with a maximum height of 80 feet (24 m) (the foundations of which had been laid ten years earlier by the NWR). It was also awarded to James Taylor. Some 1,600 navvies and 70 horses were used to build
2009-645: Was becoming uneconomical to operate both the Ingleton Line and the parallel Settle–Carlisle Line. Although the Ingleton line was much shorter and would have been cheaper to maintain, it was decided that the loss of the Settle line would have much greater impact on rural communities, and so on 30 January 1954 the Ingleton line closed to regular passenger traffic. The line was still occasionally used for weekend excursions and to transport pupils to and from local boarding schools. Goods traffic continued until 1 October 1964, although
Ingleton branch line - Misplaced Pages Continue
2058-569: Was built by the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway between 1858 and 1861, and the work was split into four contracts. Contract 1A covered 1 mile 6 chains (1.7 km) from Lowgill, and included the Lowgill Viaduct of 11 arches each 45 feet (14 m) wide, with a maximum height of 90 feet (27 m). It was awarded to Samuel Buxton of Leeds. Contract 1 covered 4 miles 38 chains (7.2 km) and included two major bridges, one over
2107-404: Was divided first into the three ridings ( East , North and West) and, later, the city of York (which lay within the city walls and was not part of any riding). Each riding was then divided into wapentakes , a division comparable to the hundreds of southern and western England and the wards of England's four northernmost historic counties. The administrative county was formed in 1889 by
2156-412: Was frequently used for a laugh, or as a method of asking for someone to watch your back, while you sneaked a smoke break, or went off for a drink. Much of the terminology appears to be fluid, relying primarily on rhyming with the intended meaning. One example provided by Daniel William Barrett, in his book, Life and Work Among The Navvies , contains the following navvy slang; "'now, Jack, I'm goin' to get
2205-414: Was not uncommon for a navvy community to be overtaken by cholera, dysentery or typhus ." In addition to these unhygienic living conditions, navvies shared housing, some even sleeping on floors. The majority of navvies were Englishmen, with 30% of the group being Irish. While this ratio varied from navvy shanty town to shanty town, sleeping arrangements were segregated. In at least one documented instance,
2254-425: Was not until the 1923 "grouping" of the LNWR and MR into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway that the division at Ingleton was removed, and the whole route from Clapham to Tebay was operated with through trains. The Midland Railway wanted to use the Ingleton branch to form part of a main line from London to Scotland, but the LNWR, which already had its own London–Scotland line, refused to cooperate. This led to
2303-508: Was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire , England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding . The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York and as such was named "West Riding of the County of York and the County of the City of York". The riding ceased to be used for administrative purposes in 1974, when England's local government
2352-647: Was reformed. Contemporary local government boundaries in Yorkshire largely do not follow those of the riding. All of South Yorkshire (except Finningley ) and West Yorkshire were historically within its boundaries, as were the south-western areas of North Yorkshire (including Ripon ), the Sedbergh area of Cumbria , the Barnoldswick and Slaidburn areas of Lancashire , the Saddleworth area of Greater Manchester and
2401-457: Was regionally well known for living in a "haunted house," was approached by a group of drunk navvies. The encounter left Chave feeling threatened, so after proceeding home with the navvy group in tow, he used a gun to shoot a warning shot into the crowd, which hit and killed one of the group members causing a riot to ensue. The death was later deemed a justifiable homicide . As newspapers reported on similar conflicts, anticipated tensions grew for
#61938