Disused rail-lines as public rights of way 8.

(Continuing the route of the Hull and Barnsley Railway from previous blog).

The route of the rail-track cutting through the southern part of Skidby parish was also not adopted as a public right of way, this cutting becoming more shallow as the route reaches the lower dip-slope of the Yorkshire Wolds. At Albion Mill, now near a busy roundabout on the A164, the cutting was in-filled as a landfill site as was a nearby chalk quarry. The busy B1232 follows the route of the old rail-line to Willerby Square, and from the site of the once Willerby station an embankment was built to carry the line across this part of the Hull Valley, this embankment survives and, although not shown as a public right of way on the O.S. maps, is used as such.

Continuing east through the suburb of Wolfreton and the East Ella part of Hull some parts of this embankment survive (I think) and certainly so at Calvert Lane, east of which the line continues as a functioning rail-line arcing round to Alexandra Dock. Although now arcing round through west Hull, Newland, Sculcoates (with the difficult to pick-out from the road ‘Tyne bridge like’ rail-bridge over the River Hull) and south through Summergangs to the Dock, this rail-line was built around the then northern edge of Hull and built as a ‘high-level’ line thus needing bridges but not level crossings. If this line ever becomes redundant, which it will, it is to be hoped that it will be adopted as a public right of way, affording panoramic viewpoints at many locations.

The photo above shows a surviving man-made dew-pond at Deep Dale on the Yorkshire Wolds, nothing to do with railways but interesting. Will write about tomorrow.