Disused rail-lines as public rights of way 12.

Nb. There are points along this route where there is some abuse the environment which might make some people uneasy but focusing on the greenery, buildings etc. means that one can stay positive.

Having crossed Beverley Rd. by a nearby lighted crossing and leaving Stepney station site behind (s.p.b.) the footpath/cycleway continues east up to where the Victoria Dock rail-line crossed Barmston Drain (see above photo., view north up Barmston Drain from where the Victoria Dock Railway bridge crossed the Drain). This is a complex point to interpret historically. As seen in the photo. the current footbridge (from where the photo. was taken) shows the brick-built footings of a bridge that once existed here, I think this must be what remains of the bridge that once carried the Victoria Dock Railway over Barmston Drain. In the middle distance is another brick-built bridge that crosses the Drain at the end of Stepney Lane, this is a road bridge that terminates at an industrial site to the west of Wincolmlee.

On the left of the photo. is a linear embankment, now overgrown, good to see so, and potentially linking wildlife with that on the unmown Drain bank. The public footpath alongside the Drain bank top can also be seen. The embankment was built by the Hull and Barnsley Railway to support a ‘high level’ line. This section of that line was an offshoot from the main-line arcing round the town from East Ella to Alexandra Dock and took the Hull and Barnsley’s passenger trains to Cannon Street station, this being so because initially the Railway company had no direct line to Paragon Station. The site of Cannon St. station use to be the yard of a demolition company, and may still be.

Of course the first landscape feature of all those mentioned was Barmston Drain. 1799-1801, which initially passed through countryside for all its course. All the bridges followed later as the town and communications expanded. The stories of the Drain’s bridges is an interesting line of thought.