The hardest thing to convey about the Viaduct is its scale, experienced close-up. The largest arches are about 40 feet high, I'd guess, and the brick-clad pillars have a solidity of presence that is positively Ancient Egyptian. It's a gateway -- an emphatic dotted line -- between the frantic motorway madness of the M3 and its sliproads and the tranquility of the Itchen meadows.
6 comments:
After months - possibly years - of reading about and seeing images of The Viaduct, I'm suddenly curious about it. What runs in it? Can you pinpoint it on Google Maps? Can I see it from the train?
Btw, was it you that tagged it for the Soton Enz?
Zouk,
It is/was an abandoned railway viaduct, built to link two competing 19th c. London-Soton rail-lines, one of which ran out of cash at Winchester. It was one of the first large-scale concrete structures, but is not "listed". It goes from nowhere to nowhere -- part of its attraction.
It was falling nicely into picturesque (not to say dangerous) decay until Winchester Council decided to restore it and turn it into an official cycleway to nowhere. Grr. Some artist has even been commissioned to develop "interpretation" points, using "community artwork". Double Grr.
It's at 51.0370° N, 1.3210° W.
It can only be glimpsed from the M3 motorway -- the successful, competing 19th c. rail-line runs the other side of St. Catherine's Hill.
Nope, not me -- don't even know what "Soton Enz" is!
Mike
official cycleway to nowhere
I like the sound of that (cue Talking Heads). Where does it start? - or is it also the official cycleway FROM Nowhere?
Soton Enz
Without wishing in any way to "diss" them, I have no idea whether they even exist.
PS "ran out of cash at Winchester"
Capitalism, eh? Doncha luvvit?
PPS That map ref appears to point to the A3090, Hinkley Link (or summink), a road briefly running parallel to the M3 to the north.
Btw, ever thought of going up the whyaduck with one of these?
http://www.treehugger.com/natural-sciences/your-chance-borrow-googles-trekker-camera-backpack.html
Zouk,
Yep, that's it -- switch to Satellite view and you'll see it.
That Google trekker-cam is seriously weird. It weighs 42 pounds!
Mike
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