Whitacre Mill Viaduct, Huddersfield

 Whitacre Mill Viaduct is a disused railway bridge crossing the Colne Valley at Deighton, Nr Huddersfield, built by the London & North Western Railway to carry the Kirkburton Branch Line, a 4 1/2 mile railway that had been intended to connect Huddersfield with the Barnsley coal mines, this scheme was never completed. Construction of the viaduct started in March 1865 by subcontractors Sigley, Miles and Haynes and the viaduct despite a partial collapse in February 1866 was completed prior to the lines opening on the 7th October 1867. The viaduct along with a short 1 mile section of the line from Deighton to ICI Chemical Works was the last to face closure, the majority having closed in 1965. This short section remained open until February 1971, before complete closure was decided in December that year.

The viaduct still crossers the Huddersfield Broad Canal, River Colne and Valley as a monument to a bygone age, it  can be just about accessed from the Deighton side, but is largely overgrown and impassable on the opposite side of the structure, Kirklees Council have plans to reopen the crossing as a greenway similar to the nearby Bradley Viaduct but as yet those plans have not progressed.

The pictures below were taken on the 27th May 2023 with a Nikon d3300.

The viaduct crossing the Huddersfield Broad Canal.

The top of the viaduct is supposed to be blocked off, I took this from the access point that has been removed. You can get approx 2/3 of the way across before the bushes become to thick to pass, walking along the top of the wall would have allowed me to get further but i'm not great with heights, so I thought better of that idea.

Huddersfield Broad Canal pictured from the viaduct, Longlands Lock number 4 is just visible at the top of the picture.

The Huddersfield Broad Canal from Whitacre Mill Viaduct. The picture was taken in the direction of Huddersfield.

The overgrown former trackbed looking towards the fence off access. The hole in the fence can be seen to the right of the picture if you follow the wall to the trees.

Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the higher resolution, un-watermarked version on Clickasnap.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.