Background

For more than 160 years trains have trundled across the washes on a series of bridges and viaducts and an embankment.

In 1836 the Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was incorporated and authorised to build a line from London to Norwich, Yarmouth and Ipswich. In 1844 Parliament gave the Company permission to build a line across the Fens from Ely to Peterborough. Despite the soft peat soil, the line was built in just 10 months opening to goods traffic in December 1846 and to passengers in January 1847.

The construction contract was given to Grissell and Peto under the direction of Robert Stephenson.(source: LNER Encyclopedia)
By 1862 the ECR had acquired most of the other railways in East Anglia and adopted the name Great Eastern Railway (GER).

In 1923 GER was absorbed into the new London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) which began a massive modernisation of its infracture. The works included rebuilding and/or improving bridges on the line across the Washes during 1924-28.

In 1947 LNER was nationalised and became part of the new British Railways, later re-named British Rail. In 1994 the railways were re-privatised, and infrastructure responsibity  passed to Railtrack. After a series of disasters (elsewhere) and financial difficulties Railtrack was would-up in 2002 and its duties taken over by the Government controlled Network Rail.

The line is double track, non-electricfied. There are bridges across three rivers: Counter Drain, The Delph and The New Bedford; and a road bridge over the Hundred Foot Bank. In the Washes, the line between the Delph and New Bedford has a viaduct at each end and a central embankment.

Some signs of the original works remain. See the slideshow, link from menu bar


construction works in 1920s
photos from Pymoor Archives

above viaduct over washes, below steel through-truss bridge over the New Bedford River



bridge over the B 1411 Hundred Foot Bank road design similar to viaduct sections

many more photos on railway slideshow

Salter's Lode

Sutton Fen, Jolly Bankers

Sutton Gault

New Bedford River

Photo: Peter Cox, Apr 2011


Photo: Peter Cox, Apr 2011

Causeway and raised footpath across Washes

water level gauge reads up to 4.2m

Photo: Peter Cox, Apr 2011

Old Bedford River

Photo: Peter Cox, Apr 2011


Photo: Peter Cox, Apr 2011

Welches Dam

Welmore Lake

Welney

Gardner's 1851 History of Cambridgeshire & Isle of Ely, page 566: "bridge over Old Bedford is cast iron, the Delph bridge is timber"

The earlier cast iron bridge, below,

was recorded in Gardner's 1851 History
of Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely


The foundations of the cast iron bridge are clearly visible under the current bridge (see also right column)


or are there two lots of previous foundations, one wider than the other?

Old Bedford River

Photos of Cast Iron bridge courtesy of The Welney Website; all others: Peter Cox, May 2011

Delph River

Photos: Peter Cox, May 2011


A water level gauge reads up to 6m a metre higher than any others I've found in the Washes.

The plastic pipe looks like it might contain part of a sophisicated electronic system for measuring water level or flow, with readings sent to the EA control centre via telemetry.

For more information seeTelemetry

The underside was much as expected.

except for one or two things:

birds nest

lager bottle carefully disposed of

some corrosion

box of tricks part of telemetry system? click to see the full system.

Photos: Peter Cox, Jun 2011

New Bedford (Hundred Foot) River at Suspension Bridge

Aerial photo: courtesy of Dick Fiske, Jun 2005


Looking southwest from east bank
Photo: Peter Cox, Jun 2011


Looking north from east bank
Photo: Peter Cox, Jun 2011