Altar Culverts (Town Beck), Addingham - April 2013
Visited solo
Spotted this on the bus from Silsden to Ilkley whilst working for drhowser in March. I asked Howser if he'd noticed the beck in Addingham running beneath some industrial buildings, I needn't have bothered.... of course he had. Still, he hadn't managed to check it out yet and we made plans to go have a nosey.
One afternoon... I'd finished work, Howser hadn't.... but he was kind enough to drop me off in Addingham on his break and let me check it out for myself. I was delighted to find the three culverted sections of the beck had quite a lot of charm. I was hoping for some old stone, as some of the buildings around the centre of Addingham above ground date from the 1600s, although on review I imagine these culverts were built (or at least the bridges they now consume were built) most likely toward the end of 18th century - as with pretty much everywhere in the North of England going through the same industrial/transport revolution... where everyone, you know, generally needed to get about a bit better.
The first section (heading upstream) was a stoop to say the least, but had some interesting little features...
Having come out and traipsed through the centre of the village, accruing some mighty strange looks from the locals, I eventually came to the second section... where I was pleased to find this discarded milepost...
The milepost reads 'Skipton & Otley Road - Addingham' if you're struggling to make it out.
Anyone who has travelled around North Yorkshire will be familiar with this sort of old, iron and stone signage. How it found it's way here is a mystery to me... light, the things are not!
The third and final section, furthest upstream and running under a pub and the aforementioned industrial units, really made me smile. Upon entry, you are greeted with statues and this attractive opening.
Further inside, a couple of twists and turns bring you eventually to a newer, chamber-like rectangular tunnel... I could hear surging at this point, and the feeling I got was that I was being led to something worthy of note ahead. At the end of this foreboding tunnel, I was met with a small chamber containing a pretty ad hoc weir... explaining away the noise of surging water.
All in all, nothing to get too excited about, but nevertheless the place had enough charm for me to want to write a little about it for you lot on here. Here goes...
Incidentally, I thought Altar would be a good name... given the idols at the gates of the temple upon entering the final section, and the ominous approach to this tiered-weir made with huge slabs... and also, the sacrificial offerings of batteries, lens cap and lenser p7 the bastard claimed from me.
tweek
Visited solo
Spotted this on the bus from Silsden to Ilkley whilst working for drhowser in March. I asked Howser if he'd noticed the beck in Addingham running beneath some industrial buildings, I needn't have bothered.... of course he had. Still, he hadn't managed to check it out yet and we made plans to go have a nosey.
One afternoon... I'd finished work, Howser hadn't.... but he was kind enough to drop me off in Addingham on his break and let me check it out for myself. I was delighted to find the three culverted sections of the beck had quite a lot of charm. I was hoping for some old stone, as some of the buildings around the centre of Addingham above ground date from the 1600s, although on review I imagine these culverts were built (or at least the bridges they now consume were built) most likely toward the end of 18th century - as with pretty much everywhere in the North of England going through the same industrial/transport revolution... where everyone, you know, generally needed to get about a bit better.
The first section (heading upstream) was a stoop to say the least, but had some interesting little features...
Having come out and traipsed through the centre of the village, accruing some mighty strange looks from the locals, I eventually came to the second section... where I was pleased to find this discarded milepost...
The milepost reads 'Skipton & Otley Road - Addingham' if you're struggling to make it out.
Anyone who has travelled around North Yorkshire will be familiar with this sort of old, iron and stone signage. How it found it's way here is a mystery to me... light, the things are not!
The third and final section, furthest upstream and running under a pub and the aforementioned industrial units, really made me smile. Upon entry, you are greeted with statues and this attractive opening.
Further inside, a couple of twists and turns bring you eventually to a newer, chamber-like rectangular tunnel... I could hear surging at this point, and the feeling I got was that I was being led to something worthy of note ahead. At the end of this foreboding tunnel, I was met with a small chamber containing a pretty ad hoc weir... explaining away the noise of surging water.
All in all, nothing to get too excited about, but nevertheless the place had enough charm for me to want to write a little about it for you lot on here. Here goes...
Incidentally, I thought Altar would be a good name... given the idols at the gates of the temple upon entering the final section, and the ominous approach to this tiered-weir made with huge slabs... and also, the sacrificial offerings of batteries, lens cap and lenser p7 the bastard claimed from me.
tweek
