http://visitpenistone.co.uk/history.html
I have not photographed it seriously despite living nearby for over 30 years apart from these long range images, the first taken with the 1MP RD175, Minolta's first digital SLR.
My arrival in Waterfall Park was embarrassing as I slipped, and nearly fell, on some wet stones crossing a bridge; let out a loud expletive and received some stony looks from a group of mothers (of toddlers) nearby.
My bad language continued as I realised that I was unable to take the image I had been hoping for given the nature of the viaduct's curve. I therefore had to clamber up a wet shale bank (more swearing as I slipped and stumbled), which was covered in brambles and made setting up the tripod a real challenge.
This image captures most of the 29 arches.
.
The 7x zoom lens on the Dimage 7 was just what I needed.
.
The view of the viaduct from the park is disrupted by trees (who's bright idea was it to put trees in a park?!) and the panorama was less than hoped for. I clearly need to try again from the other side.
Nearly 500 trains per day used to chug through Penistone Station carrying coal and iron but now there is only one train every hour, carrying mostly pensioners with free rail passes.
After some planning and waiting for a sunny day, Brenda and I did manage to view the viaduct from its best side. However sharpness was a concern as I was shooting a five section panorama at full telephoto (200mm), a shutter speed of about half a second with the camera oscillating on top of a lightweight tripod (fully extended) in the teeth of a force nine gale blowing down from the Pennines. The other slight disappointment is that the base of the viaduct is lost in its own shadow in a few places.
The first is taken from the top of the hill, with St John's church tower poking up above the trees, and the second from half way up and includes the wind turbines from Royd Moor (pictured using the Sony DSC S50 in a recent posting).
There are three more arches, behind the trees on the left, where the viaduct crosses the River Don. One of the pillars collapsed in 1916. No lives were lost but it gave an opportunity for men in bowler hats to get in to the picture. The locomotive was recovered and ran for another 25 years. LYR stands for Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.
.
.
