Viaduct

Viaduct 1

I grew up in the North of England, where seeing beautiful countryside, green fields, sheep, hedgerows and dry stone walls is usual. (You’ll have seen these in some of my Yorkshire posts.) Viaducts are also a common occurrence.

A viaduct is a bridge constructed of several small arches to cross a valley. The ones I know are all railway bridges.

Viaduct 2

It was only when I travelled to other places, such as South Africa, that I came to realise that they were not universally well-known or common.

These viaducts in Yorkshire support railway tracks, with road traffic passing beneath. There are a great many of these beautiful old stone structures all around the area.

Viaduct 3

I snapped these photos through the car windscreen as my sister drove.

I like the effect of Closer, Closer, Wow!

 

Towering Cathedral

St Andrews Cathedral 1

Still standing; the remains of Scotland’s largest cathedral.

What is very impressive, even in this age of massive skyscrapers, is the sheer size of the ravaged stone ruins. Apart from the height which is obvious, the building was about 119 metres long!

St Andrews Cathedral 2

It is St Andrews Cathedral and St Rule’s Tower.

This magnificent medieval cathedral was founded in 1158 and building continued into the 14th century.

On the day we visited it was raining heavily. We tried to find a little shelter by the large wall on the right of the photo, while taking in the atmosphere of such an old site. Apart from the grave stones which you can see, there were large, flat stone slabs covering ancient tombs. You could easily imagine Dracula rising from one at midnight!

St Andrews Cathedral 3

The cathedral and tower dominate the sky line here at the edge of the North Sea. I took this shot from out along St Andrews pier, where I made sure not to be swept into the icy waters!

And just as I was battered by the strong winds, so has some of this building survived down the centuries through many storms, both man-made and natural.

It is still awe-inspiring.

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Here I’m just giving a glimpse into the ruins, as I experienced them on a wet, blustery day.

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