I had to look hard at this photo as I thought it had been reversed I don’t remember a footpath at that side of the beck only Glover’s path on the left hand side. But I have been assured that there was a path on that side and of course you can see Liverton Mine in the background,telling it hasn’t been reversed.
(photo courtesy of Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum)

Named Loftus Viaduct on this card, but still the same one, not completely filled in yet.   The note on the back is dated December 8th, 1911.

Thanks to Beryl Morris for the card which is another in the Penny Real Photo Series from Wm. Richardson & Sons, Loftus.

A lovely picture of the walls of Kilton Castle courtesy of Ray Brown who thinks it was taken in the late 70’s. Was that when Leeds University used to come in the summer to excavate there?  I wish I could have seen it in all its glory.

This lovely photo courtesy of Ray Brown shows the castle wall from the other side. Were these just a lookout post or were they there to shoot the arrows through?

I don’t think you could see it like this now as it is so over grown all around it, but a lovely photo.

(photo courtesy of Cleveland Ironstone Mining Museum)

Another hand-tinted picture postcard.

Not so much the castle but the ruins of what must have been a beautiful castle, not as much can be seen today as it is difficult to find in the undergrowth with brambles and nettles covering what remains.

Once the impregnable stronghold of the De Thweng’s, Kilton Castle fell into disuse when Lucy De Thweng married and went to live at Skelton Castle (not the neo-Gothic building that now occupies the site of the old Skelton Castle).  Even less of this castle exists today, despite its Ancient Monument status.

Kilton woods on one side of the valley and Whitecliffe woods and Glover’s Path on the other side with the beck running between.  The children seem to be having a great time in the beck

An idyllic rural image, just to show that the Loftus area wasn’t all Ironstone Pits and Smelters – well most of it was!

You can see from this much earlier image how light and open the valley was originally.  I wonder if the viaduct had been built with arched spans whether the problem would still have manifested itself.  I’d need an engineer to tell me – is there an engineer in the house?

Simon Chapman tells us: ”

Kilton Viaduct opened for traffic in 1867 and was later filled in with shale to create a massive embankment so that mining could take place beneath it. During this work which took years, one of the pillars showed signs of stress possibly because of uneven tipping, so traffic over was stopped for a fortnight until the problem was remedied. So if the viaduct had been built with arches it would still have ended up as we see it today.”

Thanks to Simon for the update.

A beautiful valley and an elegant structure, before the viaduct became unstable and was filled in with waste from the mine to create an embankment.

Looking towards the viaduct, from Mill Bank side.

This postcard is a lovely example of early colour photography.  The original was posted in Loftus on July 30, 1905.

X marks the spot not of treasure, but of the unsafe pillar of the viaduct that caused it to be filled in with spoil from the mines.

(X marks the unsafe pillar of the Loftus to Carlin How Viaduct. The condition of the pillar lead to the creation of the culvert to house the Kilton Beck and the infilling of the viaduct with iron stone mining waste to create the embankment we still see today. – John G)

Kilton Viaduct was infilled from 1907 to 1914 primarily so that ironstone could be worked from beneath it, particularly from the Carlin How mine. The picture was taken in 1911 when one pier cracked and train services were suspended for a fortnight while remedial action was taken.

Thank you once again Simon Chapman

An excerpt from a local paper describing the construction of the culvert over Kilton beck prior to the conversion of Kilton Viaduct (also called Loftus Viaduct or Carlin How Viaduct – it depended where you lived!) to an embankment due to undermining of the central support structure by Loftus mine.

Around about 1911 part of Kilton Viaduct began to suffer from subsidence due to it being undermined by Ironstone Mining.  It was decided to bury the viaduct in shale from the local shale tips and Ironstone Mines and make it into an embankment.  Before they could do this it was necessary to culvert Kilton Beck.

This image shows part of the culverting process, with wooden shuttering in place to make the culvert.  Also visible is an aerial ropeway for carrying raw materials to the site.

(Photo courtesy of Derick Pearson)

That is what the caption on the photo says but what is happening there, Eric Johnson, Derick Pearson & David Richardson feels it is possibly work relating to the filling-in of the Viaduct in 1913.  I am waiting for your thoughts on this photo.

This looks a fairly complex piece of shuttering. We’ve had quite a few images of the construction of the culvert, but none showing it at such an advanced stage!

(image courtesy of Eileen Hicks)

A photo I have never seen before you can see the legs of the Loftus to Carlin How viaduct in the background of this photo and the culvert looks finished.
(photo courtesy of Pem Holliday)

Doesn’t look real  does it?  The train going over Loftus viaduct is dumping shale from the mines to convert the viaduct into an embankment.  The viaduct was seriously weakened by undermining from the ironstone mines, so these drastic measures were taken to fix the problem.

But not by this train – a local commuter makes its way across the skyline towards Loftus as the biggest shale heap in the area takes shape!

This is an image I haven’t seen before.  Kilton Viaduct in its ”embanked” state.  It completely alters the aspect of the valley – not for the better either unfortunately.

A peaceful! photo of the water as it flows under the viaduct and on to the sea at Skinningrove. We are now aware that the beck at Skinningrove is not affected by any possible outflow from Scaling Dam, as this emerges at Staithes; the overflow from Lockwood Beck flows via Kilton Beck. Thanks to Tony and Kathleen Hicks for that information.

We apologise for the image, but we believe it is a copy of a George Skilbeck postcard and is possibly been taken in the 1940s.

Thanks to Derick Pearson for the updates. John

Here you are Norman as promised the photo from Derick and a lovely photo it is.

 Thanks to Derick Pearson for the photo and this is what he says about it.

This photo has the same 3 persons on it as the one already on the website, it was taken the same day about an hour later. These same 3 people are stood on the bridge at the high side of the culvert.