The rehabilitation of a Victorian clay brick railway viaduct

Larpool viaduct is a 13 span clay brick viaduct built between 1882 and 1884 to carry the Scarborough and Whitby railway across the picturesque Esk Valley in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. The structure is of multi-ring clay brick arch construction supported on solid brickwork piers founded on mass concrete or concrete filled brickwork caissons. The railway was closed to rail traffic in 1965 but was re-opened to pedestrian and cycle traffic in 2000; it is now part of a regional sustainable transport network used mainly by tourists. Exposure to wind, driving rain and repeated freeze-thaw cycles has resulted in severe spalling of some of the brickwork, particularly that from the 30m high piers. This paper describes the original construction, the rehabilitation works including the historical context of the structure, site inspections prior to and during construction and a review of the rehabilitation works taking into account factors such as differential movement and the need to achieve a high standard of workmanship

Whitby Jet Jewels in the Victorian Age

Abstract. During the middle nineteenth century, jet obtained from Whitby (England) was sought after due to its dark black color and hardness. This fossilized plant material was used in mourning jewelry, and Whitby hard jet was regarded among the best for carving and bead making. Jet fashion was connected with Queen Victoria, whose long mourning period lasted for almost forty years

The Case of the Phantom MTB and the Loss of HMCS \u3cem\u3eAthabaskan\u3c/em\u3e

In the early dawn hours of 29 April 1944, the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan plunged to the depths of the English Channel, her hull wracked by two powerful explosions. One hundred and twenty-eight young Canadians died with her. Fifty-two years later, in the article “I Will Never Forget the Sound of Those Engines Going Away: A Re-examination into the Sinking of HMCS Athabaskan” that appeared in this journal, Peter Dixon advanced the theory—which was presented as fact—that the second explosion, the one that sealed the destroyer’s fate, was caused by a torpedo fired by a British motor torpedo boat (MTB).2 The most significant warship loss in Canadian naval history, the theory goes, was caused by friendly fire.3 That is not so. When primary evidence overlooked by Dixon is considered and the recollections of witnesses recorded decades after the event are scrutinized, it becomes abundantly clear that Athabaskan could not have been the victim of a British torpedo

The Strange and Spooky Battle over Bats and Black Dresses: The Commodification of Whitby Goth Weekend and the Loss of a Subculture

From counterculture to subculture to the ubiquity of every black-clad wannabe vampire hanging around the centre of Western cities, Goth has transcended a musical style to become a part of everyday leisure and popular culture. The music’s cultural terrain has been extensively mapped in the first decade of this century. In this article, we examine the phenomenon of the Whitby Goth Weekend, a modern Goth music festival, which has contributed to (and has been altered by) the heritage-tourism marketing of Whitby as the holiday resort of Dracula (the place where Bram Stoker imagined the Vampire Count arriving one dark and stormy night). We examine marketing literature and websites that sell Whitby as a spooky town, and suggest that this strategy has driven the success of the Goth festival. We explore the development of the festival and the politics of its ownership, and its increasing visibility as a mainstream tourist destination for those who want to dress up for the weekend. By interviewing Goths from the north of England, we suggest that the mainstreaming of the festival has led to it becoming less attractive to those more established, older Goths who see the subculture’s authenticity as being rooted in the post-punk era, and who believe that Goth subculture should be something one lives full-time

Masters of the Channel Night: The 10th Destroyer Flotilla’s Victory Off Ile De Batz, 9 June 1944

It was a dark and somewhat stormy night. In the western English Channel, off the Ile de Batz, twelve destroyers, eight Allied (including two Canadian) and four German, hurtled towards each other at a combined speed of 47 knots. Radar, penetrating the black murk ahead of the Allied ships, detected hostile contacts at ten miles range and the force deployed for action. Minutes later they opened devastating fire upon a startled enemy. The battle that ensued on the night of 9 June 1944 was the raison d’etre of the 10th Destroyer Flotilla, a destroyer strike force based on Plymouth. When planning the Normandy invasion Allied naval commanders recognized that although Kriegsmarine surface forces represented only a limited threat to the beachhead, powerful destroyers based in Bay of Biscay ports could wreak havoc on vulnerable build-up convoys crossing the Channel. But, because of the dominance of Allied air power, enemy destroyers came out only in the hours of darkness. Therefore, to win control of the western Channel, the 10th DF had to master the difficult art of night fighting

Engineering geology of British rocks and soils : Lias Group

The report begins with an introduction and a detailed modern assessment of the geology of the Lias Group in terms of both stratigraphy and lithology. The modern lithostratigraphy is placed in the context of the old, and sometimes more familiar, usage. The next two chapters deal with the mineralogy of a suite of samples collected for the project, and an assessment of the nature and influence of weathering based on a detailed analysis of the Lias dataset held in the BGS National Geotechnical Properties Database. The following chapters cover geohazards associated with the Lias Group, and a brief overview of the wide variety of industrial applications for which the Lias is well known. The geotechnical database forms the basis of the penultimate chapter, geotechnical properties. The contents of the database are analysed, interpreted, presented in graphical form, and discussed in terms of statistical variation and in the light of likely engineering behaviour. The engineering geology of the Lias Group is discussed in the final chapter, borrowing from the preceding chapters. A comprehensive cited reference list and a bibliography are provided. In addition to the large number of technical data provided to BGS, a small data set has been generated by BGS laboratories, particularly in areas where the main database was deficient, and also in connection with associated BGS studies of the swelling and shrinkage properties of the Lias Group. The individual items of data making up the database are not attributed. However, the contribution of a wide range of consultancies, contractors, authorities, and individuals is acknowledged. It is hoped that this report will provide a source of useful information to a wide range of engineers, planners, scientists, and other interested parties concerned with Lias Group materials. It should be noted that whilst quantitative technical data are included in this report, these should not be used as a substitute for proper site investigation

The birth of BBC Radio 4's Analysis

BBC Radio 4's Analysis was first broadcast in 1970 and represented a striking departure from the tendency to combine news and comment in radio current affairs. It was created by a small network of broadcasters who believed that current affairs was distinct from radio journalism. The publication of the controversial document Broadcasting in the Seventies in 1969 and the outcry that followed it gave this group the opportunity to produce an elite form of radio