Westerleigh viaduct/Curtis Lane

[James]

Pete, where were the 2 pictures on this page taken from? The trackside one is presumably from the bridleway crossing to the south, but the other one looks too close to be from the road...or is it?

Also, is Curtis Lane bridge accessible from the north? Last time I went, I had to climb over a massive pile of rubble at the southern end, but I never explored further than the bridge itself.

[madhattie]

There seems to be some kind of ongoing battle between the landowner at the end of Curtis Lane and anyone who should choose to cross the bridge. I've heard stories of intimidation, and people being threatened with dogs etc. As is the way of the world these days the authorities responsible for the bridge, the footpath and the access road have all played at being ostriches and so the threats go on. I don't know (for instance) how much more weight of sodden soil and bricks a bridge like that can hold before collapsing onto the railway below. It can be approached from the other end, but it's a pretty hefty walk and the footpath is quite neglected because of the problems at the other end.

The second photo of Westerleigh Viaduct was taken from the same spot I took These.

I'm kicking myself now. The very bottom photo on that page shows the line sweeping around towards Yate. Well, just to the right of that photo, and just before the bridges on that page, was another small bridge that gave access to a small chunk of land between the two railway lines. This is currently in the process of being forever buried as part of the strengthening work to the embankments of that area.

[Rich_Eason]

Having lived and grown up in not too far from the Curtis Lane bridge it was always one of those places "you just dont go". Being young, nieve and an explorer thought I'd get on my bike and go have a gander at the Curtis Lane vantage point.

I was threatened and told to "shift it" pretty quickly. Not sure what goes on down there, however it does seem very strange that they are always so quick to move people on.

I retreated back to my normal haunting ground of the the Pearce's Entrance bridge and run the risk of the threats from the odd person or two leaving there.

[madhattie]

It's a bloody disgrace! How many people have to be threatened/intimidated before the authorities do something about it!

[James]

Having lived and grown up in not too far from the Curtis Lane bridge it was always one of those places "you just dont go". Being young, nieve and an explorer thought I'd get on my bike and go have a gander at the Curtis Lane vantage point.

I was threatened and told to "shift it" pretty quickly. Not sure what goes on down there, however it does seem very strange that they are always so quick to move people on.

I retreated back to my normal haunting ground of the the Pearce's Entrance bridge and run the risk of the threats from the odd person or two leaving there.

I went to Curtis Lane once to phot the scrap slammers. There were people in the "yard" (what is it? There's a posh-looking new house next door to a couple of caravans, a shipping container, and a load of wrecked cars) and a van partially blocking the lane, but no one approached me. There was a stoned guy asleep on the bridge itself but he was perfectly amiable, if a bit slurred.

There's a good view of the site on Live Local

[madhattie]

Blimey James, you want to be careful about libelling yourself there! I should edit that if I were you

[James]

Blimey James, you want to be careful about libelling yourself there! I should edit that if I were you

Yeah yeah...