Views of the old & new Orgreave railway bridges & line formation, from 2011 - 1327,37,40,46,58,52

* A Piece uploaded, in similar fashion to earlier ones, so that it can be referenced from a a current upload for Wednesday, 25th November related to the DRS class 66 RHTT moves, see-
www.flickr.com/photos/vinc2020/50649594961/

These six shots were photographed during my first ever visit to the Orgreave area in May, 2011. It happened to be 'The Battle of Orgreave anniversary, 18th June 1984...', 27th anniversary and this was covered in Adrian Wynn's Orgreave Blog, relating to the Orgreave Coking Works, the section on 'Orgreave: Landscape and Memory', very aptly named, see-
www.adrianwynn.tightfitz.com/
selecting the, lower, 1st link, 'Orgreave: Landscape & Memory, 2018'. There are 6 pictures in that section, this one, the 14th down the page(an awkward URL but one which is directly clickable here unlike the links on the gateway page above which have spaces in the 5 links and which do not work on Flickr),-
Flickr: Explore!
reflecting a couple of my own shown here, just two years after Adrian took his one the 25th anniversary in 2009. At that time in 2011, the Waverley Housing Estate had not commenced its building operations, so the Orgreave Coking Works site, seen in the background in picture 6, was still a vast open expanse of space with its large central lake. In addition, after the pit closures conflict was over, a new road bridge was installed right next to the one where the Police and Miners clashed in 1984, see the above entry in Adrian's Blog, and the old bridge was still open to pedestrians. It has since been palisaded off, of course, probably due to H.S.E. concerns, though it didn't concern either the Miners or the Police in 1984 and as indicated in the Ade's Blog, '...every June 18th, Anne Scargill and members of Women Against Pit Closures (WAPC) place flowers and ribbons on the new bridge...'
Using the text originally published in 2011, the pictures are, starting at top left-

1327, Coming up to the 27th Anniversary of the Battle at Orgreave, on the 18th June 1984. This is the old road bridge which was replaced by a newer structure in the early part of the new century. The view looks southwards to Orgreave village where much of the conflict took place as well as on the Orgreave site itself.

1337, Another shot of the old bridge, looking from over the parapets of the new one, and down between the two bridges onto the section of the old GCR's Lincoln Line out from Sheffield to Retford. Handsworth is in the distance across the fields.

1340, A view along the new road bridge with a commemorative ribbon tied to one of the rails on the bridge; the bridge itself much more 'bullish' than the diminutive old one. In the background can be seen the vast tract of land that was once occupied by the Orgreave Coking Plant and which now, at this end of the site is replete with around 4000 houses. The new bridge was built as part of better access for this large housing estate.

And at lower left-
1346, A view through one of the bridge portals looking towards the east and with Woodhouse, Worksop and Retford beyond. A commemorative ribbon has been tied to one of the pillars by Anne Scargill/WAPC and a Northern Rail DMU passes by below, from Sheffield to Lincoln Central. The DMU will shortly pass through the now cleared site of the old Rotherwood exchange sidings, beyond the bridge in the distance. The eagle-eyed may spot, standing at the side of the track, an old cast-iron column which was once one of the Yard's Water Cranes. Travelling back from Worksop in May 2019, with Adrian to photograph an ECS move into Worksop Down Yard, I managed to get sight of the cast-iron remains of the Water Crane and it features in the, 3rd, video which was taken at the time. Here are the links to the 3 videos taken on the return journey to Sheffield-
Part 1, from Worksop, passing the old Down Yard, 1min 13sec-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku/48007742737/
Part 2, from 'Wales to Woodhouse', 3mins 36sec-
www.rail.tightfitz.com/Video/Wales_to_Woodhouse_DMU_ride.mp4
Part 3, 'Woodhouse to Orgreave', 1m 31s-
www.rail.tightfitz.com/Video/Woodhouse_to_Orgreave_DMU_ri...
in the last part, the Water Crane mentioned above is 55secs on from the start, you have to be quick to see it, pause the video to take a better look, though as the DMU was rattling along, its a bit blurred, though obvious what it is, the only remnant of Rotherwood Sidings.

1358, This foot-bridge over the GCR at Handsworth, can be accessed either from the B6066, which now runs along the edge of the ground once occupied by Orgreave Colliery or via a footpath along Finchwell Rd. in Handsworth. It's an 'ancient structure' and has the feel of the old days of the railways about it. One train each way per hour doesn't inspire hanging around for that special shot. When a train does come through, its a one or 2 car Northern Rail DMU, see earlier photographs or, in the Autumn, the RHTT diagrams, which have whatever traction is on them, so far this year, Autumn 2020, we have had a selection of 37s (402, 407, 419, 423 & 716) last Saturday it was two 20s, 20314 & 20311 which broke down at Woodburn and went to HNRC at Worksop. On Monday 23rd November, late, it was 20118 & 20132 from Worksop back to York, yesterday, 24th, two 66s, 66427 & 66304 and today, 20118 'Saltburn-by-the-Sea' & 20132 'Barrow Hill Depot'; though on a restricted diagram due to track circuit problems at Crofton in the Wakefield Kirkgate area earlier today which resulted in an hours delay! This nice lattice bridge has now gone, and it now being harder to get a shot towards the north as the new bridge steps, with a right-angle turn in them on the way up, obstruct the view, a picture only possible with a bit of precarious leaning'. The new structure really dominates this rural scene, unlike the earlier one, removed by all accounts, in about 2015 and verified on Google to be about right. Amazingly, for me anyway, I hadn't visited here for 7 years, since these 2011 pictures were taken, only once more in 2018, for the RHTT and then not not again until yesterday, the 24th November, the new bridge still being a bit of a surprise to see, 'plonked' in the green fields.

1352, The final view at lower right, in the other direction towards Darnall shows a Northern Rail DMU this time a single unit, making its way along the GCR track, soon to pass under both the old and new bridges. This view looks over the old, diminutive, road bridge where some of the worse trouble in 1984 took place between the Miners and Thatcher's bully boys. In the distance once again, the site of the Orgreave Coking plant and Colliery, now a vast expanse of empty ground, leased? to RJB mining by the Harworth Estate; this end has now become the vast Waverley Housing Estate. In the left background is the Morrison's supermarket at Catcliffe, The 'Mercure Hotel' can also be made out behind it in the distance, along-side the now defunct Tinsley Marshalling Yard. And on the right, the Sheffield Parkway and beyond that, Treeton. The new buildings to the left now form a ever-growing 'Advanced Manufacturing Park', home of some of the 'big boys' in all sorts of businesses, eg. Rolls Royce, Boeing and McLaren Automotive, see-
harworthgroup.com/projects/advanced-manufacturing-park/
In contrast to all this, the state of the old Orgreave Road bridge and the use it is being put too, can easily be seen in this 31st May, 2011 picture.

Taken on: May 31, 2011

Tags:

Orgreave

Miners

GCR

Coking Plant

Rotherwood

Northern Rail

DMU

Morrisons Supermarket

Sheffield Parkway

Treeton

Lattice Foot bridge

Retford

Sheffield

Handsworth

Harworth Estates

Waverley Estate

Advanced Manufacturing Park

Orgreave Road

Rotherwood Exchange Sidings

Water Crane « less

Sets appears in: • Orgreave

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II, f/13.0, 1/640 sec, 28mm, ISO 400 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens:	EF28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Aperture:	f/13.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	28mm
ISO:	400
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
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