Long wait over as viaduct re-opens

THE official reopening of Rugby’s 173-year-old viaduct took place on Wednesday - more than five years after the idea was first mooted and almost 60 years after it last carried trains.

Back in 2007 The Observer reported how transport charity Sustrans won £70m from the Big Lottery Fund to pay for its Connect2 initiative which was a series of footpaths and cycleways across the country.

Rugby’s section of the project across the viaduct - known as the 11 Arches - was due to open three years later, but has been fraught with delays.

However the long awaited path which links Newbold with the train station and the town centre has now finally been completed.

The borough council, county council and St Modwen Properties invested money in the project. But had it not been for the lottery money it would have remained as one of the oldest, disused viaducts in the country.

“The project will bring a lasting benefit to Rugby residents and supports the council’s regeneration strategy,” said Coun Heather Timms, the council portfolio holder for economy, development and culture.

“It’s also a major leisure amenity which brings one of Rugby’s iconic structures back into everyday use.”

The path starts in Newbold’s Brownsover Road and crosses the Oxford Canal - linking to the Glebe Estate - before taking cyclists and walkers over the viaduct which spans Leicester Road and the River Avon.

From there it follows the old raised railway bank and then leads down to the end of Hunters Lane before connecting with the Black Path, where the old steps to the railway bridge have been replaced by a ramp.

Cyclists and walkers can then either head for the town centre via Park Road or the railway station via Wood Street and Railway Terrace.

There is a Portrait Bench on Consul Road which features steel cut, life-size portraits of Alice, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Ralph ‘The Rugby Flyer’ Dougherty, a star rider for Rugby Cycling Club in the 1930s, and Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer, the Rugby-born scientist and astronomer who jointly discovered the gas helium. All were chosen in a public vote.

The viaduct was originally built to carry the Midlands Counties Railway from Rugby to Leicester in 1840.

Peter Rudd, senior development surveyor at St. Modwen, said the company was delighted to have helped fund the path to the tune of nearly £300,000.

"It will provide cyclists and walkers with a valuable leisure facility and links to the town centre and railway station," Mr Rudd added.

"St. Modwen has helped fund the path as part of the multi-million pound urban community we are creating on Leicester Road in Rugby, which will include hundreds of new homes, public space, local play areas, Warwickshire College and a family focused public house.”

- Rugby hosts a family walk and cycle on Thursday, August 29 to celebrate Pedal On UK, a nationwide cycle tour organised by Sustrans to celebrate the new walking and cycling routes on its National Cycle Network.

Rugby Pedal On takes place on the Leicester Road viaduct between 12.15pm and 1.15pm, and includes a Fresh Air Mile ride or walk, live music, a family picnic and the chance to bling your bike. Visitors can also cheer on the Pedal On tour as the 20 volunteer riders pass through Rugby on the way to Birmingham.

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