Bennerley Viaduct: New cycling route planned to connect bridges

A new long-distance cycling route is being created to link up the UK's only two surviving wrought iron viaducts.

The 300-mile route will connect the Meldon Viaduct, in Devon, with the internationally-renowned Bennerley Viaduct, which spans the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire border.

It will also take in other famous bridges, including Clifton Suspension Bridge and Severn Bridge.

A group of cyclists has been testing out the "Iron to Iron" trail.

They set off from Devon on Tuesday and are due to arrive at Bennerley Viaduct - known as the Iron Giant - on Sunday afternoon.

"It just seemed like a good idea to link the two viaducts up with a long-distance cycling route," said Kieran Lee from the Friends of Bennerley Viaduct.

"We are hoping that once we've tried and tested it, all the information will be out there for other people to complete this route."

Bennerley Viaduct was included in the 2020 World Monuments Watch list, alongside Notre Dame and Easter Island.

It has since been restored at the cost of £1.5 million, and is set to open as a walking and cycling route more than 50 years after it closed to trains.

John Darlington, executive director of the World Monuments Fund, was among the riders.

"Bennerley is the perfect global model for the reinvention of disused railway routes into trails for walking, cycling, and to strengthen social ties and wellbeing," he said.

The 1,410ft (430m) viaduct is the UK's longest structure of its kind.

It has survived several attempts to have it demolished and is now owned by conservation group Railway Paths.

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