EPW033130 ENGLAND (1930). The town and surrounding countryside, Holsworthy, from the north-west, 1930

Despite the presence of local stone, the nine arch Derriton Viaduct, just west of Holsworthy, was constructed from precast concrete blocks. This method was also used at Woolston, the next viaduct on the Bude extension from Holsworthy. A similar sized viaduct to the east of Holsworthy was built of local stone. The two decades between 1879, when the railway from Okehampton arrived in Holsworthy and the extension was constructed to Bude clearly saw a change in view about construction materials. These viaducts are some of the earliest examples of concrete work that became a strong feature of the LSWR and later the Southern Railway.



The viaduct crossing the Tamar at Calstock, as seen in image EPW023620, also used precast concrete blocks.