When in the town of Knaresborough in North Yorkshire, UK, it is obligatory to photograph the railway viaduct spanning the gorge of the river Nidd. So here is my attempt, taken yesterday, April 14th.
Finished in 1851, the viaduct is 260 feet long and over 80 feet high.
There are dozens of rowing boats for hire; you can see some of them bottom right.
I like the 'two-tone' house which is visible through the centre arch.
#bridges #viaduct #knaresboroughviaduct #rivers #railways #yorkshire
FFS! 😡 Anger as #swifts’ nesting holes in #Derbyshire rail #viaduct ‘blocked up’
Campaigners say birds could die trying to access ancestral nests that were sealed during rail refurbishment
Patrick Barkham
Fri 10 Apr 2026
"Network Rail began work on the refurbishment of the 160-year-old viaducts last summer while swifts were nesting. An ecological report, commissioned by Network Rail and not required by law, found no evidence of nesting swifts.
"This claim was challenged by swift watchers, who assembled 38 pieces of evidence they said showed at least nine nest sites on the viaducts. Network Rail later accepted there were swift holes and said it had worked around the nesting birds.
"British Transport Police’s wildlife crime team was investigating whether nesting birds may have been disturbed, after the refurbishment work was reported to the police by campaigners last summer."
#UKPol #AnimalCruelty #WildlifeCrimes #CitizenScience #BirdWatching #Wildlife #HumanIgnorance
Welcome to the second "#ShelterChallenge" wednesday update: Like many other german towns #Bielefeld has a big public space for up to 10 camper vans, where (motor-) travellers are allowed to sleep near the city. As far as i know - until now - there is no such public space where this is allowed for #bikepacking-travellers or hikers. My opinion is: This is not fair! We need (minimum) one free public #trekking place with shelters!
Travelling by bike and long distance #hiking are socially inclusive and simple to start with. There should be public infrastructure for it, to boost climatefriendly travelling. Long distance travels by #bike are more common than you may know. While doing research for the "Shelter!" project I found the following great examples:
A selforganised group of students at the "#Oberstufenkolleg" Bielefeld made it their school project in 2022: They cycled through #Denmark and created an informative paper about it: https://www.oberstufen-kolleg.de/radreise-in-daenemark-kleinprojekt-am-os-juni-2022/
The #AdventurePlayground Alte Ziegelei Bielefeld had the project "Nasse Socken am Brocken" ("Wet socks at Brocken mountain") in 2025: Kids planned a bike tour along the north sea coast. Here is the post about the tour they made together with parents and supporters from "Spielen mit Kindern e.V.": https://www.spielen-mit-kindern.de/das-war-unsere-fahrradtour-ans-meer-2025/
And "last, but not least": The project "#FahrRad" ("#RideTheBike") at the Martin Niemöller comprehensive school #Schildesche (I have the honour to do an interview with them tomorrow): Teachers and students planned and made long distance travels together, starting from Bielefeld: #Berlin 2022, #Wien 2023, #Amsterdam 2024, #Paris 2025,... https://www.mnge-bielefeld.de/schulprofil/schulprojekte/fahrrad/#radreise
I'm looking forward to hear some stories from their trips tomorrow. I also hope to gather additional information about how we may achieve a decision in favour of a free public trekking place in Bielefeld. I have one good place for it in mind, near the school at the lake "Obersee" with the famous #Schildesche #Viaduct.
Do you know good places for a trekking place with shelters near Bielefeld? If you are a municipality, institution or private person near Bielefeld and you like to donate a space for a free public trekking place, where a participative shelter building art workshop starting in may 2026 is possible, please send me a message!
elbowcrooker
DoomsdaysCW
AsD
aikhae
RestoreToFactorySettings
IFR (she/her)
Markus
Shelter!