AS you may have seen, this morning's Memories concerns the fantastic Deepdale viaduct which once carried the Stainmore line over a deep ravine at Lartington, near Barnard Castle.

Although it may not seem like it, I do go out and research a few of these articles, armed with a point-and-press digicamera and a reluctant family.

We went down the old trackbed that leads to Deepdale a couple of weeks ago. Strictly, I don't think you are meant to, as the footpath runs parallel in a field, but I very bravely defied convention to get a look at the rare aqueduct that crosses over the line just outside Lartington. Its precise whereabouts are marked on the map in today's paper.

Unfortunately, as ever, I wrote too much, and there wasn't room for the distinctly bog standard pictures of the aqueduct that I took, so I have posted them up here.

Designed by Thomas Bouch and built in 1858, it is made of cast iron and carries an unnamed beck over the line. Only not very well. It is a great shame that there is a terrible leak at the eastern abutment which will, fairly soon, cause the bridge to decay badly. This would be a terrible shame after 150 years because it is such an oddity.

It is a Grade II listed building and described as "a rare example of a cast iron aqueduct". Only it won't be for much longer unless someone makes it watertight again.