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A brick railway viaduct on tall arched piers crosses a river lined with grass and gorse in yellow flower, its arches reflected in the still water below.
Dumfries and Galloway

Big Water of Fleet Viaduct

Twenty granite arches across an empty glen, six miles above Gatehouse of Fleet.

Welcome

The viaduct strides across the Big Water of Fleet on twenty granite arches, nine hundred feet from end to end and seventy feet above the water, in a glen with almost nothing else in it.

It was opened in 1861 for the Portpatrick Railway, the line that ran from Castle Douglas out to the Stranraer boats and was known as the Paddy Line for the Irish traffic it carried. From 1926 its piers were buttressed by sheathing them in red brick, which is why they stand warm against the grey stone above them. The last train crossed in June 1965 and nothing replaced it, so the viaduct now looks like a piece of Roman engineering left standing in the hills. A forest road runs underneath. There is nothing to visit and nothing to pay: you come, you stand under it, and it is a great deal bigger than the photographs suggest.

Before you go
How long
Three quarters of an hour to an hour and a half
Cost
Free
Getting there
Off the Cairn Edward forest road; park on the verge below the arches.

Did you know

A footbridge with rusted metal railings stretches into thick fog, its stone walkway disappearing where the mist closes in.
Did you know

The Paddy Line.

It opened in 1861 for the Portpatrick Railway, the line from Castle Douglas out to the Stranraer boats, which took the Irish traffic.

A tall brick and stone railway viaduct recedes into thick mist, its many arches striding across an open grassy field.
Did you know

Granite above, brick below.

The twenty arches are local granite, but from 1926 the piers were buttressed by sheathing them in red brick, which is why they stand warm against the grey stone.

An aerial view shows a tall brick and stone railway viaduct striding through thick mist over a stream and grassy field.
Did you know

A bridge to nowhere.

Nine hundred feet long and seventy feet high, it has carried nothing since June 1965 and crosses a glen with no railway and almost no houses.

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Where it is

On the forest road up the Fleet valley, about six miles north-west of Gatehouse of Fleet.

Close byThe rest of Dumfries and Galloway, near at hand.
  1. Cardoness CastleCardoness CastleA six-storey McCulloch tower above the Water of Fleet, with the estuary below.5 miles 13 min by road
  2. Carrick BayCarrick BayTwo hundred metres of sand off the Fleet, with the sun going down the firth.6 miles 17 min by road
  3. Toasted cheese sandwich with bramble jelly, knife stuck upright in the breadGalloway Lodge PreservesThe home of Galloway Lodge's jams, chutneys and Poacher's Pickle in Gatehouse of Fleet, with a cafe and a shop.6 miles 14 min by road
  4. PA Pop Up, Mill on the Fleet6 miles 15 min by road
  5. Mossyard BeachPale sand and water you can see the bottom of, on the Fleet.9 miles 20 min by road
  6. A woman in a black puffer jacket and floral scarf smiles at an outdoor café table, a shopfront window behind her.Kirkcudbright Art ToursA walk round the artists' town with somebody who knows whose door is whose.10 miles 20 min by road
Directions
Upright stone slabs of Cairn Holy chambered cairn set in grasslandAttractionsCairn Holy Chambered Cairn3.3 miles over the water
Cars parked along a row of colourful terraced houses with chimney potsAttractionsKirkcudbright10 miles
Woman stands outside Pleat, Suneeta Rathore's shop with yellow doorShoppingPleat, Kirkcudbright10 miles
Gallery interior with framed paintings, ceramics on plinths and glass display cabinetsShoppingThe Whitehouse Gallery10 miles
Jake Irving Ceramics shopfront with stone facade and small blue table outsideShoppingJake Irving Ceramics10 miles
Green-trimmed shopfront of Lily Knowles Florist at number 20ShoppingLily Knowles Florist10 miles
Paul Jones Bakery shopfront at numbers 28-30, with delivery van parked outsideShoppingPaul Jones Bakery10 miles
Pink-washed townhouse with round gable window and black railingsAttractionsBroughton House & Garden10 miles
Gallery walls hung with framed paintings of horses and Highland cattleAttractionsHarbour Cottage Gallery11 miles
The Daily for 19 October, from Scotland with love. bare tree stumps standing in an autumn loch, forested hills reflected in the still water

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