About Orefoot
The branch came up the valley in the iron years, and at Orefoot it had to cross the river. This is what they built to do it: masonry abutments, a single riveted span, and the line running on down through the wooded lower dale towards the junction.
It took ore and iron out, brought coke and everything else in, and ran two trains a day for people who wanted to be somewhere else. It closed when the workings did, and nobody came to lift it. The rails are still down, rust-bound to the sleepers, with birch coming up between them. Nothing has crossed in a century and it does not look any nearer to falling.
