The A66 in Cumbria
The A66 is a major road in northern England which in part follows the course of the Roman road from Scotch Corner to Penrith. It runs from east of Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire to Workington in Cumbria. It is anomalously numbered since west of Penrith it trespasses into Name Zone 5; this is because it originally terminated at the A6 in Penrith, but was extended further west in order to create one continuous east-west route.
From Scotch Corner the A66 travels west across the Pennines, past Brough, Appleby, Temple Sowerby, Penrith, Keswick andCockermouth, before arriving at the coastal town of Workington.
Between Penrith and Workington, there are fifteen bridges going under the road, and three built over it.
Travelling west from Penrith towards Workington, the first major structure is the bridge near the village of Threlkeld which takes the road over the River Greta.
One of the most spectacular bridges along the A66 is the second structure which was built over the River Greta. The 220 metre long bridge near Keswick was voted the Best Civil Engineering Structure of the Century by readers of the Concrete magazine.
Near Braithwaite is the Chapel Beck aqueduct which takes a stream across the A66 from the fellside to Bassenthwaite Lake.
The last major bridge on the A66 is the Marron Bridge which takes the road over the River Marron near Little Clifton.
The A66 road through Temple Sowerby is laid on the site of a Roman road from York to Brougham. A Roman milestone, 4.5 feet high, and now enclosed by a fence, stands at the side of the road on the boundary of the Kirkby Thore parish.
After many years of campaigning, on 18th October 2007 the new Temple Sowerby by-pass finally opened.
[wpgmza id=”371″]
