Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Angus and Mearns Matters: Basin beauty has served Montrose well

Post Thumbnail

Just as I was looking back to the mutterings of last Monday and the travails of dealing with old and very much not fit for purpose sash and case structures, up popped an opportunity to enjoy a rather more pleasant window on a little part of our Angus world.

The South Esk viaduct at the entrance to Montrose may not be as eye-grabbing as its arched stone sister under which you pass before arriving at the Rossie Island roundabout.

But neither is it at the level which would severely test my capacity for heights which seems to have gone done at the sequential rate with which my advancing years have gone up.

Which is why I was happy to listen attentively to the safety briefing and tog up in dayglo orange protective gear before heading out on the walkway over the incoming tide of Montrose Basin and learn just how Network Rail is spending more than four million quid on a modern-day makeover for this Victorian beauty.

Okay, she’s not the spectacular structure that has caused commuter tempers to fray as folk clamour to take a trip across the third crossing of the Forth, but since 1883 the utilitarian elegance of the viaduct’s 16 spans have safely and securely carried generations of east coast main line rail passengers.

When the 16-month refurbishment operation is complete it’ll be another 25 years or more before Montrose’s Victorian viaduct gets another spruce up, so, just a few months after soaking up the awe-inspiring form from the inside of Andy Scott’s stunning Kelpies, it was a privilege to get a once-in-a-lifetime look of another marvel of engineering. I even learned that they use waterprooof paint.

The specialist team on the viaduct will likely face some tough Angus weather in the months ahead – although their shotblasting and re-painting operations are well cocooned to ensure that nothing poses a threat to the SSSI which exists there.

In return they’ll walk to work with a view across the magnificent Montrose Basin which rail users can only fleetingly enjoy.

And if any of them possess a chief reporter head for heights, then at least they’re not sprucing up the stone arches nearby.