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Dowery dell viaduct, Frankley

Phil

Phil

Gone, but not forgotten.
Can anybody help me with some background to these photo's. I know no more about them than you see on the photo. I am even unable to remember where I got them from. All I know is that I have had them quite a while, and everytime I look at them it drives me scatty that I can find out nothing about them.

The first one is of a viaduct at Frankley. I have never heard of it, would it be our Frankley the one Northfield way, could it be something to do with the waterworks, or is it somewhere else completely.

The second one is of The Birmingham Lactagol Triplets, does anybody know anything of these triplets. It was obviously an advert for Lactagol which was I believe a suppliment taken to assist nursing mothers. I was more interested in the mother and children, who were they, what happened to them

I was about to delete them from my collection, as I hate having photo's with no information on them, but I decided to give this a try first.

1 photo replaced, not necessarily the same as original. Other photo lost

Dowery Dell Viaduct frankley.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
mikejee

It looks like you are right, no wonder I couldn.t find any information I was reading the name printed on the photo as Downey Den, Frankley and not Dowery Den. So that one I will be keeping now I have some information Thanks a lot.

Phil
 
I believe the Dowery Dell viaduct was demolished shortly afterwards in 1965 and the metal went for scrap.

Bob
 
PMC-I've found this website in my railway spotters' rucksack for you:-

https://www.miac.org.uk/dowerydellhtm

That gets you straight to the 2008 remains of the trackbed, but if you go to the main page of that website and look up Longbridge (amongst other names) you will see the written history detailed.:)
 
Thanks lads for your information on the viaduct. I don't suppose for one minute any of you know anything about the triplets do you?

Phil
 
Rose, Lily and Violet Brittain are the triplets, i found a reference to them in https://www.fordnagle.com/SurnamesB
then there is a mention (I'm looking for someone who may know something about the Brittain Triplets from the late 1800's. Their names were Rose, Lily and Violet Brittain. I have a picture of them when they were about 5 or 6 years old.Thank You, Richard Culler) here https://genforum.genealogy.com/brittain/messages/1026.html
The reference infers they were from Ohio, USA.
 
Lloyd

Thanks for this info, but as you state the inference is that they are from the US and therefore have nothing to do with "Brum" therefore I will delete them from my collection.

Strange though how they got to be called "The Birmingham Lactagol Triplets". Ohio and Birmingham Alabama are quite a fair lick apart. I suppose there is another Birmingham in Ohio.

Thanks,

Phil
 
ATTEMPT TO WRECK A TRAIN.
Not thought to be the work of the Sinister Sisterhood.

(Dudley Chronicle, October 1913.)

IMG_5018.jpeg
 
Birmingham Daily Post June 1878 describes the coming viaduct…

“Beyond this point will be a viaduct crossing the valley... The viaduct will be l/8th mile in length, and will be supported by two strong stone abutments at each end and 8 iron supports about 66 feet apart. The height of the abutments will be 60 feet and the deepest portion crossed will be 110 ft.
 
The trestle viaduct was completed by 1881 when it was tested by a pair of heavy locomotives, however the Board of Trade came to recommend additional side strengthening which was done by the summer of 1882. The engineer for the Halesowen Railway Company who financed construction was Edward Richards.

Some accounts have stated that the viaduct was made from steel, which would have been an early use of the metal. The Midland and GWR worked the railway as a joint line.

D J Norton seems to have captured an important view of the viaduct in 1955540008.jpg
 
Yes, some descriptions give the viaduct as a steel construction, including Wikipedia. However the description given above in the Birmingham Daily Post of 1878 gives iron. This is backed up by Grace's Guide which also gives an 1878 description of iron construction.
 
That iron was used is perhaps correct
1878 was the re start of work with a new contractor. There was some earlier work previously
 
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