In short, the ‘viaduct side’ is a feature of Chester Racecourse in Cheshire, North West England. Established in 1539, Chester has the distinction of being the oldest racecourse still in operation anywhere in the world and its sharp, left-handed circuit, which is just over a mile in circumference, is the smallest in Britain. The racecourse site occupies 65 acres on the northern bank of the River Dee and flanks the Chester City Walls along the eastern edge.
The northwestern side of the course, though, is dominated by a striking feat of Victorian engineering, in the form of the Roodee Viaduct. The viaduct, which measures 108 feet in length, was built, along with the nearby Dee Bridge, in the middle of the nineteenth century to carry the Chester-Holyhead railway line across the River Dee. The original, cast iron Dee Bridge was opened for local traffic in 1846, but the following May was the site of the Dee Bridge disaster, when a locomotive plunged into the river, resulting in the death of five people and serious injury to nine more.
The Dee Bridge was subsequently rebuilt using wrought iron lattice girders, but the Roodee Viaduct has stood the test of time. Of course, Chester Racecourse is on the turn almost throughout, but the viaduct runs parallel to the course from the chute that marks the 7 furlongs and 122 yards start to the 6 furlong and 18 yards start, at which point the course turns eastward to run along the banks of the River Dee. Of course, from a practical point of view, the Roodee Viaduct and the refurbished Dee Bridge link Chester Racecourse with Curzon Park, a residential suburb on the southerm banks of the Dee. Nevertheless, the Roodee Viaduct remains an instantly recognisable landmark in the Roodee landscape.