Vía Verde de la Sierra Norte - Spain
On November 04, 2017, the Railway Heritage World Blog went to Vía Verde Sierra Norte de Sevilla, a green path which connects some Andalucía National Monuments on the same way where an old railway branch passed through.
This time we had the companion of two Cuban architects, Isell M. Guerrero Bermúdez and Camilo R. Darias Rodríguez, who sent us some photos.
This railway branch, inaugurated in 1895, was used to transport minerals from the old mine Cerro del Hierro until the railway Mérida-Seville. Its stations were Cazalla-Constatino and Los Rosales-Mérida. It was built by the Scottish Company William Baird Mining. In 1946 the mining was acquired by Sociedad Nueva Montaña Quijano, which operated until 1970, when Sociedad Cerro del Hierro S.A. took its place and, operated until 1978. In 1980 the mining was sold to the miners, who explored it until 1985.
One of the most famous infrastructures built to this railway branch was an iron bridge sustained by three pillars of masonry to cross the Huesna River, but this bridge was destroyed. Currently a new one replaced it to connect the green path, only its three pillars are preserved.
Iron Bridge: Source: Isell M. Guerrero Bermúdez and Camilo R. Darias Rodríguez (2017)
The Green Path
The green path has around 19 km; it replaced the whole rail tracks. Unfortunately we could not go all the way, because we did not have time. The way until there seemed to be easy, but in the end it was an adventure.
We were supposed to go by train from Seville until Cazalla-Constantino, but our only option was to get a train at 5 o'clock in the morning, because the others would not give us time to make the whole tour. Thus, we decided to go by bus until Cazalla. When we got there we had a big surprise: No public transportation until Vía Verde Sierra Norte de Sevilla and, no place to rent a bicycle. We were supposed to walk around 8 km to get to our spot!
Well, after 10 minutes walking beside a road, a very kind old man stopped to help us. Like that, we got to the beginning of the green path in more 10 minutes. Right before the path entrance there is a place to rent bicycles. They have many kinds of them. We rent a simple one and a big one with two places. We had three hours, but the lady said we would need four to ride all the way. In the middle of the way we realized that we should have four hours if we would go directly, without stopping, so, in the end, we could not go all the way.
Where the green path starts.
Source: Isell M. Guerrero Bermúdez
and Camilo R. Darias Rodríguez (2017)
First 4 km is an old cattle path, thus, the first stop is a place called Descansadero de la Rivera del Huesna, where the cattle used to rest. It is a very pleasant place beside the Huesna River; a bit further we passed by the Monumento Natural Cascadas de Huesna, a set of small waterfalls that were used to produce electricity; they were classified as Natural Monument in 2001. Our problem until here was the lack of signs, we did not know for sure the right place to enter to see this and we were not sure if it was the place indicated by the map, the draw scale got us confused.
Cattle path. Source: Isell M. Guerrero Bermúdez and Camilo R. Darias Rodríguez (2017)
Valley. Source: Isell M. Guerrero Bermúdez
and Camilo R. Darias Rodríguez (2017)
Anyway, this was the hardest part to pass through riding a bicycle. We kept rolling a bit further; we crossed two roads and, then, the iron bridge built to cross the Huesna River. The nature is magnificent until there, but after this bridge we saw some really amazing valleys. Unfortunately, we could not go on. Not only because we should get some rest, but because we did not have enough time. We realized that the right thing to do was to get there very early to have time to ride a bicycle and get some rest to enjoy the view. As we were supposed to get the last train at 17:45, after almost two hours and a half riding a bicycle, we decided to go back. The way back was faster and easier.
If you want to keep going on this trail, take a look at this video and you will see an old train tunnel of 105 meters in length, San Nicolas Village, where you can see the source of the Huesna River, a mining town of the 19th century, Casas de los Ingleses, where the engineers used to live, constructed during the same period as the town and for the same mining, and, finally, Cierro del Hierro, a mining that operated until 1970 and was classified as Natural Monument in 2003; there you can walk around and see a sedimentary formation of almost 450 million years!
Final Considerations
The access to this green path is not that easy, if you are thinking to go by yourself from Seville, get the 5 o’clock in the morning train to have the whole morning and afternoon to see it, or go by car. If you are planning to see the sunset from any point of this green path, it is better to take your own bicycle, because the rent place closes at 18 o’clock, and, your own flashlight, because there is no lamp-post. It is a really pleasant journey, but, even being an easy level ride, you should be ready to practice some exercising. It is very pleasant, enjoyable and interesting, due to its mix of natural, mining history and railway heritage memory.
