cliff lift

English

The cliff lift at Saltburn-by-the-Sea

The cliff lift at Broadstairs

Noun

cliff lift (plural cliff lifts)

1. (transport, UK) A funicular that runs between the top and the bottom of a cliff, usually at a seaside location.

   Synonym: cliff railway

   • 1951 August, P. W. Gentry, “Cliff Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 514:

     A branch of rail transport that seems to been rather neglected by historians is that concerned with cliff railways, of which a fair number exist in Great Britain. This is probably because these lines are overshadowed by the more spectacular funicular railways in Switzerland and other mountainous regions; perhaps, too, because of the general habit of referring to them as "cliff lifts," which tends to associate them with the vertical indoor type.

2. A vertical lift or elevator serving the same purpose at some locations.

Further reading

• Saltburn Cliff Lift on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• List of funicular railways on Wikipedia.Wikipedia