December 2001. How about
some more pictures for this page, folks?
October 2001. Canada.
Fancy a really long railway walk? Then perhaps the Trans Canada
Trail is for you. It does just what it says - i.e. cross Canada
- using a large proportion of disused railways. The distance is
a tad under 10,000 miles. See you there? (Ralph Rawlinson)
October 2001. The Portishead
Branch, Bristol. This long moribund branch - one of the few to have
had all the track left in place after closure - is being re-opened
between Ashton Junction and Pill, where a new section of line continues
along the west bank of the River Avon to Royal Portbury Dock. The
3½ miles between Pill and Portishead remain closed, although vegetation
on this section was cut back a few years ago, which suggests that
the possibility of re-opening may not be entirely dead. Does anyone
know what became of plans for the Avon Metro, which would have seen
this line re-opened for light rail use? (Ralph Rawlinson and Jeff
Vinter)
October 2001. Horsebridge,
Hampshire. The asking price of the restored station at Horsebridge
has been reduced from £850,000 to only (!) £700,000. Despite the
large drop in price, members may still feel the need of help from
the Lottery God! For further details, see entry for May 2001. (Ralph
Rawlinson)
September 2001. Cheddar,
Somerset. The Cheddar Valley Railway Walk offers a near continuous
walk and cycle trail from Yatton to Cheddar. The September newsletter
of the Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society carried the following
interesting snippet: 'Two new groups are working beyond Cheddar,
from Rodney Stoke towards Cheddar and from Westbury [Sub Mendip]
towards Wells. Some of this will follow the old railway but some
of it will be along paths and droves, as much of the old track and
the stations have found other uses. My dream of walking from Yatton
to Wells might yet come true.' (Mandy Brading)
August 2001. Shoreham
by Sea, West Sussex. Funds are being raised locally to restore the
Old Toll Bridge at Shoreham. The bridge is situated about a mile
north of the town centre and provides a valuable traffic-free crossing
of the River Adur. It is an elaborate timber structure, once owned
and staffed by the railway, which had to provide two members of
staff to collect the tolls on busy days. At the east end of the
bridge, there was a level crossing on the branch line from Shoreham
to Christ's Hospital, now the popular Downs Link. This is a quiet
spot now, but used to be a major bottleneck when the road over the
toll bridge was the A27. (Sustrans Ltd)
August 2001. Abingdon,
Oxfordshire. Construction of a new railway path on the western end
of this branch line was completed by Sustrans Ltd in May. For further
details, see the entry on this route for November 2000. (Sustrans
Ltd)
August 2001. Chichester,
West Sussex. After a delay due to the Foot & Mouth crisis, the
northward extension to Centurion Way, the railway path between Chichester
and Lavant, is finally under way. Click here
for further details. Also in the Chichester area, a link to the
marina (actually in Birdham) is under way. It is believed that this
will involve further improvements to the towpath of the Chichester
Canal. (Sustrans Ltd/Jeff Vinter)
August 2001. Groombridge,
Kent. The popular Forest Way railway path from East Grinstead is
being extended into Groombridge so that it no longer peters out
on the edge of the town where it meets the A264. The extension will
utilise the trackbed of an abandoned curve that once allowed trains
to travel from Edenbridge Town to Tunbridge Wells West without reversing
at Eridge. Further west at Forest Row, where a demolished bridge
created a difficult crossing of the busy A22, the trackbed is being
re-graded to create a ramp, and a 'Pegasus' crossing is being installed
- this has traffic lights for horses, cyclists, and walkers. These
works should be completed during the winter. (Sustrans Ltd.)
June 2001. Lancaster.
For some years now, Lancaster has had three separate railway paths
radiating out to Glasson Dock, Morecambe, and Caton Green. A new
Millennium Bridge over the River Lune, linking the three trails,
was officially opened (6 months late) on Friday 18 March 2001. (Ralph
Rawlinson)
June 2001. Kirkby Stephen,
Cumbria. The Hartley to Stenkrith path (1½ miles), part of the former
Stainmore line from Tebay to Darlington, was first reported by Colin
Rowley in Railway Ramblings No. 87. It has now been completed
but, unfortunately, is closed at present due to Foot & Mouth
restrictions. The trail is notable in that it includes two imposing
stone viaducts, namely Merrygill (366ft long, 78ft high, 9 arches)
and Podgill (466ft long, 84ft high, 11 arches). F&M restrictions
are also delaying the construction of the footbridge over the River
Eden to Stenkrith Park adjacent to Kirkby Stephen East station site.
(Ralph Rawlinson)
June 2001. Leamington-Rugby-Long
Itchington-Marton Junction, Warwickshire. These lines were chosen
for the annual Chairman's Walk in 1992, and the same year it
was
reported that Sustrans had agreed to buy them, and had prepared
a detailed report for a cycle trail. Have there been any developments
since? If so, please let us know by sending
an e-mail via our Contact page.
(Ralph Rawlinson)
June 2001. Princes Risborough
to Thame, Berkshire/Oxfordshire. This route has now been completed
and was opened officially on Wednesday 20 June. The trail starts
at the eastern end of Thame (at Howland Road level crossing on the
town's eastern bypass), and extends all the way to Princes Risborough,
although the trackbed is left for the last 1½ miles, since the Chinnor
& Princes Risborough Railway, and Chiltern Trains, still use
it. The complete trail is 7½ miles long, and a couple of pre-opening
pictures can be viewed in our Photo Gallery. Further information
about this route will be found in the entry for January 2001. (Sustrans
Ltd/Jeff Vinter)
May 2001. Horsebridge
Station, Hampshire. This is nothing to do with a new walk, but readers
may be interested to know that the superbly restored station at
Horsebridge on the former Test Valley line from Romsey to Andover
is up for sale through Winchester estate agents Knight Frank. The
asking price is £850,000, but that includes the station building,
a signal box, various original outbuildings, and a 1922 coach built
by the London & South Western Railway, all in a site of 1.85
acres. As our informant said, 'This might interest you - particularly
if the Lottery God has been kind!' (Chris Cook)
May 2001. Kings Worthy
to South Wonston, Hampshire. In 1970, Hampshire County Council purchased
the Winchester end of the former Didcot, Newbury & Southampton
Railway for improvements to the A34 trunk road. However, the 1 mile
section from Kings Worthy to South Wonston was not used in this
scheme, and gradually locals 'adopted' it unofficially for walking,
cycling and horse riding. Now the local authority has decided to
dedicate the route as a bridleway, although the HCC Countryside
Service will first move in to clear vegetation and repair the long-neglected
fencing. (Chris Cook)
May 2001. The Tissington
Trail, Derbyshire. For many years, the southern end of this scenic
railway path ended on the 'wrong' side of Ashbourne Tunnel, thus
obliging path users who wanted to visit Ashbourne to make a long
detour over a steep hill. However, in June 2000, the 400 yard tunnel
was re-opened, courtesy of Sustrans Ltd, with a 6 ft wide path throughout,
so that walkers and cyclists now arrive in Ashbourne at the site
of the town's former station. The tunnel is fully illuminated, and
a plaque on the wall adjacent to the south portal records its re-opening
by a local politician. Sustrans now hopes to extend the trail southwards
via minor roads and bridleways to Etwall, where it will join the
Etwall-Mickleover railway path (3½ miles), before continuing to
Derby city centre via on-road cycle trails. It is hoped that the
Ashbourne-Etwall section can be routed via the scenic Osmaston Park.
(Grahame Cox and Michael Hodgson)
April 2001. Didcot to
Upton, Oxfordshire. Sustrans has just announced that, after 7 years
of negotiation with local landowners, this 1½ mile section of the
former Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway is to be opened
as a key link in the National Cycle Network, with possible future
extensions towards Wantage and Newbury. Although relatively short,
the line runs on an embankment and offers extensive views of the
surrounding countryside. It can already be used by walkers and those
with mountain bikes. (Sustrans Ltd)
March 2001. Chichester
to Selsey, West Sussex. £25,000 was earmarked in mid March by Chichester
District Council for the construction of a cycle trail between Chichester
and Selsey, which will re-use part of the Selsey Tramway. For further
details, click here.
(Jeff Vinter)
March 2001. South Wales
is already a great area for exploring disused railway lines, with
routes on offer such as the Taff Trail (Brecon-Cardiff, 55 miles)
and local networks such as that in the Afan Valley (ca. 20 miles),
but developments continue. For further details, click here.
(Ralph Rawlinson)
March 2001. Chepstow
to Tintern, Gloucestershire. The southern end of this line, once
part of the Wye Valley Railway, survived until the 1990s to convey
stone traffic from quarries at Tidenham, south of Tintern. Sustrans
Ltd, the path-building charity, is interested in constructing a
cycle trail along the route, but the newly formed Wye Valley Railway
Company proposes to put Tintern back on the passenger rail network.
The 1,188 yard Tidenham Tunnel (the 21st longest on the Great Western
Railway) presents a problem for any would-be cycle trail, but the
preservationists have offered to carry cycles on their trains free
of charge so that the line would still be useful to cyclists. (Chris
Cook)
March 2001. Watchet
to Gupworthy, Somerset. Readers who know their railway geography
will recognise this as the former West Somerset Mineral Railway.
Exmoor National Park Authority has recently purchased the line's
steeply graded incline, which ascends the Brendon Hills in ¾ mile
at a gradient of 1 in 4. The Authority has obtained a tree-felling
licence to clear the mature trees which now block the route, after
which the drainage will be repaired. Later, consultations will be
conducted with private landowners to establish a long-term management
plan for the line and its structures, and provide limited access
for the public. (Jeff Vinter)
February 2001. Canterbury
to Whitstable, Kent. A new walking and cycling trail - 'The Crab
& Winkle Way' - has been established between Canterbury and
Whitstable, using a mile of the former Canterbury & Whitstable
Railway at the north, i.e. Whitstable, end. The line closed to passengers
in 1931 and freight in 1952, so the absence of re-usable trackbed
is not to be wondered at. As if this were not problem enough, part
of Tyler Hill Tunnel at Canterbury had to be infilled, with concrete,
in order to prevent the university buildings above subsiding into
it. Clearly, no one can expect to walk or cycle here! Canterbury
City Council designated the whole line a conservation area in 1999,
so it is possible that more of the trackbed may become accessible
in the future. The trail has just won an award for 'sustainable
tourism' from the South East of England Tourist Board. (Sustrans
Ltd/Kentish Stour Countryside Project)
February
2001. Glen Ogle, Scotland. A new route has been opened
up through Glen Ogle, which enables walkers and cyclists to
avoid the nearby
A84. This route re-uses the listed Kendrum Burn Viaduct on the
former
railway line between Balquhidder and Killin Junction. Work on the
viaduct included the erection of a new steel span, presumably to
replace one that had been demolished earlier. South of Balquhidder,
8 miles of the former line to Dunblane can be walked
between Strathyre and Callander, with a further half mile east
of Callander. (Sustrans Ltd)
February 2001. Barnstaple,
Devon. A long missing bridge on the Tarka Trail between Barnstaple
and Braunton has been reinstated. This is the former LSWR railway
bridge over the River Yeo, just north of the former Barnstaple Town
station, which still stands. The replacement structure is a swing
bridge, just like the original. When it is 'open' (to river traffic),
there is a well sign-posted alternative path to cross the river
via the first fixed bridge. The new bridge normally saves this half
mile detour. As well as being part of the Tarka Trail and the National
Cycle Network, this route also forms part of Britain's longest national
walking trail, the South West Coast Path. (Sustrans Ltd, with additional
information from Andrew Lack)
February 2001. Meldon
Viaduct to Lake Viaduct, Devon. This is part of a growing railway
path which was planned originally to link Okehampton with the A386
near Bridestowe. However, Devon County Council has now acquired
most of the trackbed as far as Lydford, so the trail could end up
being a lot longer than envisaged. The new extension from Prewley
Moor to Lake Viaduct extends the route to 3½ miles. During the summer
season, occasional local trains run from Okehampton station to Meldon,
where the trail can be joined. It is hoped that future negotiations
will allow the trail to be extended alongside the railway back into
Okehampton. (Jeff Vinter)
January 2001. Princes
Risborough to Thame, Berkshire/Oxfordshire. After a protracted battle
with local landowners who did not want a railway path to pass their
property, it now turns out that Chiltern Trains want to re-build
a railway line past their back door instead! For further details,
click here. Incidentally, the landowners lost their battle against
the railway path. Will they choose to do battle with Chiltern Trains?
(Jeff Vinter)
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