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NEWS
2004
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Above:
While Sustrans has done a great deal to re-use old railway lines,
this type of trackbed conversion is less than ideal. If a single track
railway were relaid here (not an impossibility nowadays), the cycle
trail would have to be dug up and relaid in a straight line. Why pretend
that this wasn't a railway? And do all cyclists and walkers want to
follow such a serpentine route? (Sustrans' Supporters Review 2003) |
November 2004.
'The Railways of
Great Britain: An Historical Atlas.' While this part of our website
is normally reserved for news relating to railway paths, the publication
of this atlas is such a boon to railway ramblers that it cannot
go unmentioned. Superimposed on the 1" Ordnance Survey maps,
printed in grey, all railways are shown with opening and closing
dates for both lines and stations. It took the author, Col. Michael
Cobb, 18 years to complete and another 4 years to publication. Distributed
by Ian Allan Publishing in two volumes, it runs to 646 pages but
the price of £100 (post paid) might make you cough a bit.
However, our source says, 'Personally I couldn't resist and am now
a proud owner.' It is unlikely to go on general sale in shops but
can be ordered, e.g. through Midland Counties Publications, tel.
01455 254450. ('Railreader')
September 2004. Witham
to Maldon East, Essex. Most of this branch has been converted into
a cyclepath called the Blackwater Rail Trail. Permission, however,
must still be sought to walk the section from Olivers Farm to Wickham
Bishops, where the two timber viaducts (designated ancient monuments)
were restored by Essex County Council in 1995. The official route
between these two points follows the B1018 and public footpaths.
The station building at Maldon East & Heybridge survives, with
its impressive listed Jacobean style nine-arch arcaded frontage;
in August 2004, it was in use as offices. (Ralph Rawlinson) Update:
In October 2014, aerial photographs and maps of the route
were accessible from the link here.
September 2004. Rose
Grove to Great Harwood Junction, Lancashire. A local authority initiative,
developed with Sustrans, plans to turn the Rose Grove to Padiham
Power Station section into a cyclepath, with the eventual aim of
reaching Great Harwood. (Ralph Rawlinson)
September 2004. Radstock
to Frome, Somerset. The shared use cyclepath constructed between
Radstock and Mells Road (6 miles) is now open and in use. The tarmac
path mostly runs alongside the still in situ track, but crosses
it at three places. The North Somerset Railway still plans to re-open
the line between Radstock and Hapsford Junction, and Mendip District
Council gave Sustrans the go-ahead on condition that the future
for railway operation was protected throughout. The Hapsford Junction
to Frome section is still operational with aggregate trains from
Whatley Quarry, worked by Mendip Rail. (Ralph Rawlinson)
September 2004. Leuchars
to Wormit (via Tayport), Fife. Sustrans has converted the Tayport
to Wormit section of the above line into a cycleway. Named the Tayport
Tay Bridge Cycle Route, it was officially opened by the Minister
for Transport on 5th July. (Ralph Rawlinson)
September 2004. Abercynon
to Merthyr Tydfil (Penydarren Tramroad), Mid Glamorgan. Plans to
open a walking and cycling path, the Trevithick Trail, along this
9½ mile route took a step further in August when the Trevithick
2004 Committee received an initial grant covering the section between
Troedyrhiw and Plymouth Tunnel. The Trevithick 2004 Visitor Centre
on Merthyrs industrial estate was opened in June. The star
attraction is the working replica of Trevithicks Penydarren
locomotive. (Ralph Rawlinson)
July 2004. Further to
the entry for January 2004 (see below), the Somerset consortium
which proposes to improve public access to the remains of the West
Somerset Mineral Railway has just received a grant of £46,000
from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The main partner in the consortium
is the Exmoor Society, but there are several other big players such
as Exmoor National Park, Somerset County Council and West Somerset
District Council. A firm of consultants in Okehampton has been appointed
to undertake a feasibility study, and the first sign of action is
a questionnaire aimed at locals and visitors, which asks respondents
to indicate what they would like to see done with the old railway,
and why they regard it as important. One of the options for future
development is to waymark the trackbed as a long distance trail.
(Ivor Sutton) |
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Above:
An attractive view of the permissive footpath which now
uses part of the former Haywards Heath to Horsted Keynes branch
line, photographed east of Ardingly looking towards Horsted
Keynes. For further details, see news item below. (Tim Grose) |
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July 2004.
Haywards Heath to Horsted Keynes, West Sussex. Between Haywards
Heath and Ardingly station (now a stone terminal), this former London,
Brighton & South Coast Railway branch line remains open for
aggregate traffic. However, the rest of the trackbed on to Horsted
Keynes is owned by the Bluebell Railway, which hopes to re-open
the line at some stage in the future. With the cooperation of the
Bluebell and other local landowners, a short section of the trackbed
has recently been opened as a permissive footpath between TQ 343278
and 347280. Presumably, this footpath will be at risk when the Bluebell
extends its operations westwards. (Jeff Vinter)
July 2004. Irvine to
Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. The new link between Irvine and Kilmarnock
has now been operational for a number of months and is being enjoyed
by walkers, cyclists and horse riders alike. Plaques along the route
detail the original branch line names of the former railway, when
they were built and finally closed to rail traffic. (Ralph Rawlinson)
July 2004. Port Talbot
to Felindre, West Glamorgan. Work is in progress to develop a trail
from Port Talbot station to Felindre. This will be the first stage
of the missing link between Port Talbot station and Pontrhydyfen
and will ultimately link Port Talbot with the extensive Afan Argoed
cycle network, all based on disused railways, and communities at
the top of the Afan Valley. (Ralph Rawlinson)
July 2004. Farnworth
to Bolton, Greater Manchester. In March, Bolton Council announced
that part of the former Manchester Exchange to Bolton Greta Moor
Street line that lies between Highfield Road in Farnworth and High
Street in Bolton and which passes the Royal Bolton Hospital is to
be converted into a cyclepath. It will be cleared of debris, widened
and provided with new lighting, signs and outdoor works of art.
(Ralph Rawlinson)
July 2004.
Isle of Purbeck,
Dorset. The Purbeck Mineral & Mining Museum Group is establishing
a working narrow gauge railway museum at Norden on redundant land
adjacent to the Swanage Railway park and ride station, re-creating
the clay tramways of the area. The short term aim is the creation
of clay mining trailways using existing footpaths around the site,
but it also has plans to relay 2ft gauge track which will include
the bridge over the Swanage Railway. There were three mineral tramways
on Purbeck (from west to east, Pike Bros. Railway, the Middlebere
Tramway and Fayle's Tramway), and sections of all of their trackbeds
have been incorporated into the local rights of way network. These
can be traced on the Ordnance Survey's Outdoor Leisure Map 15 (Purbeck).
For further details, visit the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum's
website here.
(Ralph Rawlinson and Jeff Vinter)
July 2004. Portbury
to Portishead, Somerset. Sustrans has announced that a licence has
been obtained to convert the western end of the Portishead branch
beyond Portbury into a cycle trail forming part of National Cycle
Network route 41. It will pass under the M5 and dock road. The remainder
of the branch, from Portbury back to Parson Street Junction on the
outskirts of Bristol, was re-opened to freight traffic recently
to serve new docks at Portbury. (Ralph Rawlinson)
April 2004. Blandford
Forum to Sturminster Newton, Dorset.
A short railway path has run northwards from Blandford Forum for
about 20 years, but news of a new 5½ mile long railway path
from nearby Stourpaine & Durweston Halt to Sturminster Newton
was exaggerated. However, the local authorities are working to make
as much as possible of the old Somerset & Dorset Railway available
to the public. Click here
for further details. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
Two views of the restored station at Meeth, taken in March
2004 by Bob Prigg. The top picture shows the view towards Petrockstow,
while the bottom one shows the view back towards the A386 and
(in railway terms) Hatherleigh and Halwill Junction. Even the
station sign has been replaced! Twenty years ago, this site
was a massive tangle of brambles and virtually invisible to
the passer-by. For further details, see news item below. |
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March 2004.
Meeth, Devon. The railway path from Barnstaple to Petrockstow
(part of the huge Tarka Trail) used to stop short of Meeth since
a working quarry belonging to English China Clay blocked the route.
Beyond the quarry lay the A386, and beyond that the old Meeth station,
which presented a sad site, strangled by vegetation and scarcely
visible. However, on a recent visit, Bob Prigg found that the station
had been restored, with a trail leading tantalisingly onwards in
the direction of Hatherleigh. What has happened here? How far does
the trail in the top photograph go? Further details will be gratefully
received via the e-mail link on our Contact
page. Update: Click here
to read of recent developments and further proposals for railway
paths in Devon, including this one. (Jeff Vinter)
February 2004. Hooley,
Surrey. This year is the 200th anniversary of work starting on the
Croydon, Merstham & Godstone Railway and, to mark the occasion,
English Heritage has asked that the scheduled section a deep,
steep-sided cutting be cleared of fly-tipping and vegetation,
and tidied up. (We presume this to be the section at grid reference
TQ 286545, south of Hooley.) The task has been given to the Downlands
Countryside Management Project, which expects to start work in May
this year. (Ralph Rawlinson)
February 2004. Heathfield
to Eridge, East Sussex. At local exhibitions held in Mayfield and
Heathfield last year, 65% who expressed a preference said that they
would prefer to see the Cuckoo Trail (from Polegate to Heathfield)
extended northwards along the course of the old railway line. Fortunately,
East Sussex County Council owns parts of this route, but there are
also pockets of private ownership, including garden extensions,
which will require careful negotiation or diversions. (Sustrans
Ltd)
February 2004. Guildford
to Shoreham, Surrey/West Sussex. Sustrans is studying possible improvements
to this trail, which is based on the old railway lines from Christ's
Hospital to Guildford, and Christ's Hospital to Shoreham. Parts
of the route become very muddy during the colder months of the year,
with churning by horses an additional problem in places, so anything
that makes this a better 'all weather' path will be welcome. (Sustrans
Ltd)
February 2004. East
Grinstead, West Sussex. Sustrans is carrying out a feasibility study
for the local authorities to consider how to develop a cycle trail
along the former St. Margaret's Loop through the town. This was
a spur that ran off of the Three Bridges to East Grinstead line,
and connected with the present day London line north of East Grinstead
station. If constructed, the new trail will link residential and
industrial parts of the town with the popular Worth Way, which uses
the old trackbed to Three Bridges. (Sustrans Ltd)
February 2004. Oswestry
to Gobowen, Shropshire. The Cambrian Railways Trust hopes eventually
to establish tourist steam services from Oswestry to Gobowen and
Gobowen to Llanymynech, but Shropshire County Council has announced
plans to share the trackbed. It was reported in November that the
local authority intends to construct a cycle path along the trackbed
between Oswestry and Llynclys, with possible extensions south to
Llanymynech and north to Gobowen. (Ralph Rawlinson)
February 2004. St. Albans
to Hatfield, Hertfordshire. A new bridge over Camp Road in St. Albans
(strictly a replacement of an earlier railway bridge) has improved
the popular Alban Way, which uses the trackbed of the Great Northern
Railway's St. Albans branch. (Sustrans Ltd)
February 2004. Ilminster
to Chard, Somerset. This route is now open, using much of the former
GWR branch line between the two towns. The new trail will soon form
part of the Wessex Cycle Route between Weston-Super-Mare and Seaton,
which is due to open in 2005. See also entry dated August 2003.
(Sustrans Ltd)
February 2004. Pensford,
Somerset. The 16 arch Pensford Viaduct, which carried the former
GWR line from Bristol to Radstock over the River Chew, has just
been renovated at a cost of £700,000. If you know whether
the viaduct is now officially open to the public, please let us
know via the e-mail link on our Contact
page. (Ralph Rawlinson)
February 2004. Queensbury
to Cullingworth, West Yorkshire. The £1 million scheme to
convert this disused railway into a trail has just been approved
by Bradford Metropolitan District Council, but the name has been
changed from "The Great Northern Rail Trail" to "The
Alpine Route". Three viaducts are included on the route at
Pinch Beck, Hewenden and Cullingworth. See also entry dated March
2003. (Ralph Rawlinson). |
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Left:
A view of Plymouth Tunnel on the Pennydarren Tramway (see report
below). This portal was restored in 1991, at which time a mural
of Trevithick's famous locomotive run was installed just inside
and protected by railings. (David James) |
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February 2004. The
Penydarren Tramroad, Abercynon to Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan.
The Pennydarren Tramroad
was a 4ft 4in gauge plateway which opened in 1802 and established
its name in history two years later, when one of Richard Trevithick's
steam locomotives ran successfully over the route even though
it broke a number of the cast iron rails and required its chimney
to be dismantled so that it could pass through Plymouth Tunnel.
The South Wales town of Merthyr Tydfil is not letting the bi-centenary
pass unnoticed, and is getting ready for its highest-profile year
ever. On the 21st of this month, the Trevithick memorial in Pontmorlais
will be re-dedicated, after which there will be a walk to Plymouth
Tunnel and Abercynon, led by a traction engine. Subject to funding,
part of the original tramway will be restored, and a permanent memorial
is to be established in the form of the Trevithick Trail, a walking
and cycling path along the 9½ mile route. While on the subject
of the Pennydarren Tramroad, readers will be pleased to hear that
the 1981-built replica
of Trevithicks 1804 loco has been restored to working order
by the National Railway Museum. Unlike the original, the replica
has been fitted with standard gauge flanged wheels so it can haul
passengers on track at the York Museum. (Ralph Rawlinson)
February 2004. Railfest
at the National Railway Museum, York. This is nothing to do with
railway paths, but all railway enthusiasts will have an interest
in it! To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the steam locomotive
and the 400th anniversary of Britains first recorded railway,
the National Railway Museum is staging one of the grandest public
events in railway history a mammoth nine-day Railfest
to be held in York between May 29 and June 6. The working replica
of Trevithicks 1804 loco (see above) will be joined by a huge
array of other motive power embracing the entire 200 year history
of UK railways. Further details can be found here
on the NRM website. (Ralph Rawlinson)
January 2004. Gupworthy
to Watchet, Somerset. The 12 mile railway that connected these two
places was the West Somerset Mineral Railway, which was last used
in 1911 to test driverless train apparatus. Now the Exmoor Society,
backed by Exmoor National Park, wants to investigate the possibility
of opening up the trackbed for greater public access. The Society
has asked the Heritage Lottery Fund for a grant of £48,000
towards a feasibility study, which will be carried out by the West
Somerset Mineral Railway Heritage Project. The aim is to identify
parts of the route which can be opened up, or protected by conservation
schemes. (Chris Cook)
January 2004. Cheddar
to Wells. The Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society, which has long
maintained the old railway from Cheddar to Yatton, is slowly realising
its ambition to extend the route back to Wells. A section of the
Cheddar-Wells line has been opened between Rodney Stoke and Draycott,
and attention has now turned to improving an existing length of
path between Wells Leisure Centre and Wookey Hole Road at Haybridge.
It is hoped that, in the future, this section can be extended from
Haybridge to Easton. (Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society)
January 2004. Chorlton-cum-Hardy
to Debdale, Greater Manchester. This route was known as the Fallowfield
Loop Line, but now forms part of the Manchester Cycleway from Chorlton
to Sportcity. Future trackbed extensions are planned at the east
and west ends, while, at Debdale, the cycleway switches to the towpath
of the Ashton Canal. About 8 miles of railway trackbed have been
used in the route, with non-railway sections adding another 4. The
route is thought to be the longest urban cycleway in Britain. (Don
Kennedy) |
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