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PHOTO
GALLERY GROUP 38
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Clifton
Rocks Railway. In the years since the club's formation
in 1978, its members have visted some very unusual places and
some very
unusual railways, but Clifton
Rocks Railway must rank as one
of the strangest. Most readers will be familiar with the idea
of the 'funicular railway', which is essentially a steeply inclined
railway used to ascend/descend cliff faces and the like. Well
known examples exist at both Hastings and Lynton,
the latter being water-powered.
Unlike other funicular railways, that at Clifton Rocks is situated
entirely in a tunnel, with the old line connecting the community
of Hotwells at the summit with Bristol Harbour at the foot. The
railway opened in 1893 but was never a great success and closed
in 1934, having been sold in 1912 by the original owners to Bristol
Tramways. It was 450ft. long and ascended 200ft. at a
gradient of 1 in 2.128 on track laid to a gauge of 3ft. 2in.
(The designers had intended the gauge to be 3ft. 8in., but this
proved impossible due to difficulties in excavating the tunnel.)
The
railway was quadruple track, powered by water ballast – like
the funicular railway
at
Lynton – and operated
four
carriages
which
ran as linked
pairs on alternating lines. Maggie Shapland's birthday cake,
photographed here,
illustrates the arrangements, albeit rather crookedly.
This is the only underground funicular railway in the world,
which helps to explain why a voluntary group has been established
to
restore it, although on 14 August 2009 Wikipedia reported the
estimated cost of restoration as being £15 million. The
club is indebted to member Richard Lewis for arranging a tour
of this
unique historic site. |
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Above: The
entrance to the top station in Sion Hill, with Brunel's famous
Clifton Suspension Bridge visible in the background. While
Brunel designed
the
suspension bridge, its construction was dogged by political
difficulties and, for many years, all that existed were the
two towers on opposite sides of the Avon Gorge. After Brunel's
premature
death in 1859, the bridge was completed
as his memorial, finally opening in 1864.
April 2009. (Ivor
Sutton)
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Above: The
entrance to the lower station in Hotwell Road. Despite closure
of the railway in 1934, its structures continued in use until
1960.
The tunnel was used as offices by BOAC (the British Overseas
Airways Corporation, a forerunner of British Airways), as a radio
station by the BBC, and as an air raid shelter. The BBC moved
in during World War 2, when studios
and a technical control
room were built inside the tunnel and radio transmitters
installed. The control room was maintained day and night until
the end of
the war, and the studios used for presenting programmes if there
was a bombing alert. The transmitter continued in use as a local
booster station until 1960, when it became redundant and the
BBC finally withdrew. April 2009. (Ivor Sutton) |
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Above: Exterior
detail of the top station. The gabled entrance behind the white
BMW used to give access to the turnstile. The large building
to the right which towers over the railway premises is the Avon
Gorge Hotel, formerly the Grand Spa Hotel, which is one of several
local organisations to support the railway's restoration.
April 2009. (Ivor Sutton) |
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Above: The
turnstile in the slightly gloomy entrance hall of the upper station. The
posters on the wall relate the history of the railway and help
to inform visitors on open days. Initially, metal tickets in
the shape of a Maltese Cross were issued, but these were later
replaced by more conventional paper tickets. April 2009. (Ivor
Sutton) |
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Above: Inside
the tunnel, volunteers from the modern CRR have cleared rubbish
and rubble from the track and installed the dummy end of
a tramcar to give an impression
of
what the railway would have looked like when operational, although
it must be remembered that the railway, as built, used quadruple
track. The other rails are still there, but buried, while the
huge pulleys that controlled the tramcars remain in a similar
situation at the top station. The side walls to the left
and
right
are made of bricks from the London Brick Company and were installed
in 1941, when the tunnel was divided up into a series of separate
rooms. The tunnel originally
would have been much wider than this. April
2009.
(Ivor Sutton) |
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Above: During
World War 2, one of the rooms in the tunnel served as an air
raid shelter, known as the 'refuge area'. Nowadays, the
tiered
seating here is used occasionally as an auditorium. A screen
can be mounted on the wall behind the
photographer,
which
makes this an ideal location for showing historic films, slides,
etc. In November 2005, part of 'Secret Underground Bristol',
a TV documentary, was filmed here. Four locals
who sheltered in the tunnel during the war came back to reminisce,
while a BBC engineer returned to describe his experiences and
the function of each of the four rooms used by the corporation.
The film was
broadcast the following February/March. April 2009.
(Ivor Sutton) |
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Above: Descending
via the service stairs from the top to the bottom station.
The other side of the wall on the right can be seen in both of
the preceding pictures. 'It's railway rambling, Jim, but not
as we know it!' April 2009. (Ivor Sutton) |
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Above: A
final look back up the stairs towards the top station. The wall
on the right is the original tunnel lining, that on the left
having been added during World War 2 when the tunnel was divided
into separate rooms. The brackets on the right are an unusual
feature. When opened, the
tunnel
was
lit by gas, so they could have held gas lights. Alternatively,
they might have carried telegraph or telephone cables
to keep
the upper
and lower
stations
in contact with each other. If anyone can provide further details,
we would
be
pleased
to hear via the email link on our Contact page.
For that matter, we would be interested if anyone could tell
us of a more unusual railway ramble anywhere in the UK! April
2009. (Ivor Sutton) |
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