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Above:
A brief reminder of why there are so few trackbed pictures
on this site from the winter of 2009-2010 – the country was
gripped by freezing weather conditions. Although this scene has
something of the look of a disused railway, it is actually part
of a permissive walk on the Brendon Hills in Somerset, leading from
Carhampton Gate to Bats Castle. It is hard to credit it, but this
is a colour photograph! 7 January 2010. (Ivor Sutton)
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Above:
Ventnor High Level station, on the line from Ryde and Sandown,
stood at a height of 276 feet above sea level, giving holidaymakers
arriving by train a steep climb back from the town with their loaded
suitcases when the time came to pack up and go home. The station site
has been converted into a small light industrial estate for many years,
but this blue plaque commemorates its former use. 5 September 2009.
(Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
Here's a sign you don't see every day – 'Cave to Rent'!
Ventnor High Level was situated in an artificial hollow hewn out of
the chalk hillside to the north of the town. Tall cliffs dominated
the west side of the site, where businesses once supplied by the railway
traded from caves cut into the chalk. The overall effect was more
Middle Earth than Southern Railway! 5 September 2009. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
In September 2009, this luxurious pad could have been yours
for a modest monthly rental. The green double doors look as if they
were last painted by the Southern Region of British Railways, which
carried out a large scale station-redecorating programme in 1959.
The paint in those days was lead-based and so lasted far longer than
modern equivalents. 5 September 2009. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
The southern portal of Ventnor tunnel opened directly into
the station. A signal box was situated to the right of this picture,
in roughly the position of the green pipe seen here. It was then just
a few yards into the platforms. The tunnel is now owned by Southern
Water and conveys the town's water supply via a large main installed
at ground level. 5 September 2009. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
Bradpole crossing on the Bridport branch was situated less
than a mile from the town's main station. Originally hand-operated
by a gate keeper, this undemanding role was abolished as cuts began
to bite from the 1960s onwards. In the final years, trains had to
stop here so that the guard could climb down to track level and open
the gates himself. The train would then draw forwards across the road,
after which the guard would close the gates and re-join the train
for its final run into the terminus. 21 February 2009. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
Another view of Bradpole crossing, this time looking north
east, shows that the rails remain in the tarmac, even though the branch
was closed as long ago as May 1975. The gate is not actually the original
but a replica, fabricated by local joiners John Gale and Bernie Joy
as a reminder of the railway's existence. The gate keeper's cabin,
a simple concrete affair, used to stand where the wicket fence on
the left has been erected. 1 May 2010. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
This is Bradpole again, about 300 yards north east of the
level crossing seen above. Wrought iron gates with delicate tracery
along the top bar are a feature of the branch and can be seen to this
day at the site of many occupation crossings. This small example is
a kissing gate where a path crossed the track to reach railway cottages
on the south side of the line. To the left, the trackbed has been
converted into allotments (which are rather rich in clinker and other
railway detritus), after which the route has been ploughed out and
the land restored to the appearance which the original railway surveyors
would have seen in the 1850s. 1 May 2010. (Jeff Vinter) |