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PHOTO
GALLERY GROUP 122
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The
Somerset & Dorset Railway (continued). Continuing our
walk from Masbury to Shepton Mallet, this sequence takes us from south
of Winsor Hill Tunnels to Bath Road and then Kilver Street (the A37).
The railway crossed Kilver Street by an underbridge before running
on to the imposing Charlton Road Viaduct (see next gallery), which
immediately preceded the S&D's station in the town – 'Shepton
Mallet (Charlton Road)'. |
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Above:
One of the few railway structures to have been removed on
this section is the underbridge on Forum Lane (grid reference ST 617448),
but there is compensation in that a short public footpath has been
dedicated over the next section of the line to the right of the photograph.
Presumably, as at Thrupe Lane, lack of height accounts for this bridge's
removal. The faced stone favoured by the railway makes some of its
overgrown remains look like relics from the middle ages; only the
white panel declaring the abutment's Engineer's Line Reference –
for present day maintenance – gives the game away. 13th August
2016. (Mike Spearman) |
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Above:
A view along the public footpath referred to in the caption
above; the greens of early summer (rain-washed, as noted elsewhere
in this series) make the scene particularly fresh and inviting.
24th June 2016. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
At the south end of the railway footpath, just north of Bath
Road Viaduct in Shepton Mallet, this footbridge crosses the line.
At this point, the trackbed is very clear due to works carried out
on the viaduct in 2013-14 by, or for, the Historic Railways Estate
of Highways England; contractors used the old railway for vehicular
access, with this area accommodating their storage compound. Thanks
to this activity, the vegetation in this area has been beaten back,
which reinforces the impression that this really was part of an important
main line. 24th June 2016. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
A view across the deck of Bath Road Viaduct, looking south.
Access is barred at each end by high security fences, that at the
north end having a padlocked gate to permit inspections. A lot of
money was spent on repairs to this structure – which the local
council reported as being to secure the arches so that no bricks
could fall out and hit pedestrians or vehicles on the road below
– but it seems perverse to keep it closed when a public footpath
leads up to the north end and, from the south end, locals have created
a de facto footpath along the old trackbed towards the
town. 13th August 2016. (Mike Spearman) |
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Above:
Two months before our walk, this was the view of Bath Road
Viaduct from a public footpath on its north side. After the torrential
rain during this visit, a recce for the walk itself, it was a relief
whan the sun broke through at about 4 p.m. Bath Road was the tallest
viaduct on the S&D network, although that fact is not immediately
obvious from this photograph. 24th June 2016. (Jeff Vinter) |
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Above:
This photograph, taken from Cowl Street, conveys a better
impression of Bath Road Viaduct's height. The structure's width
was doubled in the 1890s with the doubling of this section of the
line, but on 1st February 1946 it suffered a terrible collapse.
The junction between the old and new viaducts was a constant source
of trouble, and on this fateful day the middle pier of the new viaduct
gave way, taking with it the arches on either side. Fortunately,
no train was crossing, nor were any vehicles passing on the road
below. By today's standards, the re-building work was completed
very quickly, with normal rail traffic resuming on 1st August. 13th
August 2016. (Mike Spearman) |
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Above:
As mentioned above, locals have created a de facto
footpath along the S&D trackbed from south of Bath Road Viaduct,
which leads most of the way to Kilver Street on the east side of the
town. This is what this 'desire line' looks like in summer; it's a
good place to gather blackberries in the autumn. 24th June 2016. (Jeff
Vinter) |
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Left:
Just before the trackbed reaches Kilver Street,
impenetrable undergrowth forces walkers to divert on to
a parallel footpath, which takes them beneath this pedestrian
underpass whose high parapets indicate clearly a railway
origin. The white panel on the right of the arch looks like
another Engineer's Line Reference, but no text was discernible
on this visit. 24th June 2016. (Jeff Vinter) |
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