Day 4 Report & Pictures – Linlithgow to Callendar
Author: rradmin
Jul 2021 – Historic Railway Structures
Jul 2021 – Free Tours of Wingfield Station (Derbyshire)
Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust (DHBT) are hosting a series of free tours of Wingfield Station where you can visit inside the station and learn about the restoration project.
Minister condemned over “embarrassing” bridge deceit
Press Release from HRE Group regarding Highways England’s infilling and demolition of historic railway structures
Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton lines. A member review of a new DVD from Dumpman Films
Jul 2021 – Parliamentary petition to stop the destruction of the Heritage Railway Estate
There is now a parliamentary petition to stop the destruction of the Heritage Railway Estate by Highways England which, if enough people sign, will result in a debate in parliament – so really could make a difference.
Scottish bridges under threat after council’s “planning blunder”
PRESS RELEASE FROM HRE GROUP. Campaigners have called on Dumfries & Galloway Council to take urgent action after a “perverse decision” by planners threatened to make the proposed reopening of a railway more difficult and costly.
HRE Group featured on Jeremy Vine’s BBC show and in The Times…
The HRE Group has had great success gaining further publicity and raising awareness of the destruction/infilling activities of Highway England in the mainstream media this week.
Highways England slammed over bridge “preservation” claim
PRESS RELEASE FROM HRE GROUP: Campaigners have expressed their disbelief after Highways England claimed to have “preserved” a Victorian railway bridge by burying it within hundreds of tonnes of aggregate and concrete.
Video featuring member Graeme Bickerdike campaigning against HRE’s plans
Jun 2021 – Contract for new decking on Bennerley Viaduct signed
The Best Thing I ever did
Rachel, a member living in Lincolnshire, describes her experience of RR – and asks if there is more we can do?
10th Jun 2021 – Latest press release from HRE Group on the infilling of Great Musgrave bridge in Cumbria
**Updated 3rd Jun – May 2021 – Cumbrian railways unite against “destructive” bridge scheme
Article updated with council’s response to HRE intention to infill the bridge and a follow up letter from the HRE Group to the Chair of the Transport Committee
National Walking Month: TfW Blog
Transport for Wales (TfW) have published a blog of former rail routes. Our own Chris Parker is one of the guest contributors
RR Magazine Summer 2021 – out soon
May 2021 – Kingham to Bourton Recreational Trail
There is a group planning to establish the former Kingham to Bourton rail track as a recreational trail.
May 2021 – Lichfield to Brownhills Study
An interesting link that brings news of a possible development to the Lichfield – Brownhills mothballed line.
May 2021 – SW Articles (May Blossoms)
Jeff Vinter has written the fifth in his series of newsletters with a selection of articles originally issued to South Western Area members titled ‘My Blossoms’ which he is happy to share with all RR members
May 2021 – The HRE Group continuing to fight!
Goodmanham to Market Weighton new railway footpath
May 2021 – Usk, Monmouthshire.
Usk Tunnel, built originally by the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway and now part of an official footpath, has been temporarily closed due to reports of falling bricks and debris, according to the South Wales Argus. A metal fence has been erected to prevent access and a spokesman for the Council said they had […]
May 2021 – Disused railway infrastructure.
The ‘burdensome estate’ has reached the national press. The ongoing saga over the demolition or infilling of bridges and tunnels by Highways England (HE) was reported on in The Times newspaper of May 4th, with both an article and editorial comment. It described the recent decision by Herefordshire Council to refuse planning permission to HE […]
May 2021 – Butternab Tunnel, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
The secret is out. In 2016, the owner of a house whose garden includes the southern portal and a section of Butternab Tunnel on the ex-Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway’s Meltham branch (closed 1969) allowed the Yorkshire Area group in to see what remained. However, he did not wish this to be widely publicised so we […]
May 2021 – Kingham, Oxfordshire, Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.
It has been reported that a group is commissioning Sustrans to investigate using the former Kingham to Bourton line as a recreational trail. First though, they have to raise funding for a Sustrans feasibility study. They claim the disused rail line ‘is flat, relatively undeveloped, usefully sited and travels through beautiful countryside’, which could be […]
May 2021 – Lichfield, Brownhills, Staffordshire.
Lichfield District Council is starting work on a project that could transform the mothballed railway track between Brownhills and Lichfield into a new cycle and footpath. Working with Network Rail and Sustrans, the council will assess a section of the old South Staffordshire Railway line for its potential to reopen as a greenway. This would […]
Apr 2021 – Cardiff, Glamorgan.
Network Rail is claiming a world first in using electric resistant paint to avoid demolishing a Victorian-age railway bridge in Cardiff, which would have cost £40m. Intersection Bridge, a rail-over-rail structure in the city centre and on the main line from Paddington, is too low to fit all the kit required for electrification – as […]
Apr 2021 – Tidenham, Gloucestershire.
A planning application has been made by Greenways and Cycleroutes Ltd, in conjunction with Wyedean School and the National Diving & Activity Centre, to extend the Wye Valley Greenway from Bishton Lane, Tidenham, to Wyedean School, Sedbury, just across the River Wye (and Anglo-Welsh border) from Chepstow. Importantly, this would include the old railway bridge […]
Apr 2021 – Somerset.
John Grimshaw’s new charity, Greenways and Cycleroutes (GCR), is now working on the ‘Somerset Circle’, a circular network of lines around the county which will build on the existing Strawberry Line (Yatton – Cheddar) to create a county-wide route based largely on old railways. A map of the project and its ‘vision statement’ can be […]
Apr 2021 – Sandsend and Kettleness Tunnels to reopen?
Whitby Gazette reports that Sustrans and the North York Moors National Park are looking at the feasibility of opening them up to walkers and cyclists.
Can you recall more 3-letter station names?
Arising from a challenge set by member Michael Ross in one of Jeff Vinter’s SW newsletters, Yorkshire Branch member Bill Jagger has come up with these 3-letter station names. Jane Ellis wonders if any members can recall any more?
Apr 2021 – Rock Fall, Elan Valley Railway (EVR) (Powys)
**Now with pictures. Access to the spectacular Devil’s Gulch, close to the Pen y Garreg Reservoir in the gorgeous Elan Valley, has been prohibited since November 2018 due to rockfall which made it impassable
Apr 2021 – MPs raise concerns over Highways England’s ‘assault’ on legacy rail structures
Apr 2021 – SW Articles (The April Easing)
Jeff Vinter has written a further a newsletter with a selection of articles originally issued to South Western Area members titled ‘The April Easing’ which he is happy to share with all RR members.
Apr 2021 – Darlington & Hetton-le-Hole (Co. Durham).
The former rail trail from Darlington (New Road) to Dinsdale, which was cut to about half its size when a new link road – the B6279 – from town to the A66 was constructed, has now been reinstated to not far off its original start point, while the former colliery lines in Hetton Lyons Country […]
Apr 2021 – The Watercress Way seeks new Trustees
Mar 2021 – Railway tunnels between Whitby and Staithes
A surprising news item here. Tunnels between Whitby and Staithes may be reopened as cycle route, that’s going to take a bit of work !
Mar 2021 – SW Articles (while in Lockdown)
Mar 2021 – Devon.
Information from DevonLive sets out summary details of all the proposed new (and to be extended or linked up) cycle trails in Devon. A search revealed the definite or likely-looking railway components as these: 1. The Pegasus Way. This will complete conversion of a long section of the Bude Branch – which has been a […]
Video – Abandoned Railways in the West Country
RR stalwart Jeff Vinter has kindly shared a video presentation of a talk that he gave to Tiverton U3A’s Railway Group on 26th February
Mar 2021 – Hovingham, North Yorkshire.
Hovingham Estate has decided to move the path from the old Hovingham to Gilling East railway line at Cawton to the side of the field so they can plough the whole field rather than have to do a little strip at the edge separately (the red line indicates the trackbed). (Item and photo: Peter Billington)
Mar 2021 – Carlisle, Cumberland.
The long-awaited re-opening of Waverley Viaduct in the city could be on the horizon, according to the leader of Carlisle City Council, John Mallinson. The bridge over the River Eden was used as an unofficial footpath for many years before being closed on safety grounds. Campaigners, led by the Carlisle Waverley Viaduct Trust, have been […]
Mar 2021 – Hesketh Bank, Lancashire.
Enabling works are continuing on the ‘Henry Alty Way’, a planned footpath and cycleway along the westerly bank of the River Douglas between Hesketh Bank and Bank Bridge, in Tarleton. The path< will be on the former trackbed of the West Lancashire Railway’s Tarleton Lock branch, which operated in the early years of the 20th […]
Mar 2021 – Camden, London.
The planned ‘Camden Highline’, which aspires to transform about ¾ mile of disused elevated track in north London, has announced that the winner of its design competition is James Corner Field Operations, the team that created the High Line in New York. (The Times; Graham Harrison-Watts)
Feb 2021 – Campaigners rally against railway heritage threat
RR Magazine Spring 2021 – out soon
The Sping 2021 edition of the Club Magazine – Railway Ramblings – is soon to be sent to members. Join Railway Ramblers now to receive your copy. Membership is just £10 per year!
Please help the HRE Group…
They are in need of UK-wide intelligence of proposed and planned cycle and walking paths around the country that might be threatened by the proposed HRE infilling and demolition.