Author: rradmin
RR Facebook Post – Monsal Trail
Controversial plans to turn the Monsal Trail and the Viaduct back into a railway See FB post » For non-FB users, click here for link to BBC article
Aug 2020 – Tidenham, Gloucestershire
Aug 2020 – Bennerley Viaduct, Notts/Derbyshire
Aug 2020 – Appleby – Warcop, Cumbria
At long last, the new route for the A66 in this area has been finalised and a final round of consultations is due to start. The route of the road will avoid the trackbed of the old railway, which the DfT must regard as some kind of asset, despite the ‘final solution’ inclinations of the […]
Aug 2020 – Winchester, Hampshire
Recently our correspondent just managed to find a space in Garnier Road Car Park next to the old GWR trackbed just south of Winchester. This is because last September a new refreshments establishment, called The Handlebar Café, was built on the trackbed – increasing footfall considerably, but not necessarily onto the old line. (Richard Lewis)
Aug 2020 – Weymouth, Dorset
RR Magazine Summer 2020 – Out Now
Jul 2020 – Athlone, Republic of Ireland
A 25-mile rail trail has been created between Athlone and Mullingar in the Republic of Ireland. A route map with access points may be found on the Westmeath County Council website. The trail, which was opened in October 2015, uses a converted stretch of the Midlands Great Western Railway and is intended eventually to form […]
Jul 2020 – Keswick, Cumbria
£8 million project to rebuild the Keswick – Threlkeld railway path in Cumbria remains on target for completion by the end of the year.
Jul 2020 – Upton & North Elmsall, West Yorkshire
A local group want to reinstate Upton and North Elmsall Station near Wakefield, which was once a stop on the Hull and Barnsley Railway and closed in 1959. The line, which was built to transport coal to Hull’s docks, ran through what is now Upton Country Park, and the group plan to lay a single […]
Jul 2020 – Fawley, Hampshire
Last month a ‘fact-finding’ passenger train traversed the Fawley branch – also known as the Waterside line – carrying, among others, Network Rail Chairman, Sir Peter Hendy, and Rail Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris, as plans for a large new residential development at Fawley have revived hopes of restoring the rail link. The line could also give […]
Jul 2020 – Shepton Mallet, Somerset
Jun 2020 – Preston, Lancashire
Further to the report in RR 166 on the Longridge path extension to Deepdale, there is also a private promoter plan, reported optimistically for over a decade now, for a new tram on the old formation from the city via the Deepdale area to a Park & Ride in the area of the former Courtaulds […]
Jun 2020 – Upper Wensleydale, North Yorkshire
The Upper Wensleydale Railway project is a plan to reopen the section of line from Garsdale on the West Coast Mainline, to the market town of Hawes. It is hoped that a reinstated junction with the existing Leeds – Settle – Carlisle railway line at Garsdale will allow ‘through’ trains to run from Hawes via […]
Jun 2020 – St. Margaret’s Loop, East Grinstead, East Sussex
May 2020 – Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan
An online survey regarding Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Councils’ joint proposals to reopen Merthyr (aka Abernant) Tunnel to walkers and cyclists has received almost 800 responses. The tunnel would form part of a 4-mile traffic free route linking Merthyr and Aberdare. Merthyr councillor Geraint Thomas said ‘The consensus appears to be […]
May 2020 – Bennerley Viaduct, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire
The restoration of Bennerley Viaduct on the Notts/Derbs border was suspended on 24th March, just as the coronavirus lockdown was introduced. However, Bill Tomson, who oversees this project on behalf of the charity Railway Paths Ltd., has informed the club that the contractors re-started their work on Monday 18th May. The intention is to develop the […]
May 2020 – Newquay to Perranporth, Cornwall
The former Newquay to Chacewater railway between Newquay and Perranporth is due for a new lease of life as a rail trail thanks to a Cornwall Council project to create four new walking and cycling routes under the name ‘The Saints Trails’. Outline details and a high quality map can be found at the first […]
May 2020 – Weymouth to Portland, Dorset
Work continues in Rodwell, Weymouth, at the Buxton Road overbridge (grid reference SY 675779) on eponymous The Rodwell Trail, which re-uses the northern part of the former joint LSWR and GWR branch line from Melcombe Regis to Easton. The work, which should be finished in June, is an ‘inspection on steroids’, in which any faults […]
May 2020 – Moretonhampstead, Devon
Apr 2020 – Yesterday TV Channel
With such far-reaching restrictions in place as a result of the pandemic, readers may be interested in a series entitled ‘The Architecture the Railways Built’, starting on ‘Yesterday’ at 8:00 pm on Tuesday 28th April. Although this may be a repeat from another channel, it provides something of railway historical interest at this time of […]
Apr 2020 – ‘Country Walking’ Magazine
Subscribers to ‘Country Walking’ received the latest edition of the magazine on 21st April, and what did they find within its pages but an article entitled ‘Got the Railway Rambling Bug?’ This multi-page spread features a number of disused railways which can now be walked or cycled, and it gives this club a good plug […]
Apr 2020 – Nationwide
Despite the good news reported in the story below, most railway path developments are currently on hold due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, including two big projects being managed by Railway Paths Ltd – the restoration of Bennerley Viaduct as an aerial walkway and visitor attraction, and the basic restoration of the GCR’s gothic-styled Levenshulme South […]
Apr 2020 – Whitby to Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Scarborough Council is to receive a combined grant of £583,000 for improvements to the surface of the popular ‘Cinder Track’ on the 4 mile section form Burniston to Scarborough. The council announced that its planned work will ‘vastly improve users’ access and experience, promote environmentally sustainable methods of travel, facilitate active lifestyles and help to […]
Apr 2020 – York, North Yorkshire
One unexpected consequence of this winter’s excessive rain and recent storms was that the large flows of water have moved around the silt on the River Ouse in York to reveal the tracks of a lost 18″ narrow gauge railway. These have been revealed near the city’s Millennium Bridge, and formed part of a horse-drawn […]
April 2020. Birmingham, West Midlands
Archaeologists working at the site of the proposed HS2 Curzon Street Station in Birmingham have unearthed what is thought to be the world’s oldest roundhouse. Curzon Street was once the northern terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway, which opened throughout in 1838. According to Industrial Archaeology, the roundhouse was built ‘to a design by […]
Mar 2020 – Daventry to Braunston, Northamptonshire
Anyone hoping that the 1½ mile section of railway-based cycle trail from Daventry towards Braunston would continue along more of the old LNWR trackbed will be disappointed to learn that, although Daventry District Council has set aside £730,000 for an extension to Braunston, it will follow the towpath of the Grand Union Canal and not […]
Mar 2020 – Christ’s Hospital, West Sussex
For many years, walkers and cyclists travelling along the Downs Link from Guildford towards Shoreham-by-Sea have had to leave the old LBSCR trackbed near Itchingfield and take a road-based diversion to reach the trail’s continuation beyond Christ’s Hospital station. We are pleased to report that, after years of negotiation with landowners, the Downs Link now […]
Mar 2020 – Totton to Fawley, Hampshire
Few railway lines have closed in recent years, but this freight-only branch is one of them – and it seems very unlikely to be converted into a trail. On 5th March, the Hampshire Chronicle published a sizeable article on plans to re-open the now mothballed line to passengers, noting that local councils are giving the […]
Mar 2020 – Ryecroft (nr. Walsall) to Lichfield via Brownhills, West Midlands/Staffordshire
Further to our report in May 2019, the West Midlands’ Express & Star reported recently that the existing trail from Lichfield Line Junction to near Pelsall has been extended northwards to an overbridge on the Wyrley & Essington Canal, where a flight of new steps takes walkers up to the canal towpath. Local trail development […]
Mar 2020 – Nr. Harrow & Wealdstone station to Belmont, Greater London
Given the understandable scarcity of railway paths in London, our correspondent felt that this one deserved a mention. Now known as the Belmont Trail, it is the result of a scheme launched by the London Wildlife Trust to re-open part of the old Stanmore branch line as a railway path. Recently, the route has been […]
Mar 2020 – Nationwide
On BBC Radio 4’s ‘Farming Today’ programme on Thursday 5th March, a representative of the Open Spaces Society was interviewed about that organisation’s response to proposals by the Home Office, which would make trespass a criminal as opposed to civil offence (click here for further details). While the proposals are designed to protect communities from the nuisance […]
Mar 2020 – Bradford to Keighley, West Yorkshire
An article appeared in the Bradford Telegraph & Argus on 3rd March, reporting that Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Transport, has rejected the plan to close and partially infill Queensbury Tunnel. He thinks that other possible uses are as a cycle track, a tramway, or part of a light railway system. As regular […]
Feb 2020 – The Lost Railways of Devon and Cornwall
There is an interesting article at the link here, which provides an overview of almost every lost railway line in Devon and Cornwall. Of particular interest is news that the government will establish a £500m fund to help finance feasibility studies into long-closed railways that could be restored. Devon County Council intends to bid for […]
Feb 2020 – Peasmarsh, nr. Guildford, to Shoreham-by-Sea (Surrey/West Sussex)
Further to our report in December, West Sussex County Council is now well into its programme of improving the Downs Link long distance trail, which re-uses the former railway lines from Guildford to Christ’s Hospital, and from Christ’s Hospital to Shoreham. At the date of our correspondent’s visit, not everything was open officially, but the […]
Jan 2020 – Newquay to Perranporth, Cornwall
A plan for a new cycle trail from Newquay to Perranporth, largely using the trackbed of the former Newquay-Chacewater railway line, has been developed by Cornwall Council. This was voted on at a meeting at County Hall on 21st January. (We do not yet know the result, but have asked Cornwall Council to inform us.) […]
Jan 2020 – Cheddar to Shepton Mallet, Somerset
The latest newsletter from the Strawberry Line Society reports that the society’s branches and associates ‘have had considerable success in creating new sections of cycleway in and around Wells and Shepton Mallet’. Unfortunately, the newsletter provides no further details. We hope that these new sections of cycleway are based on the old railway! (Jeff Vinter)
Jan 2020 – Shillingstone, Dorset
Many readers will recognise Shillingstone as the sole-surviving station built by the Dorset Central Railway, which now provides interest (and a rather nice café) on the North Dorset Trailway. North of the station en route to Sturminster Newton, the trackbed is owned by Bere Marsh Farm, so a diversion takes the trail slightly to the […]
Jan 2020 – Moretonhampstead, Devon
The former GWR station site at Moretonhampstead is due to be cleared. A notice at the site entrance states that a developer has applied for permission to level the site and erect 35 new homes, although a local resident stated that the application has been granted and the scheme now provides for 39 new homes. […]
Jan 2020 – Moretonhampstead to Bovey Tracey, Devon
Further to the above report, a visit on 15th January revealed that the new Wray Valley Trail is to become part of NCN28. Signs (albeit with a rather temporary appearance) have been erected, and a planning application has been made to install an information board at the start point in Pudding Lane, Moretonhampstead. Substantial bronze […]
Jan 2020 – Southern Area members
Southern Area members have been asking our correspondent about the fate of the plaque commemorating the Surrey Iron Railway on the wall of the former Young’s brewery in Wandsworth. This extract from an article in the August/September edition of ‘London Drinker’ magazine (published by Camra) provides the answer: ‘The new Sambrook’s Brewery in Wandsworth will […]
Jan 2020 – Cutsyke to Methley Junction, Castleford, West Yorkshire
On the website for this route (the new Castleford Greenway) is news that a planning application has been made to connect this trail to the existing Methley-Stanley trail, which forms part of NCN67. The intention is to use as much as possible of the trackbed which currently separates the two sections, and install a metalled […]
Jan 2020 – Bennerley Viaduct, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire
Further to our report in December, Railway Paths Ltd has just signed a ‘significant’ contract with contractors, who will soon start the main repairs of this iconic Grade II*-listed viaduct which straddles the Erewash Valley near Ilkeston. The original intention had been to have the viaduct open by about April, but the scoping works by […]
Jan 2020 – Totton to Fawley, Hampshire
The former Southern Railway’s branch line to Fawley, on the edge of the New Forest, lost its oil traffic about three years ago, but the local Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership is keen for it to be restored and re-opened to passengers. Last month, our correspondent was travelling by bus in the area and crossed […]