See the article in The Solihull Observer
Author: rradmin
July 23 – “Unacceptable” bridge closure divides Cumbrian community for months
News 2023
December 2023. Maerdy, Glamorgan. The surviving section of this line as far south as Pontygwaith was walked by the Club on 6th April 2013 and a report appears in Railway Ramblings 142 (Summer 2014), p. 35. At that time the surface was variable and some sections were still ballasted. However upgrading is now in progress […]
News 2022
December 2022. Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. The humble, yet vital, siding hit the Huddersfield headlines when engineers working on the Transpennine Route Upgrade unearthed a set at Hillhouse, near Alder Street. The sidings are thought to date from 1850, while the wider site also encompassed train sheds and two turntables. It was used to store trains […]
May 23 – Opposition grows to Norfolk’s unauthorised bridge infill
HRE Group Press release: The latest news on St Andrew’s Lane bridge at Congham, Norfolk which was infilled in 2021
May 23 – New trail route near Peterborough
A new cycleway and footpath near Peterborough is due to follow a disused railway line between Sutton and Nene Valley Railway’s Wansford station.
May 23 – Presentation to retiring RR Secretary
May 23 – Former line at Little Eaton to become a trail
May 23 – Battle stations over Norfolk’s unauthorised bridge infill
HRE Group Press release: The latest news on St Andrew’s Lane bridge at Congham, Norfolk which was infilled in 2021
Apr 2023 – Landmark £5m bridge to cross valley between Oldham and Tameside approved
Apr 2023 – Watton-Swaffham railway line could become 15km walking link
A former Norfolk railway line could become a new walking and cycling route between two of the county’s towns, according to newly-published documents.
Mar 2023 – Travel Routes in Somerset
Mar 2023 – “Missed opportunity” as National Highways rejects request for material from infilled bridge
Mar 2023 – Saughtree Station for sale
Mar 2023 – Selsey Tramway
Mar 2023 – Finding a new purpose
Click below for an interesting article on New Civil Engineer website titled “Abandoned rail links can boost transport connectivity”
Mar 2020 – Talk by RR Area Coordinators
Our Southern Area Coordinators, Keith Lawrie and Kevin Arnold are giving a talk about RR at the Slough & Windsor Railway Society on Friday evening 10th March.
RR Magazine Spring 2023 – out soon
Feb 2023 – Ningwood Station for sale
The basic station building appears to be intact, although enlarged and modernised and the two platforms still survive.
Feb 2023 – Former Feniton to Sidmouth railway line ‘should be turned into cycle route’
Jan 2023 – Council acts as rights breached on ‘emergency’ Norfolk bridge infill
HRE Group Press release: National Highways’ strategy of using permitted development rights to carry out destructive works to historic railway structures is “unravelling”
Jan 2023 – Somerset. Strawberry Line
Jan 2023 – Cycle Path Network and Bennerley Viaduct Eastern Ramp
Railway Ramblers is a big supporter of Friends of Bennerley Viaduct and are delighted that the Eastern Ramp is now progressing
Jan 2023 – Combe Down Tunnel – ultra-marathon in the dark
Jan 2023 – Rare Norfolk bridge lost to “destructive forces”
HRE Group Press release: National Highways has “failed to fulfil its statutory obligations”, according to campaigners, after it infilled a historic bridge using permitted development rights that have now expired.
Dec 2022 – Llantrisant Cardiff
Dec 2022 – Council acts as rights expire on emergency bridge infill
HRE Group Press release: National Highways has been told to apply for retrospective planning permission after failing to fulfil its statutory obligations under powers used to infill a historic railway structure.
Dec 2022 – Elan Valley Railway
Following assessment by specialist engineers, Devil’s Gulch rock cutting is to be repaired and reopened to Elan Valley Trail walkers/cyclists after all!
Dec 2022 – Yorkshire bridge not inspected before emergency infill scheme
HRE Group Press release on claims that a historic railway bridge had to be infilled because of a growing public safety risk despite having no recent records of its condition.
Nov 2022 – Historic Devon road bridge back to its best after painstaking facelift
Nov 2022 – Portishead re-opening approved, at last!
Nov 2022 – Outline business case submitted for reopening Tavistock to Plymouth rail line
Nov 2022 – 172-year-old railway sidings unearthed in Huddersfield
Nov 2022 – Chinnor Railway trackbed walk
Report of a specially arranged RR visit to the Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway (CPRR) heritage line
Nov 2022 – Lias Line Greenway: Leamington Spa – Rugby (plus a section of the Weedon – Leamington line)
As reported in RR 175, the Sustrans cycle and footpath opened earlier this year, but only used three short sections of disused railway: the Offchurch section at the southern end, a little piece of trackbed near Long Itchington, and a section between Birdingbury and Draycote. On the outskirts of Rugby, a non-Sustrans path called the […]
Nov 2022 – Campaigners challenge ’emergency’ bridge work
Nov 2022 – Bridges.
Two more bridges that have been infilled by National Highways may yet go the way of Great Musgrave, with local councils requiring the infill to be removed so as to open up the trackbeds for leisure routes. The dismantled railway under Congham Road bridge near King’s Lynn was one of several identified in Norfolk County […]
Oct 2022 – Tarka Trail
Oct 2022 – Singapore FMSR/KTM railway
Singapore Post have issued a set of five stamps marking the Rail Corridor, a 24km walkway on the old FMSR/KTM railway
Oct 2022 – RR Isle of Man Holiday
Oct 2022 – Plans for infilling of Stoke Road railway bridge near Itchen Abbas are halted
There is an article in the Hampshire Chronicle that controversial plans to infill a bridge in the Upper Itchen Valley have been halted indefinitely.
Oct 2022 – Smardale Gill Viaduct, Westmorland (now Cumbria).
‘Following a full professional inspection of the Grade II* Listed Smardale Gill Viaduct, we commenced a series of works in four phases to preserve the integrity and ensure the long-term security of this iconic structure. Phase 1, the installation of stainless steel mesh panels on the existing railings to meet current safety standards, was completed […]
Oct 2022 – Itchen Abbas, Hampshire.
The National Highways infill saga has moved from all-fill to no-fill, as bridges up and down the land learn their reprieve from the depredations of the concrete mixers. One such structure is the bridge which takes Stoke Road, Itchen Abbas, over the disused section of the ex-LSWR Alton to Winchester line. The furore at Great […]
Oct 2022 – Bideford, Devon.
Barnstaple Town Council has unanimously backed calls to reinstate the town’s rail link with Bideford. The council voted to support the Tarka Rail Association (TRA) and the Atlantic Coast – Exeter Railway project, ACE Rail. The project aims to give Bideford a boost by extending the Tarka Line to the growing town’s 30,000 people and […]
Oct 2022 – Pontarddulais – Grovesend, Glamorgan.
The conversion of this 1-mile long section of former Central Wales line trackbed to a foot and cycle way has been completed. Pontarddulais is accessible by rail and future extensions to Swansea Bay are proposed. (Chris Parker)
Oct 2022 – The Bowline at Bowling Harbour
Scotland’s answer to the New York Highline was unveiled at Bowling Harbour in West Dunbartonshire with the transformation of a disused railway viaduct into a state-of-the-art linear park and walking, wheeling and cycling route
Oct 2022 – Pontarddulais – Grovesend
Conversion of a 1.6km section of former Central Wales line trackbed to a foot and cycle way has been completed
Oct 2022 – Gelli Tunnel, Cymmer, Glamorgan.
Nation.Cymru has reported that Gelli Houses Tunnel (usually known simply as ‘Gelli’) has been closed off for the forseeable future, following an inspection. The 166-yard horseshoe-shaped tunnel is located on the section of Rhondda & Swansea Bay Railway which closed in 1960 when a new connection opened allowing traffic to be diverted on to the […]
Oct 2022 – Great Musgrave Infill Notice
Eden District Council has now issued an enforcement notice for removal of the infill from Great Musgrave bridge. The structure and the landscape immediately around it must be returned to its pre-infill state
Oct 2022 – RR event – Isle of Man
The Yorkshire Branch claims another record – today’s walk must be the first railway ramble to have participating 50% gentlemen and 50% ladies!