Walk along Harborne Branch now referred to as the Harborne Walkway and BCN
Author: rradmin
Dec 2021 – Infill threat lifted from historic bridge
Campaigners have welcomed National Highways’ commitment to reprieve a historic railway bridge in East Sussex following robust opposition from the community and local council.
Gallery Group – North East
Lambley Viaduct viewed from the south, i.e. heading from Alston to Haltwhistle. Described as ‘one of the most impressive railway viaducts anywhere on the Tyne’, this huge Victorian engineering feat consists of 13 spans rising to 100 ft. It was built in 1852 and restored in 1996 by the North Pennines Heritage Trust (NPHT), which […]
Gallery Group – Midlands
Bennerley Viaduct at Awsworth (near Nottingham), which carried the Great Northern Railway’s line from Awsworth to Ilkeston over both the Erewash Valley, and the Midland Railway’s Erewash Valley line. The viaduct is to open again in Spring 2022 carrying a cycle pathway (Bob Prigg) A view of the main station buildings at Alton Towers from […]
Gallery Group – Ireland
This Cahirsiveen Viaduct in the Republic of Ireland. This viaduct is situated in County Kerry and used to carry a branch of the Great Southern & Western Railway from Tralee to Valentia Harbour. September 2005. (Bob Prigg) Placeholder
Gallery Group – South
A lovely study of the north viaduct at Wickham Bishops, Essex looking upstream. It’s a miracle that these viaducts survived at all. The line closed in September 1964, and these timber structures then spent 31 years without any maintenance whatsoever. September 2005. (Brian Eley) The Hayling Island branch looking north from the embankment that led […]
Gallery Group – Scotland
The Spey Viaduct, Moray, now part of the National Cycle Network. The fixings for the railway telegraph wires can be seen either side of the main span (Bob Prigg) The main line through Killin Junction ran from Callander to Crianlarich. The 12 arch Glen Ogle Viaduct now carries a high quality cycle trail. May 2006. […]
Gallery Group – South West
Slade Tunnel on the LSWR branch line from Barnstaple Junction to Ilfracombe (Jane Ellis) The West Somerset Mineral Railway linked various iron ore mines on the Brendon Hills with the port of Watchet on the Bristol Channel. The trackbed includes this dramatic cutting between the foot of Comberow Incline and Roadwater. The trackbed here is […]
Gallery Group – North West
Gallery Group – Wales
Members of our Yorkshire Group enjoying a walk along the abandoned trackbed of the Ffestiniog Railway (Jane Ellis) Penmaenmawr (literally ‘Great Stone Head’) on the north Wales coast is littered with tramways and inclines associated with the area’s former quarrying industry. In places, the infrastructure has simply been abandoned and left to rust, as can […]
Gallery 5 – Sep 1996 – Yorkshire area Walks
Members of our Yorkshire area enjoying a walk along the abandoned trackbed of the Ffestiniog Railway near Ddualt. This section of the line was abandoned when the railway’s original route into Bleanau Ffestiniog was submerged beneath Tanygrisiau Reservoir. (Jane Ellis) Yorkshire branch members on the ‘Leeds New Line’ walk on 22nd September 1996. The location […]
Gallery 2 – June 2002 – General
Gallery 26 – July 2007 – The Churnet Valley Line.
Most of the photographs on this page were taken by Bob Prigg on a walk along the scenic Churnet Valley line in Staffordshire. This branch featured some very notable architecture, and has been revived between Cheddleton and Kingsley & Froghall by the Churnet Valley Railway. Our final picture from the Caledonian Railway’s Leith North branch […]
Gallery 21 – March 2007 – Celtic Connections.
The photographs on this page were taken by Bob Prigg in north Wales and Cornwall; member Ralph Rawlinson describes them as some of the best that Bob has taken. This page is slightly longer than others in this gallery, since we wanted to present them as a coherent set; apologies, therefore, if it takes a […]
Dec 2021 – Co. Donegal, Republic of Ireland.
The main railway walking available in County Donegal is on the former Londonderry & Lough Swilly Railway, which operated 99 miles of narrow gauge line from Londonderry to Tooban Junction, where separate branches led off to Carndonagh and Burtonport. A Google search for ‘Dismantled railway Letterkenny to Burtonport’ will bring up Ireland’s travel guide (Active […]
Dec 2021 – Rainford Junction to Rainford (Rookery Lane), Lancashire (Merseyside).
Open to cyclists, walkers, wheelchairs, pushchairs, etc., this trail of 1¾ miles runs from grid refence SD 477025 to SD 486002. The walk is branded ‘Rainford Linear Park’, and passes through woodland managed by St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council. The trail starts within a few yards of Rainford Station, and originally formed part of the […]
Dec 2021 – Tetbury, Gloucestershire.
The Tetbury trail in Gloucestershire now runs two miles from the town’s restored goods shed to Trouble House Halt, and there are plans to extend it to Kemble, where the branch once left the main line. Tetbury to Trouble House Halt (ST 893930–ST 914953) is a linear walk and cycle trail started in 2005 on […]
Dec 2021 – S&W Midlands Walk Report – GNR Breadsall – Handyside Bridge
Dec 2021 – Yorkshire Walk Report – Silverwood Colliery line
Dec 2021 – Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, Dorset.
Following the walk (and boat journey!) report by Richard Lewis on this branch in our most recent Walk Reports Supplement, a letter was published in the Winter 2021 edition of the Swanage Railway Magazine about the line, which used to export cordite to UK munition sites via Poole Harbour. The factory site is now occupied […]
Dec 2021 – Caldicot, Monmouthshire.
Now is the time to examine what remains of the southern section of the MoD Caerwent branch, which is being cleared in order to create a cycle trail between a point north of the mainline at Caldicot Junction and an undefined point in Caerwent. Our correspondent reports that the single line leading to/from the three […]
Dec 2021 – Clevedon to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.
North Somerset Council has announced that construction work has begun on missing sections of the Pier to Pier Way, a £3.1m project to link the seafronts of both towns. The trail, a long-held council ambition, is expected to be used by 70,000 one way trips a year and will form part of Route 33 of […]
Dec 2021 – Rhondda Tunnel, Glamorgan.
The opening of a cycle trail and path along the ex-Rhondda & Swansea Bay Railway’s connection between the Rhondda and Afan valleys came a step closer when Transport Minister Grant Shapps said ‘I would be happy to transfer it to a local group, the Welsh Government or the local council, with money for the purpose.’ […]
Dec 2021 – “Underhand” bridge works progressed despite Government’s infill pause
Dec 2021 – Royal Naval Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, Dorset.
Dec 2021 – The Shepton Viaducts Project – template for re-use of disused lines
Free Ordnance Survey Route Planning Software for Walking Groups
RR Magazine Winter 2021/22 – out soon
Nov 2021 – Princetown to Dousland and Yelverton
Nov 2021 – Rathkeale to Kerry border, Republic of Ireland.
The Limerick & Kerry Greenway (Great Southern Trail) 25-mile section from Rathkeale to the Kerry border was officially opened on November 5, by Daniel Butler – Mayor of Limerick City & County. The ceremony took place at the beautifully restored Barnagh Railway Station, Templeglantine, in the presence of Ministers of State Niall Collins and Patrick […]
Oct 2021 – Locals furious as bridge scheme prompts unauthorised tree-felling
HRE Group report on National Highways contractor who, according to a landowner, entered their property and cut down trees without permission to make way for a bridge demolition.
Oct 2021 – Cornwall’s four new Saints Trails
Cornwall’s four new Saints Trails have been dealt a blow: two have been scrapped and the others scaled back.
Oct 2021 – RR Tour visit to Catesby Tunnel
Oct 2021 – Railway Ramblers AGM Weekend, Winchester
Oct 2021 – MP intervenes as bridge scheme descends into “farce”
HRE Group highlighting concerns over plans to bury a historic bridge in a thousand tonnes of aggregate and concrete, blocking a wildlife corridor.
Oct 2021 – Rob Bell – Walking Britain’s Lost Railways
Oct 2021 – Dousland, Devon.
The old line from Yelverton to Princetown in Devon was first identified as a potential leisure route in John Grimshaw’s report on disused railways in 1982, and the section which falls outside Dartmoor National Park (DNP) has long since been converted into one, today forming part of the popular Devon Coast to Coast path. However, […]
Oct 2021 – Toller Porcorum, Dorset.
In October, contractors working for National Highways (the organisation called Highways England until recently) ‘came in like a tornado, removing everything in their path’, according to a landowner. They arrived on site and entered the property of three landowners, creating an access route up to the former trackbed, felling trees and disposing of the timber. […]
Oct 2021 – Jeff Vinter; 38 years of service to RR
Oct 2021 – Bennerley Viaduct, Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire
On the recent Iron to Iron bike ride from Meldon Viaduct in Devon to Bennerley Viaduct (the only two such structures surviving in England), the Friends of Bennerley Viaduct were delighted to meet their patron, Sir Neil Cossons, at Ironbridge and share with him the remarkable progress which has been made over the past few […]
Oct 2021 – “Wrecking-ball act” threatens future of historic bridge
HRE Group highlighting concerns over the infill of a historic railway bridge within a conservation area
Oct 2021 – Queensbury Tunnel Update
Volunteers for a clearance at Worthy Down Station (nr Winchester) on 17th Oct 2021
Oct 2021 – Spetisbury, Dorset.
The Autumn Newsletter of the North Dorset Spetisbury Station, Dorset Photo: Kevin Mitchell 14 Trailway Network (NDTN) gives an update on the hard work that has been carried out by volunteers at Spetisbury Station. They encourage people to appreciate the landscaping and maybe pause a while on one of the benches or picnic tables to […]
Oct 2021 – Cornwall.
A major cycling project looks set to be scaled back after a council scrapped some sections over costs. The £19m Saints Trails project aimed to put in place 19 miles of safe routes for cyclists and walkers in Cornwall, with £17.1m provided by Highways England, now known as National Highways, and £2m set to come […]
Oct 2021 – Lichfield, Staffordshire.
Work has begun on a new greenway linking Lichfield with the existing path that runs from Brownhills to Walsall, the McClean Way. This path stops at the A5, as to the north of here the track remains in situ. However, this does mean that the bridge over the M6 Toll remains in place, which otherwise […]
Sep 2021 – Barcombe, East Sussex.
Lewes District Council have condemned National Highways’ proposed infilling of Church Road bridge in Barcombe. In response, Hazel Fell Rayner, the local campaign organiser, said: ‘We welcome the news that leaders from Lewes District Council have written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Grant Shapps, calling for the “full and unequivocal cessation” of National […]
Sep 2021 – Leaderfoot Viaduct, Roxburghshire.
This marvellous structure will appear in the next Indiana Jones film, due out in July 2022, as the Sunday Telegraph published a picture of actors Harrison Ford and Toby Jones standing by one of the piers. It is not known whether they actually filmed on top of the viaduct, which is closed to the general […]
Aug 2021 – Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria.
Bassenthwaite Lake Station reopened for business on July 30th, not offering tickets to Keswick or Cockermouth, but at least with a train standing at the platform. After two years of restoration work, café facilities are now provided in both the rebuilt station building and the static restaurant carriage. The café offers wildlife viewing and an […]
Aug 2021 – South Downs, Hampshire.
Highways England has found itself embroiled in yet another row over a planned bridge infilling project. Engineers, transport planners and the local authority have all hit out at Highways England’s proposal to infill a 156-year-old disused rail bridge in the South Downs National Park. The chief executive of the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) […]