A proposal will be made to the 2022 AGM to make a further donation of £3000 from the footpath fund for two benches to be installed at the top of the western ramp at the recently opened Bennerley Viaduct. The western ramp is relatively steep to reach viaduct level and it is thought benches would […]
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Generic RR Posts – generally with a link from the Headline
May 2022 – Minister asked to intervene as report exposes bridge infill failings
May 2022 – Bridge emergency “deceit” exposed
May 2022 – Creating digital trails of former railway lines in the East Midlands
Apr 2022 – Engineers reject bridge infill “emergency”
Apr 2022 – Walk Report; Pleasley East (GN) to South Kirkby Junction – 9/04/22
Report by Walk Leader & Area Co-ordinator Bob Prigg on the walk from the colliery museum site along the old Leen Valley Extension, Great Northern route on what is now The Skegby Trail, a multi use path terminating at New Cross.
Apr 2022 – RR has lodged an objection to the infilling of the bridge at Musgrave
Apr 2022 – Campaigners rally opposition to bridge infill “vandalism”
Plans to link two Cumbrian heritage railways could be sunk unless objectors convince a local council to reject a planning application to make the infilling of a Victorian bridge permanent.
Apr 2022 – Walk Report – Elan Valley walk 26/3/22
Postponed from October because of a severe weather warning, the walk went ahead on a perfect spring day. It may have made a bit of club history as the majority of participants – 4 out of 7 – were Wales residents, a first for any RR walk to the best of my knowledge. The route […]
March 2022 – Elan Valley Rockfall
Elan Valley Railway. Powys (Radnorshire): The closure of the NCN 81 foot/cycle path through the Devil’s Gulch cutting because of rock falls is to be made permanent and a diversion constructed around the side.
March 2022 – Yorkshire Dales National Park Announces Proposals for Garsdale to Hawes Bridleway
The Upper Wensleydale railway trackbed being proposed for a footpath/cycleway/bridleway, as several attempts to reinstate the railway have failed
Lines of Duty – Sat 19th March at 8pm Archive on BBC Radio 4
Tim Dunn and Toby Jones present the extraordinary untold story of the man who saved Britain’s railways by leaking official secrets and putting his life and liberty at risk.
Mar 2022 – Report reveals active travel potential of at-risk historic bridges
**UPDATED Mar 2022 – Plans to demolish Burghclere Signal Box
Feb 2022 – Bennerley Viaduct – World Monuments Watch Day
This Sunday, a wet but wonderful World Monuments Watch Day was hosted by The Friends of Bennerley Viaduct to mark the end of the two year World Monuments Fund Watch cycle.
Feb 2022 – Interested in walking the Cross Britain Way from Boston in Lincs to Barmouth in Gwynedd?
An open invitation from RR Area Coordinator Bob Prigg to join a long distance walk project kicking off on Mon 28 Feb 2022 on the Cross Britain Way from Boston in Lincs to Barmouth in Gwynedd.
Feb 2022 – Steaming back to Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Notts (first walk on 19th Feb)
The first of a series of Kirkby-in-Ashfield railway heritage walks takes place as part of the National Lottery Heritage Fund funded ‘Steaming Back to Kirkby’ heritage project
Interested in 5 days Railway Rambling in Donegal in September?
Plans are in place for a Railway Ramblers trip for walks along part of ‘The Swilly’ in the scenic County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland over 5 days in September.
Jan 2022 – Campaigners condemn “crass” bridge request
Jan 2022 – Anger as bridge fencing blocks wildlife corridor
HRE Group Press Release on steel fencing around an historic railway bridge fencing blocking a wildlife corridor
Jan 2022 – Petition; council refusing access to our railway history
Jan 2022 – Bennerley Viaduct reopens
Jan 2022 – Barcombe bridge, petition on ecological considerations
The campaigners for Barcombe bridge have set up a petition calling on the Government to commission independent ecological studies of the dismantled railways spanned by infill-threatened HRE bridges
Jan 2022 – S&W Midlands Walk Report – Harborne Branch
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.
Dec 2021 – S&W Midlands Walk Report – GNR Breadsall – Handyside Bridge
Dec 2021 – Yorkshire Walk Report – Silverwood Colliery line
Dec 2021 – “Underhand” bridge works progressed despite Government’s infill pause
Dec 2021 – The Shepton Viaducts Project – template for re-use of disused lines
Free Ordnance Survey Route Planning Software for Walking Groups
Nov 2021 – Princetown to Dousland and Yelverton
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 – 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 – Jeff Vinter; 38 years of service to RR
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
Sep 2021 – Are you aware of any plans for the 102 structures threatened with infilling?
We quickly need to identify all proposed projects which are reliant on the retention of any of the 102 structures on the National Highways list which are ‘on pause’ but threatened with infilling.
Charity walk along the Tissington Trail
UPDATED Sep 2021 – Construction of Somerset Circle Section between Wells and Shepton Mallet now Under Way
Sep 2021 – National Highways: “existential threat” to legacy rail structures
Aug 2021 – Highways England suspension of bridge infilling
August 2021 – RR Chairman, Mark Jones, in Limerick
Final Details for AGM on 2nd October 2021
Aug 2021 – Highways England acting like “cowboys and bullies” over bridge scheme
A fortnight after the announcement that the infilling programme would be ‘paused’ (i.e. not stopped), The HRE Group identifies more imminent infillings
UPDATED Sunday 1st August; Jonathan Dawson completes 10 day Charity bike ride to John O’Groats
Jul 2021 – Government pauses bridge infilling schemes
Encouraging news as the Government published a progress report, Gear Change: One Year On, which reviews efforts to encourage and facilitate safe walking and cycling.