News 2006

December 2006. Aberdeen to Banchory, Aberdeenshire. The Sustrans website states that a cycle route is being developed along the old railway line from Aberdeen to Banchory, but gives no further details. The distance involved is 19 miles and represents just under half of the Great North of Scotland Railway’s former branch from Aberdeen to Ballater. (Ralph Rawlinson)

December 2006. Egginton to Etwall, Derbyshire. In June this year, Sustrans completed this section of the Mickleover Trail, which forms part of National Cycle Network route 54. This re-uses the whole of BR’s former Mickleover test track, and provides an 8 mile off-road route from Egginton into Derby. (Ralph Rawlinson)

December 2006. Edinburgh, Scotland. Rodney Street Tunnel at Canonmills in Edinburgh is due to be re-opened as part of a cycle trail, having been closed in 1968 when freight trains ceased to use it. When re-opened, the tunnel will provide a missing link in National Cycle Network route 75 and enable walkers and cyclists to avoid a busy road junction above. The project is expected to cost £350,000 and should be open in time for summer 2007. (Richard Lewis)

December 2006. Changes to Railway Regulations. While not strictly to do with walking old railways, this news and advice from one of our members on future railway closures, the protection of closed routes and railway photography will be of interest to many who visit this site. (Ralph Rawlinson)

November 2006. Radstock to Frome, Somerset. The 1½ miles from Mells to Great Elm near Hapsford Junction was completed by Sustrans in July this year. This completes the shared use cycle trail from Radstock to Great Elm, which forms part of Colliers Way, National Cycle Network route 24. The tarmac path mostly runs beside the still in situ track but crosses it at three places. The Hapsford Junction to Frome section is still operational with aggregate trains worked by Mendip Rail. (Ralph Rawlinson)

November 2006. Chorlton Junction to Fairfield, Greater Manchester. Ten years after the first proposals were published for the Fallowfield Loop Line, the route is now complete along the whole of the former railway, passing through the southern suburbs of Fallowfield and Levenshulme. NCN6 follows the central section, the rest being part of NCN 60, the Greater Manchester orbital route. Various links already made include a path along the infilled Stockport Canal at Debdale. For further details, click here. (Ralph Rawlinson)

November 2006. Tralee to Limerick, County Kerry/Limerick, Eire. Members of the club and regular visitors to this site probably know already that the 53 mile line from Tralee to Limerick, closed in the 1980s, is still owned by CIE (the Irish state railway) but being converted into a long distance walking and cycling trail. The project, known as The Great Southern Trail, has just published a new guide to railway walks in north Kerry and west Limerick, with assistance from Foras na Gaeilge. In addition to Irish and English, the text also includes French, German, Italian and Spanish; you can access a PDF version of the brochure here. Note that, because this is designed to be printed on A3 paper and then folded to DL size, some of the text will be upside down – just use the controls in Adobe Reader to rotate the page. Copies are also available by contacting 00353 (0) 69 62597. (Great Southern Trail)

October 2006. Fiddleford, nr. Sturminster Newton, Dorset. Following repair work to the piers of Fiddleford Viaduct, Dorset Countryside has just lowered into place a new steel span which replaces the one removed nearly 40 years ago when the Somerset & Dorset Railway was closed. The new span is an elegant looking structure, whose gentle arc will prevent water pooling on the deck and causing corrosion. At the time of our visit (Saturday 7 October), the new bridge was not yet open to the public since the fenced parapet had not been installed fully, but we would guess that opening can be only a matter of days or weeks away. The new bridge combines two previously separate sections of the North Dorset Trailway, and will enable users to travel from Sturminster Newton to within a mile of Shillingstone, where another two miles of trackbed can be walked southwards. A waymarked trail using nearby field paths links these two sections of trackbed via the tiny village of Hammoon. (Jeff Vinter)

October 2006. Carisbrooke to Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. The Autumn 2006 edition of Sustrans’ quarterly journal The Hub (South East/South Central) contained details of a well-funded proposal to create a cycle trail along the course of the former Freshwater, Yarmouth & Newport Railway between Carisbrooke and Yarmouth. Click here for further details. (Sustrans Ltd)

October 2006. Peasmarsh, nr. Guildford, Surrey. Following earlier reports in these pages, a new bridge at grid reference SU 995464 has just been opened over the River Wey Navigation at Peasmarsh. ‘New’ is a bit of an exaggeration, since the central span actually sits on the restored abutments of an old railway bridge, which was removed decades ago. The bridge forms part of a westward extension to the Downs Link which takes this popular railway path (from Shoreham-by-Sea and Christ’s Hospital) right up to Peasmarsh Junction (SU 991469), where the observant can still spot some old rails in the ground. For good measure, the long disused connection from Peasmarsh Junction towards Shalford has also been cleared and opened, these works as a whole creating – with the Wey Navigation – an interesting and attractive circular walk of just under two miles.

To the east of Peasmarsh, anyone following the Downs Link towards Bramley will cross another new bridge, this time over a stream, shortly after crossing the A281. It looks as if this new structure has been built on top of the old one, with the path built up on both sides so that it is barely noticeable. If our correspondent is right, this mimics the ‘bridge over a bridge’ further down the line at Rudgwick, which was constructed when the 19th century railway builders had to ease the gradient at Rudgwick station in order to meet the requirements of the Railway Inspector, who was concerned that trains calling there might run away back down the slope. The embankment leading into Rudgwick already contained a bridge, so the builders had not only to heighten the embankment, but also to build a new bridge on top of the original one. A few years ago, the local authority installed a viewing platform here so that path users can inspect this unusual structure – one of the strangest sights on any railway path. (Tim Grose/Jeff Vinter)

September 2006. Mirfield to Huddersfield (Newtown Goods), West Yorkshire. The whole of this 4½ mile former Midland Railway goods-only branch is now a cycleway. The first 2½ miles, including Bradley Viaduct, form part of the new Calder Valley Greenway and, at Bradley, the route connects into the existing two-mile long Birkby-Bradley Greenway. The Midland closed the line on 12th August 1937, so it has been lucky to survive intact for this re-use to be possible. (Ralph Rawlinson)

September 2006. Wootton Bridge to Whippingham, Isle of Wight. This new railway path starts opposite the Isle of Wight Steam Railway’s new Wootton Bridge station. To describe it as going to Whippingham is a bit of an exaggeration, since it goes to the now closed (and privately owned) Whippingham station, which was inconveniently situated nearly 2 miles from Whippingham village. Here, it joins an earlier railway path which follows the old Ryde to Newport line as far as Belmont Lane at grid reference SZ 517914, where a three-quarter mile diversion south-westwards along the nearby A3054 leads to Fairlee, where the route can be picked up again (at SZ 509905) and followed right through to Newport. This last section includes the short Newport Tunnel, now open to walkers and cyclists, and featuring a curious modern extension at the western end which suggests that Isle of Wight trains could negotiate the most extraordinary curves – visit it and see! The whole route is nearly 3 miles in length, with all but the road diversion on the former trackbed. A short distance away through the backstreets of Newport, the trackbed of the 1862 line to Cowes can be followed along the west bank of the River Medina, offering another 4½ miles of railway walking. Part way along the route, the hulk of the former ‘Ryde Queen’ presents a forlorn site on the east bank. Once a floating nightclub, this vessel started life as the paddle steamer ‘Ryde’, one of several such vessels which plied the Portsmouth-Ryde crossing until 1969. On our visit, the funnel had partially collapsed into the hull. (Roger Mayo/John Elson)

August 2006. Rye Area, East Sussex. A recent visit to Rye produced some pleasant surprises. Click here for further details. (Jeff Vinter/Richard Martin)

August 2006. Haltwhistle to Lambley and Alston (Northumberland/Cumbria). Following the recent restoration of Alston Arches Viaduct (actually in Haltwhistle), the whole of the former branch line from Haltwhistle to Alston is now open as a railway path. The route has long been known as the South Tyne Trail, but now continues 9½ miles beyond Alston, i.e. not on the former railway, to the source of the South Tyne River, east of Tynehead. See also the entry for March 2006 on the connecting Lambley to Brampton route, which was formerly Lord Carlisle’s Railway. (Jeff Vinter)

August 2006. Lincoln to Boston, Lincolnshire. As reported in March last year, Sustrans is converting the Great Northern Railway’s former line from Lincoln to Boston via Bardney into a cycle trail. The 9 mile section from Lincoln to Bardney is open already, but the remaining 15 miles into Boston should be complete by the end of this year. Known as the ‘Water Rail Way’ due to the proximity of local canals and drainage channels, this new railway path will form part of National Cycle Network Route 1 between Hull and Harwich. When finished, it will offer walkers and cyclists a quiet, off-road route between Lincoln and Boston, and is expected to generate about 320,000 trips per year. Update: In autumn 2006, Sustrans appointed contractors to build the next four miles of this route, from Bardney to Five Mile Bridge, including the renovation of Bardney Lock Viaduct over the River Witham. (Jeff Vinter; update by Ralph Rawlinson)

July 2006. Ludgershall to Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire. Two miles of the former Midland & South Western Junction Railway between Ludgershall (grid reference SU 260510) and Collingbourne Ducis (SU 245536) are now a ‘Defra Conservation Walk’, which is a form of permissive footpath. The walk is best tackled from the Ludgershall end, where a clear, beaten path can be seen leading up on to the trackbed opposite the army’s railhead on the south side of the A342. At the Collingbourne end, there is a steep drop at the site of a demolished bridge which leads down into a RUPP (a ‘road used as a public path’), so be prepared, and be careful. Irritatingly, there is no waymarking at either end, although Defra signs will be encountered along the way. (John Everest/Graham Lambert)

July 2006. Aughton northwards, Wiltshire. Staying with the M&SWJR, there is a further permissive walk on the trackbed which starts in the tiny village of Aughton at grid reference SU 241564. (Aughton is just north of Collingbourne Kingston on the A338.) This permissive walk follows the trackbed for 1¼ miles northwards to SU 241587, where it turns west to join local footpaths and, eventually, the A338 south of Burbage. At this point (i.e. SU 241587), a metalled road follows the trackbed as far as a pumping station, or something similar, which blocks further progress. Please note that the road on the trackbed is not part of the permissive walk, so please follow the waymarking signs, or return via the trackbed to Aughton. Notes: (1) This and the Defra path from Ludgershall to Collingbourne Ducis are reasonably close, and the two sections can be linked by using local roads and public footpaths – you will need OS Landranger maps 184 and 174. (2) If you are interested in the M&SWJR, you should have a look at Neil Lover’s comprehensive website on the line. (John Everest/Graham Lambert)

July 2006. Wells to Dulcote, Somerset. We are probably years late in finding out about this, but 1½ miles of the former East Somerset Railway has now been converted into a cycle trail between Wells and the village of Dulcote. This trail could become part of a large scheme to use old railways to create a cross-Somerset cycle network. For further details, click here to see entry for May. (Phillip Earnshaw)

July 2006. North Connel to Ballachulish (Glencoe), Oban/Highlands. While checking websites for news that had escaped our radar, your webmaster came belatedly across a Sustrans proposal which seeks to convert as much as possible of the former Caledonian Railway’s line from North Connel to Ballachulish into part of National Cycle Network Route 78 between Oban and Fort William. The railway based part of the route could be as much as 27 miles long, affording excellent coastal views. (Jeff Vinter)

May 2006. Oswestry to Nantmawr, Shropshire. Following a £2.1m restoration, the former railway station at Oswestry should now be open as a tourism hub, featuring shops, offices, a tourist centre, restaurant and new coach park facility. Many original Cambrian Railway features have been retained. Earlier in February, Shropshire County Council was set to buy the whole of the line from Gobowen to Oswestry, Llynclys Junction, Blodwell Junction and Nantmawr Quarry. The council intends operating the line as part railway and part cycle track, with the railway part leased to either the Cambrian Railways Society or the Cambrian Railways Trust. (Ralph Rawlinson)

May 2006. Takeley, Essex. After years of neglect, Takeley station (near the eastern end of the Flitch Way between Bishop’s Stortford and Braintree) has finally been restored. It has become the Flitch Way Rangers Office and is reported to display scenes of the former railway, closed to passengers in 1952 and freight in 1966. We are delighted that Essex County Council took action before it was too late to save the building. (Phil Wood)

May 2006. Cheddar to Shepton Mallet, Somerset. There is quite a lot going on here, as can be seen below:

• Cheddar to Wells. Somerset County Council has recently lodged a planning application to construct a shared path between Cheddar and Wells, using as much as possible of the old railway line that once linked them. (This was the original East Somerset Railway, whose name has been revived by the preserved railway based at Cranmore.) A section of the new path is already open between Wells and Haybridge.
• Cheddar to Dulcote. Phillip Earnshaw reports that a railway path of about 1½ miles has been built on the old ESR trackbed between Cheddar and Dulcote. Construction of this escaped our radar, so we do not know how long it has been in place.
• Dulcote to Shepton Mallet. In March, the equestrian group Mendip Cross Trails Trust (MCTT) and Let-Everyone-Go-Safely (LEGS, a group of residents from Wells) applied to the Somerset Aggregated Levy Sustainable Fund for a grant to finance a feasibility study by Sustrans into using the old railway line from Dulcote to Shepton Mallet as a further multi-use path. (Until 1969, Dulcote Quarry remained rail-connected eastwards to Witham Friary for stone traffic.)
• Shepton Mallet to Cranmore and Elsewhere. This is where it gets really interesting! At Shepton Mallet, the East Somerset Railway crossed the Somerset & Dorset line, so Sustrans intends to include in its brief a study of the disused railways leading to Cranmore (ESR), Radstock (S&D) and Evercreech (S&D).

The ultimate goal of these proposals is to create a ‘Cross Somerset’ path linking the railway stations at Frome and Yatton. (Phillip Earnshaw/Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society)

April 2006. Bodmin and Wenfordbridge, Cornwall. Most railway paths re-use closed railways, but at Bodmin a new 1¼ mile trail now runs alongside the Bodmin & Wenford Railway. The trail, a cross-town link from east to west Bodmin, accompanies the B&WR’s preserved line from Bodmin General to Boscarne Junction between Bawden Road and Halgaver Road. In the same area, there have been two extensions to the popular Camel Trail, which re-uses the trackbed of the 1834 Bodmin & Wadebridge Railway, and the North Cornwall Railway’s later extension from Wadebridge to Padstow. These are Bodmin Gaol to Scarletts Well (¼ mile), which takes the Camel Trail right into the heart of Bodmin, and Poleys Bridge to Wenfordbridge, near St. Breward (¾ mile), which extends the trail to the 1836 terminus of the line. (Jeff Vinter from NCDC press release)

March 2006. Hengoed, Caerphilly. Railway paths do not have to be especially long to be useful. The 16 arch, 130ft high Hengoed Viaduct hosted a ceremony in November last year to celebrate its £1.8 million restoration. The path over the structure sees heavy use, not least because it links Maesycwmmer with Hengoed station. The ‘Wheel of Drams’ sculpture adjoining the viaduct, designed by Andy Hazell and completed in June 2000, is also noteworthy and can be viewed here. (Ralph Rawlinson/Jeff Vinter)

March 2006. Dunton Green to Westerham, Kent. This line closed on Saturday 28 October 1961, so this year sees the 45th anniversary of the closure. As luck would have it, 28 October 2006 is also a Saturday, so member Ron Strutt is considering an anniversary visit to the remains of the railway. While about half the line has disappeared under the hard shoulder of the M25, a local website (click here) states that it is possible to walk the mile or so from Dunton Green to the site of Chevening Halt. Ron believes that the trackbed was bought by Kent County Council and assumes that it is still in their ownership, although it is not a dedicated right of way. There is a similar stretch at the Westerham end which might possibly be accessible – we are happy to negotiate with landowners for a one-off visit. Any information from local residents would be gratefully received via the e-mail link on our Contact page. (Ron Strutt)

March 2006. Thorndon Cross to Halwill Junction, Devon. The county of Devon is already well endowed with railway paths, but still new schemes are coming forward. The latest of these, discussed recently by the Devon Local Access Forum, is a proposal to convert 7 miles of trackbed between Thorndon Cross and Halwill Junction (on the former Meldon Junction to Bude line) into a bridleway. Beyond Halwill Junction, part of this line has already been converted into a cycle trail in the Holsworthy area, including a fine viaduct to the west of the town. (Ralph Rawlinson)

March 2006. Lambley to Brampton Junction, Northumberland/Cumbria. The first phase of the Lord Carlisle Railway Path is now open from Lambley to Tindale (4½ miles). Subject to funding, it is hoped to extend the path to Hallbankgate (a further 2½ miles) later this year, which will leave just under a mile to Brampton Junction on the still open Newcastle-Carlisle line. This new trail connects with the South Tyne Trail at Lambley just after it has crossed the River South Tyne on Lambley Viaduct, which is worth a visit in its own right. Update: Click here for Peter Burgess’s excellent history of this former railway, including archive photographs and 60 recent views, accessible from the ‘Pictures’ link. (Ralph Rawlinson)

February 2006. Bedford to Sandy, Bedfordshire. Almost the whole of this line has been converted into a railway-based cycle trail, but its future has been under threat for some time since it once formed part of a through route from Oxford to Cambridge which was due for re-opening. However, the government has now announced that this scheme has been put on hold for at least 20 years, so cyclists and railway ramblers can continue to use the old line for the foreseeable future. (Ralph Rawlinson)

February 2006. Cranleigh, Surrey. The old Guildford to Horsham railway, which used to run through the centre of Cranleigh, is now the Downs Link long distance trail. The route through the village has recently been improved and widened, and the crossing arrangements in Station Road made safer. We assume that this work was carried out by Surrey County Council and/or Waverley District Council, who maintain the trail. (Tim Grose)

February 2006.Stalbridge to Corfe Mullen, Dorset. This will be a good year for fans of the former Somerset & Dorset Railway, which Dorset County Council and its partners are slowly converting into a long distance rail trail called the North Dorset Trailway. According to the council’s latest circular, ‘This year, more work than ever before will be undertaken to help create the Trailway.’ The first activity was a clearance day on 4 February, when volunteers cut back years of vegetation that blocked access to the site of the long demolished bridge over the River Stour near Fiddleford Mill. A new bridge is due to be installed at this location in the autumn. For further details, click here for our report. (Dorset Countryside/Tim Grose)

January 2006. Havant to Hayling Island, Hampshire. Unfortunately, plans to build a new bridge across Langstone Harbour on the piers of the old railway bridge have had to be scrapped. The news from the Transport Department at Havant Borough Council was that the proposal by Sustrans to construct a suspension bridge was ‘unattainable’ due to the prohibitive cost – a result of the type of bridge proposed, which had to be very high to allow sailing boats to pass underneath. There were also problems with the existing bridge piers, which have received no maintenance since before the line closed in 1963. Currently, Hampshire County Council is looking into widening the approaches to the existing road bridge (on the A3023) to accommodate a shared use path. Although this is not the ideal solution, it would mean that cyclists could continue their journey without having to cycle on the carriageway alongside road traffic, which can be very heavy here. (Tracey Ford/Jeff Vinter)

January 2006. Alvescot to Little Faringdon Crossing, Gloucestershire. Public bridleways have now been dedicated along two lengths of the former GWR Fairford branch east of Lechlade, namely:

• SP261026 to SP253018 (¾ mile), and
• SP243009 to SP235006 (½ mile)

Local footpaths can be used to link these two sections together. While little of the Fairford branch is available to walkers nowadays, it has a superb website which can be viewed by clicking here. (Jeff Vinter)

January 2006. Tetbury, Gloucestershire. A 1½ mile linear walk and cycle trail has been established on part of the former Tetbury to Kemble branch, starting at the long-abandoned goods shed in the town and running in a north-easterly direction towards the tiny community of Ilsom. Amazingly, parts of the route were still owned by the BR Property Board, nearly 40 years since the last train ran! (Jeff Vinter) Update: Further details of the plans for this route will be found on our 2014 page; click here.

January 2006. Havant to Hayling Island, Hampshire. Havant Borough Council has added to its website this extremely useful section on the Hayling Billy Trail, a railway path which utilises the trackbed of the old Havant to Hayling Island branch line The trail is intended eventually to accommodate the South Coast Cycle Trail from Chichester to Portsmouth, which will be routed via Hayling Island and the ferry over Langstone Channel (Sinah-Eastney) in order to avoid heavy traffic on the east side of Portsea Island. The web pages on the trail include some excellent archive material. (Jeff Vinter)

January 2006. West Auckland to Ramshaw, County Durham. This two mile section of the former line from West Auckland to Barnard Castle has now been converted into a public footpath. (Ralph Rawlinson)

January 2006. Leicester. The Great Central Way used to cross Western Boulevard in Leicester by a large bowstring girder bridge, but the trail was diverted alongside the the River Soar after the council discovered that repairs would cost £495,000. As a result, the council has now opted for demolition. It would be interesting to know if the council obtained multiple quotations for the repairs, since this sounds reminiscent of the ‘scare costs’ presented by British Rail in the 1980s to make a case for closing the Settle-Carlisle line. (Ralph Rawlinson)

January 2006. Tiffield, Northamptonshire. Thirty volunteers at Tiffield who cleaned up an embankment on the former Stratford and Midland Junction Railway to make it suitable for walkers have been presented with a ‘Sustainable Community Award’ by the Mayor of Northampton. (Ralph Rawlinson)

January 2006. Stranraer, Dumfries & Galloway. Sustrans reports that Dumfries & Galloway Council is progressing the Stranraer Branch cycleway, which will utilise the former Military Railway to link Stranraer with Cairnryan for the Irish ferries. (Ralph Rawlinson)

January 2006. Drumgelloch to Bathgate, North Lanarkshire/West Lothian. Work is expected to start on re-building a double track line between Drumgelloch and Bathgate in 2007. When complete, the reinstated route will provide a 15-minute interval service of electric trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Until then, members may wish to take advantage of the well established 14 mile cycle trail that currently occupies the trackbed – there will be no room for it when the line is relaid. (Ralph Rawlinson)

January 2006. Hengoed, Mid Glamorgan. Work is expected to be completed soon on the listed 16-arch Hengoed Viaduct, which once formed part of the GWR branch line from Hengoed to Pontypool Road. The £1.2 million restoration scheme, started in June 2004, includes masonry repairs, re-pointing, new safety fencing and lighting. (Ralph Rawlinson)

January 2006. Sandford & Banwell, Somerset. This station on the former GWR Yatton to Cheddar line was for many years the home of Sandford Stone, who used it as offices for their retail operation in the old station yard. Unfortunately, Sandford Stone has now gone out of business and the site has been purchased by the Bird Group, which is expected to apply for planning permission for housing and possibly business units. Fortunately, the station buildings are all listed and should therefore survive. (Cheddar Valley Railway Walk Society)

Our hawk-eyed member from Morecambe has been keeping a watching brief on legislative and other changes that will affect Britain’s railways, past and present. This is his report:

• Future Railway Closures. From 1 December 2006, new procedures for the closure of stations and withdrawal of passenger train services came into effect. The details are summarised below.

  Under the terms of the Railways Act 2005, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) will decide whether a closure proposal meets new Government guidelines based on a cost-benefit analysis. If the ORR agrees with the proposal, it will issue a Closure Ratification Notice. The ORR inspectors will have to restrict themselves to the guidelines, which are based on economic, environmental, accessibility, integration and safety aspects plus the projected cost of maintaining residual liabilities such as bridges and tunnels.

  They will not be able to refuse a closure notice simply because they don’t agree with it, neither will there be a formal appeals procedure against the ORR’s decisions. However, one positive aspect of the new legislation is that the company proposing closure must in future first examine every reasonable alternative for the retention of services, including handing over the line to a Community Rail Partnership.

• Protection of Closed Railway Routes. The Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander, was asked recently in Parliament whether it is his department’s policy to protect for future rail development the disused rail route through Woodhead Tunnel. His reply was that, ‘The protection of the rail route through the Woodhead tunnel is the responsibility of the local and regional planning authorities.’ This statement is important because:

• It prevents the local authorities concerned claiming that it is outside their remit.
• It presumably also applies to other disused routes with or without tunnels.
• New guidelines recommend releasing and fast-tracking more greenfeld sites (e.g. disused railways) for housing and commercial development.

We should all be vigilant and bring to other members’ attention all instances of local planning applications involving closed lines, especially those proposed for re-opening.

• Railway Photography. Since the railway bombings in this country and Spain, many security and railway staff have over-reacted, preventing anyone from using a camera on a station or near the railway. The Railway Magazine, having received an assurance from ATOC (the Association of Train Operating Companies) some time ago that railway photography is not banned, have been running a campaign to get the message across. Apparently even some British Transport Police officers were not aware of the situation.

  Their advice about photography reads as follows: ‘You can take photographs at stations for personal use. For any commercial photography, you must seek prior permission from the appropriate train operator or from Network Rail at their 17 major stations. If you use a tripod, please ensure it doesn’t obstruction (sic) other passengers, keep it away from platform edges and behind the yellow line. You’re not allowed to use flash photography on platforms as it is a potential safety hazard. We also ask that you do not take photographs of security related equipment such as CCTV cameras.’

  This is useful advice for anyone visiting working railway locations and, hopefully, the TOCs will recognise these guidelines as well and we’ll see an end to officious station staff giving photographers the order of the boot. It might be an idea to print this out and keep a copy in your camera bag … !

This is the text of a report published by Sustrans in its Autumn 2006 edition of The Hub (South East/South Central).

‘Lottery funding has been won to create a new walking and cycling route from Carisbrooke (west of Newport) through to Yarmouth, to form National Route 22 along the disused railway track. Nearly £2 million has been awarded from the Heritage Lottery Fund for 17 projects to improve the area’s landscape. The scheme, called “Through the Eye of the Needles”, has been put together by the West Wight Landscape Partnership, with support from the Isle of Wight Council’s Agenda 21 unit and Sustrans.

‘The scheme will deliver projects ranging from physical improvements to landscape features, heritage trails, new memorial features, educational projects with local schools, and training in traditional building and countryside techniques. The keynote project will be to create National Route 22 between Yarmouth and Newport, and to provide a better experience for visitors who want to understand the landscape and its cultural associations. Furthermore, the route will eventually connect east towards Newport via a number of schools in the region, providing additional Safer Routes to Schools. Design work is under way, landowners are being contacted, and the scheme will be submitted for Planning Approval during 2007. We hope that all work can be completed by 2009.’
 

This is a report on a recent visit to Rye in East Sussex by Richard Martin and Jeff Vinter. The mileages in brackets indicate the length of publicly accessible trackbed in each case – as can be seen, there is no shortage of railway walking in the area.

• The Rye & Camber Tramway (1½ miles). Virtually all of the extant trackbed of this 2½ mile long, 3ft. gauge line can now be walked. It is best to start at the Rye end, where the trackbed can be accessed just off the A259 at grid reference TQ 925206. Two footpaths start here, so take care to follow the northerly one that passes the southern boundary of the local school. Nearly a mile of the route, including Halfway House station, has been lost beneath Northpoint Beach, which is now a lake for water sports, but a diversion around the southern edge of the lake can be followed to TQ 942195, where the line is rejoined. From here, the trackbed survives as a concrete road, with the original rails still evident in places. (The army laid the concrete during World War 2, when numerous supply dumps were built in the Rye area.) Golf Links station survives at TQ 944191, where the rails of a passing loop can still be seen. Shortly after this, there’s a revelation: Rye Golf Club has opened a permissive footpath across the rest of the trackbed, which survives as a shallow, grassy embankment across its golf links. The line continues to the site of Camber Sands station (presumed to be at TQ 955188), but there is no trace of the timber structure which once stood here. A few yards to the south, a kissing gate leads on to a sandy footpath from the nearby dunes: turn left here to reach Camber Road, which connects Rye with Camber. There is a bus stop to the right along Camber Road, called ‘Camber Farm Lane’, from which buses can be caught back to Rye (hourly Monday to Saturday, two-hourly Sunday).
• The Rye Harbour Branch (1 mile). This 1½ mile standard gauge branch left the Ashford-Hastings line just west of Rye station. It can be joined on the southern edge of Rye at grid reference TQ 920199, where a kissing gate leads on to a narrow waymarked path enclosed by bushes. This is the trackbed, which soon opens out on to a shallow embankment across sheep pastures, with fine views of Camber Castle to the south. The old railway can now be followed, with very minor diversions, as far as the former level crossing on Harbour Road (TQ 936192). Do not turn back here, but continue by road to Rye Harbour, turn left at the T junction where Harbour Road ends, and walk past the William the Conqueror pub to the water’s edge. Turn left here and you will see the railway trackbed heading back towards Rye. Look around carefully, and you will see another grassy embankment nearby, which carried a branch off of the branch. While you are here, do not be surprised to see railway trackbeds heading off at 90 degrees to each other: there were three wagon turntables in Rye Harbour, which explain how this seemingly impossible feat was achieved. There is a bus stop near the end of Harbour Road, from which buses can be caught back to Rye (half hourly Monday to Saturday, limited service Sunday).
• The Pett Level Tramway (4½ miles). We did not have time to explore this line in detail, since we discovered it quite by accident when studying a 1936 edition of the Ordnance Survey’s one inch map of Hastings. The line started immediately north of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Rye Harbour and then negotiated a large ‘S’ bend to reach the beach at TQ 940177. From here, it followed the coast in a south westerly direction to TQ 904147 on the seaward edge of Pett Level. The line was built in 1934 to a gauge of 2ft. and extended for 5 miles. It was used in the construction of sea defences along Winchelsea Beach, but this work was completed in 1946, when the line was abandoned. Study of the modern Explorer map (number 125) indicates that footpaths follow the route from TQ 938189 to TQ 935184, and from TQ 941180 to TQ 944178. At the latter point, the trackbed reaches the coastal path, where the tramway turned south west towards Hastings. A comparison of the old and new maps suggests that the coastal path follows the course of the old tramway as far as Pett Level Road on Winchelsea Beach (TQ 912166).

This article is based substantially on the text of a circular letter from Dorset County Council dated 30 January 2006.

The North Dorset Trailway project is the re-use of the Somerset & Dorset old railway line as a sustainable transport and recreational route, similar to a surfaced bridleway. The Trailway has sparked the imagination of local people, and it is encouraging that the community of North Dorset has shown an interest in how it is progressing. It is part of Dorset County Council’s and North Dorset District Council’s policy to try and make the North Dorset Trailway become a reality.

This year, more work than ever before will be undertaken to help create the Trailway. This work involves:

• Surfacing of the remaining section of old railway line at Shillingstone, funded by Dorset County Council’s (DCC) Local Transport Plan at a cost of £7,500. This work started on 30th January 2006.
• A new 75 metre bridleway bridge will be built over the River Stour at Fiddleford linking the Trailway between Sturminster Newton and Hammoon (north west of Child Okeford). This is funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) administered by North Dorset District Council’s (NDDC) Liveability Fund, at a cost of over £200,000. Construction is planned for September 2006.
• A Planning Application has been submitted so that Dorset County Council can progress the Trailway from Charlton Marshall to Blandford. Hopefully, work to surface this section will take place next year, funded by DCC’s Local Transport Plan.
• A 300 metre section of old railway line is to be surfaced to extend the Blandford section northwards at a cost of £5,000 paid for by the Liveability Fund. This will be surfaced in April 2006.
• In 2005, a Trailway leaflet was produced by DCC, explaining the Trailway concept and the sections that are currently open to the public, 5,000 have been produced and distributed around the district. The £800 printing costs were paid for by the Liveability Fund.
• New bridge and access points are to be built on the old railway line at Corfe Mullen at a cost of £10,000, funded by East Dorset District Council (EDDC) and managed by DCC. This will be constructed in March 2006 subject to the resolution of a legal issue with a neighbouring landowner.
• A 600 metre section of old railway line at Stalbridge (owned by Wessex Water) will be surfaced at a cost of £10,000, funded through NDDC’s Liveability Fund. This should be constructed in March 2006.
• A survey of the route will be carried out to assess the current status and begin liaison with private landowners along the route.

The largest obstacle to the delivery of this project is not funding, but the large sections that are in private ownership. Some landowners are supporting the project and this has enabled the progression of the Fiddleford Bridge project and permissive routes to be developed. The Senior Countryside Ranger with NDDC is confident that the North Dorset Trailway will become a reality and more landowners will support the project in the future.

Other Trailways in the country, such as the Tarka Trail in Devon and the Camel Trail in Cornwall, have achieved huge success both as tourist attractions and as sustainable transport routes for the local community. It is hoped that the North Dorset Trailway will rank alongside these in the future.