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Walking Britain's Lost Railways


melmerby
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Just watching the Devon episode

Why when he visited Meldon quarry did he have to have full orange, hard hat and eye protection???

They had company logos so I hope someone who was planning on using this company went elsewhere for stone as a result of some absolute idiot thinking it was good for this over zealous application of H&S rules.... Its a bloody walk in the country, god help us if this ******* ever goes for a day out at Stonehenge!!!

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Of course those of us who have worked with such things know that Meldon stone was in no way the best for railway ballast. The stuff to use is still the pink variety from Scotland. It is ironic that when the quarry was operating we used to stable Stoneblowers there LOL

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Just watching the Devon episode

Why when he visited Meldon quarry did he have to have full orange, hard hat and eye protection???

They had company logos so I hope someone who was planning on using this company went elsewhere for stone as a result of some absolute idiot thinking it was good for this over zealous application of H&S rules.... Its a bloody walk in the country, god help us if this ******* ever goes for a day out at Stonehenge!!!

 

AFAIK The quarry is mothballed and you are still required to wear full PP.

 

If there wasn't such a thing as 'personal stupidity' there wouldn't be a need to be 'Over Zealous', Although people think that being a Fireman etc is dangerous the reality is that construction is one of the most dangerous occupations.

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Just goes to prove that you can't please all of the people all of the time!

 

For me. who at 72 still has lots to learn about railways, I found lots of points of interest.  I also find that Mr Bell's presentation style is good but of course we have to remember that Producers and directors have a significant say in the finished product.

 

Much as I like cookery, houses and antiques, it is good to see ch5 venturing into railways, bridges and ships etc.

Yes it has to appeal to people with interest in things along the way. Not just Railway enthusiasts it would not get the ratings to keep it worth while making. If you showed a drivers eye view of a railway route for an hour. Some would find that of great interest. Some like my other half would say its like watching paint dry

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I think it's fair to say that with programmes like this, many of us have sufficient knowledge of the subject matter to enable us to get critical or pedantic over errors or omissions on the part of the producers or presenter, but at the end of the day, it's still great to have railway coverage on mainstream TV.

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I was on the "Granite Way" on Wednesday. Rusty rail tops between Okehampton and Meldon and at one point plants seemed to have completely taken over the track but there were signs of activity on site and I heard a muffled explosion while I was walking back. Could have been the Army up on Dartmoor, though, I suppose.

 

I'll post some photos if I can find an appropriate thread. Any suggestions?

Edited by Harlequin
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Yes it has to appeal to people with interest in things along the way. Not just Railway enthusiasts it would not get the ratings to keep it worth while making. If you showed a drivers eye view of a railway route for an hour. Some would find that of great interest. Some like my other half would say its like watching paint dry

I'm a railway enthusiast and I  find driver's eye views of railways like watching paint dry!  I never could get on with train driving simulations and always ended up going to one of the drone's eye views.

 

In the brief period in the early 1960s between the new DMU's going into service with front facing windows and their drivers annoying us greatly when most of them took to dropping the blinds, it was a novelty to have the forward view (as it is on the DLR and the Tyneside Metro)  but we never just stared forward the whole time.  

Edited by Pacific231G
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I'm a railway enthusiast and I  find driver's eye views of railways like watching paint dry!  I never could get on with train driving simulations and always ended up going to one of the drone's eye views.

 

In the brief period in the early 1960s between the new DMU's going into service with front facing windows and their drivers annoying us greatly when most of them took to dropping the blinds, it was a novelty to have the forward view (as it is on the DLR and the Tyneside Metro)  but we never just stared forward the whole time.  

Dropping the blinds Ha Ha. Or when someone else is sitting in the front seats when you got on

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I'll be ineterested to se how he tackles Penrith to Workington, which I believe is tonight's foray.

It is a line I am pretty familiar with having traced much of it when I lived in Keswick.

Much of the track bed from Penrith to Keswick is intact and easy to follow apart from the lack of a bridge/embankment at Beckes.

Unfortunately much damage was done during 2015's winter's storms and 2 bridges and an embankment were washed away

 

East of Keswick much of it has been used to upgrade the A66, however Bassenthwaite Station stands in splendid isolation rotting in a copse of trees.

Some of the Lineside buildings between Bassenthwaite & Cockermouth are extant alongside the A66 which is now on the railway formation.

 

Cedric Martindale of CKP Railways is hoping to get the line from Penrith to Keswick re-opened.

http://www.keswickrailway.com/

 

Keith

Edited by melmerby
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I was on the "Granite Way" on Wednesday. Rusty rail tops between Okehampton and Meldon and at one point plants seemed to have completely taken over the track but there were signs of activity on site and I heard a muffled explosion while I was walking back. Could have been the Army up on Dartmoor, though, I suppose.

 

I'll post some photos if I can find an appropriate thread. Any suggestions?

Hi Phil, there's a thread I started on the North Devon line with some pictures I took on the Okehampton line last year

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/88854-north-devon-line-was-eggesford-july-2014/?fromsearch=1

 

Your pictures would be welcome there!

 

EDIT sorry, just realised you've already posted pictures of Eggesford there ...

Edited by Ramblin Rich
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Hi Phil, there's a thread I started on the North Devon line with some pictures I took on the Okehampton line last year

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/88854-north-devon-line-was-eggesford-july-2014/?fromsearch=1

 

Your pictures would be welcome there!

 

EDIT sorry, just realised you've already posted pictures of Eggesford there ...

Thanks Rich,

 

Yes, I've posted in that thread before but the Okehampton/Meldon line didn't feel like "North Devon" to me... (Just me?)

 

Anyway I've posted some of my Meldon pics there now.

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What did others think of the Penrith - Cockermouth walk?

 

I was somewhat underwhelmed by the lack of railway trackbed that was actually walked (or even shown)!

Most is still there, some is not accessible but a lot is and no opportunity was taken for a view of the A66 proper on the railway alignment, just a view from the lakeside walk.

There are a few possible now and then views available but they didn't bother.

 

Keith

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Unlike the Scottish one where the law is different about where you can and can't walk (they have the right to roam) you will always find that you have to adhere to paths.

 

All of the episodes need to be looked at as ways to see the countryside and the railway route is the main theme in attempting to get from A to B.

 

Presumably from the opening showing Llangollen there is one based upon the Cambrian which could also include Bala.

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Unlike the Scottish one where the law is different about where you can and can't walk (they have the right to roam) you will always find that you have to adhere to paths.

 

But when you are make a programme like this you ask landowners and permission is often forthcoming.

He has been to a few places off-limits to the casual walker. Some of where he has been is definitely not a public footpath.

 

I was also puzzled by the concentration on the Force Crag mine which never had a direct connection to the railway whereas the Threlkeld Quarry did and the station itself was probably one of the most important intermediate station between Penrith, Keswick & Cockermouth as well as the site still being publicly accessible.

(He could also had a ride on a steam hauled NG train at the Quarry museum :yes:)

 

Keith

 

EDIT Penrith added

Edited by melmerby
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Cedric Martindale of CKP Railways is hoping to get the line from Penrith to Keswick re-opened.

http://www.keswickrailway.com/

 

 

 

What did others think of the Penrith - Cockermouth walk?

 

Well, I was disappointed that they didn't mention Cedric (who is an old chum) and his long-running and highly praiseworthy scheme to reopen the line. Someone, somewhere missed a trick there. I'd be willing to bet that Cedric didn't even know that the programme was being made, otherwise I'm sure he'd have wanted to get a mention, and rightly so.

 

I was disappointed by the (?)National Parks(?) lady who was discussing the reopening of the cycle way, following the flood damage a couple of years earlier. The whole prospect of the railway reopening was completely played down. Such a scheme would benefit the National Park considerably.

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Yesterday's episode regarding the LSWR route between Bere Alston and Okehampton was somewhat weird.

Mr Bell seems to have a problem navigating - perhaps if he used a selection of old and new 1inch/1:50000 OS maps rather than an ancient 2miles:1inch Bartholomew's cycling map he would get a better idea of how to get to wherever he needed to be.

Secondly, he completely overlooked the elephant in the room when he considered the reopening of the line - Whilst there are undoubtedly local reasons for reopening [parts of] the route, its role as a diversionary route when inevitably the Dawlish route gets washed away sometime in the future was completely overlooked. I would suggest that that was a more important point that needed to be brought out in the program. 

I find it surprising in the extreme that the local expert [from the Dartmoor Railway] on the train in the final part of the film at Okehampton either didn't mention the diversionary element or got that bit edited out if he did mention it.

 

A post production sound person needs sacking

 

08s DO NOT CHUFF :nono: :threaten: :punish: :blackeye: :ireful:

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I thought episode 1 made a decent advert for that part of Scotland, I would go if I lived closer.

I had visited Penistone once, in 1981, shortly before closure so found episode 2 interesting also.

I have walked part of the Granite Way on several occasions so episode 3 was more familiar to me and I enjoyed it.

 

So far in each of the first three episode I have been left wanting to know more, but overall they have been better than I had hoped,

 

cheers 

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Unlike the Scottish one where the law is different about where you can and can't walk (they have the right to roam) you will always find that you have to adhere to paths.

 

All of the episodes need to be looked at as ways to see the countryside and the railway route is the main theme in attempting to get from A to B.

 

Presumably from the opening showing Llangollen there is one based upon the Cambrian which could also include Bala.

 

To be pedantic Llangollen and Bala weren't Cambrian Railways.

 

They were GWR absorbed from minor railways. Worked by the GWR from the start.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruabon–Barmouth_line

 

The bit that was Cambrian is the section that Julia Bradbury has already done. Which is the section from Dolgellau to Barmouth.

 

 

 

Jason

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  • 2 weeks later...

Watching this series was like having teeth pulled without an anaesthetic.

 

It might have been better as "Slow TV", following the routes, with Steadycam and drone footage, and occasional in picture captions to explain or highlight points of interest.

 

Anything but Babbling Bell!

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Watching this series was like having teeth pulled without an anaesthetic.

 

It might have been better as "Slow TV", following the routes, with Steadycam and drone footage, and occasional in picture captions to explain or highlight points of interest.

 

Anything but Babbling Bell!

 

I think we all got the message from page 1 of this thread and your subsequent posts that you dont like the series, you dont have to keep reminding us what your opinon is.

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  • 6 months later...
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This series has just reached Australia and I watched the Plymouth - Okehampton episode this week (Scotland is next week apparently).

 

I rather enjoyed it once it got past the rather contrived "I can't find the route" of the first ten minutes.

 

I especially enjoyed the restored Brentor station, with a welcome counterbalance from the owner to the "we must reopen all disused railways" trope. I also enjoyed the Army target railway and Meldon (although I'm convinced he called it Melbourne - perhaps the show was redubbed for antipodean viewers?) segments as well although I agree with others that the Okehampton segment itself was a bit lame.

 

I'll certainly give the others a try.

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