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Walking Britain's Lost Railways S2


Hroth
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Sunday 8th, 8pm. Ch5

 

Rob Bell strides forth to get lost and be put on the  right track by  garrulous locals as he explores disused  railways.   Tonight,  the former Midland mainline  in Derbyshire.

 

Next week, the Durham  coalfields.

 

Enjoy?

 

 

Edited by Hroth
forgot the channel.....
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2 minutes ago, gwrrob said:

Do you know what lines are covered in the other four episodes of the series?

 

No, all I've seen so far is what's listed on the Ch5 website and the Radio Times website, which details the contents a bit more.

 

https://www.channel5.com/show/walking-britains-lost-railways/

https://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/kyxbk5/walking-britains-lost-railways--s2-e1-derbyshire/

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Hroth said:

Sunday 8th, 8pm. Ch5

 

Rob Bell strides forth to get lost and be put on the  right track by  garrulous locals as he explores disused  railways.   Tonight,  the former Midland mainline  in Derbyshire.

 

Next week, the Durham  coalfields.

 

Enjoy?

 

 


Thank you for the heads up....a refreshing alternative to the “labours” of the BBC 1 offering.The Monsal Trail ....if this is indeed what it is.....is a great walk and cycle trail.It’s possible to walk on the track bed from near Rowsley all the way via Bakewell and Monsal Dale,through the lit and renewed tunnels and over the viaduct  to Millers Dale and on to its end near Peak Forest .You should tarry for refreshment by taking a short but rewarding detour to my favourite pub....The Packhorse at Little Longstone.Bikes can be hired at Hassop ( closed well before the line did ) Station cafe. Enjoy. Last summer my son and grandson biked it,while the two wrinkles walked their dog.Nice.I should add that I did travel the length of the line once from Matlock to Manchester Central ( Now the GMex Centre) outward behind a Stanier Black 5 and return behind Sulzer Peak (aka Class 45) the latter on a Manchester-St.Pancras express.Its an eerie feeling when I now walk the line to recall that and I swear I can hear ghosts of journeys past.Now it’s cycle bells  we hear rather than the clatter of a Sulzer or an 8F banked up the grade from Rowsley.

Edited by Ian Hargrave
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Not sure the explanation for the lavish nature of Millers Dale station was accurate.  I've always understood it was a larger station than the others, despite serving an equally tiny place, because it was the only level section on the route and therefore a good place for loops and to stop the expresses for the connecting train to Buxton.  And there must surely have been other five-platform stations away from major cities.  

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2 hours ago, Edwin_m said:

Not sure the explanation for the lavish nature of Millers Dale station was accurate.  I've always understood it was a larger station than the others, despite serving an equally tiny place, because it was the only level section on the route and therefore a good place for loops and to stop the expresses for the connecting train to Buxton.  And there must surely have been other five-platform stations away from major cities.  

I thought that as well. There's definitely Horsted Keynes, which is in the middles of nowhere.  Grantham also had 5 platforms at one time, and that's not a major city (although far bigger than Miller's Dale). 

 

I was also amused by the interview with the residents of Litton Mill. which went something like:

 

"Do you know about this history of this place?" (expects to tell them of the notorious history of the place)

"Yes we do"

 

I thought there was some nice archive and aerial footage in the show, but it was a bit too dumbed down for my liking. 

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15 hours ago, Hroth said:

I think they learned from the last series, I enjoyed it!!!

 

But there's still nothing more depressing than a repurposed railway track...

There is - one that has been built on or ploughed up. At least you can still use the ones converted to trails.

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2 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

There is - one that has been built on or ploughed up. At least you can still use the ones converted to trails.


Nothing new in using disused railway trackbeds as a footpath.As a child growing up in the 1940’s in a South Wales Valley there was such a track....disused since the 1920’s.... that ran along the side of the valley for several miles .It became a public right of way and was and as far as I know still is in daily use.

    
    It was known simply as “the line” .I wonder what it’s current title is ,some fifty years on ?

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Back in 1981 (I think it was), as a very junior member of the then newly-formed 'Railway Ramblers' (still going, railwayramblers.org.uk), there was a televised group 'ramble' along the Monsal Dale route, well before it became an official footpath and cycle route.

 

Back then I missed the broadcast of the TV programme as it was in July when I was on a family holiday in France, and of course no catch-up etc in those days! I was aged around 13 or so, and am still a member of Railway Ramblers today.

 

The Monsal Dale line is one of my favourite old railways too, many happy memories over the years exploring the route.

 

cheers,

 

Keith

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I think they did a fair job of it.Captured the old spirit and physical impact of the line on the landscape....something which John Ruskin roundly detested,claiming that its construction meant that “every fool in Buxton could be in Bakewell in half an hour “.....and vice versa.If you fly into Manchester Airport,you can occasionally spot the Monsal Viaduct in the landscape below you from the comfort of your aircraft window...a somewhat different view.

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Episode 3 will be North Wales

 

In Bangor, Rob explores a lost line built as early as 1801, to transport Welsh slate from the local quarry, down to the port. It was a private line, built, owned and controlled by the all-powerful Pennant Family, who’s fantastical mock-medieval home Rob visits. Their old quarry, was once the largest in the world, but is now a giant, mile-wide hole… the perfect place, Rob discovers, for the world’s fastest zip-line.

 

https://www.tcbmediarights.com/screeners/walking_britains_lost_railways.html

 

Cheers

 

Nev

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So, a jaunt to Penrhyn Castle and an oggle at "Fire Queen" and her companions!

 

But whats a zip-wire got to do with lost railways?

 

Uninteresting factoid:  As the gauge of "Fire Queen" is 4ft, a 4mm model on 16.5mm track would be almost exactly to scale!

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Had a look last night.

 

Strange walk. Did he have a Tardis? He was in one place and then the next shot was elsewhere, then back in the first place, then somewhere totally different.

 

Penrhyn, then Llanberis, then Carnarvon, then back to Llanberis...

 

Not really a walk where you start at one place and walk to a destination, more "Rob Bell Looks At A Few Things In North Wales".

 

Also worth pointing out they kept mixing up the Padarn and Penrhyn railways. No mention that there was also a standard gauge line as well.

 

 

 

Jason

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7 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

Had a look last night.

 

Strange walk. Did he have a Tardis? He was in one place and then the next shot was elsewhere, then back in the first place, then somewhere totally different.

 

Penrhyn, then Llanberis, then Carnarvon, then back to Llanberis...

 

Not really a walk where you start at one place and walk to a destination, more "Rob Bell Looks At A Few Things In North Wales".

 

Also worth pointing out they kept mixing up the Padarn and Penrhyn railways. No mention that there was also a standard gauge line as well.

 

 

 

Jason

Walking the Llanberis branch both ways at the same time........ (within a mile of Jones Towers)

 

Mixing up the Padarn and Penrhyn railways in the same description.....

 

Nice shots of the demolition train on the Afonwen route snaking through the Caernarfon tunnel under Castle Square, but no real shots of the actual station.

 

Shame, but plenty about the 1969 Investiture though, and when there is archive  footage and film available of the route, it was an opportunity  missed.   

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9 hours ago, Philou said:

@Ian Hargrave Ian, may I ask to which valley line you refer? Depending where, I might be able to tell you. Curiosity on my part ;).

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

 
Hello Phil.I think you are possibly on the wrong thread here ? Maybe Welsh  Valleys...Aberdare-Abercynon or Vale of Neath ? Best,Ian

 

 

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12 hours ago, MartinWales said:

Walking the Llanberis branch both ways at the same time........ (within a mile of Jones Towers)

 

Mixing up the Padarn and Penrhyn railways in the same description.....

Could have been a case that the sun meant filming Rob walking the other way gave a better picture on one of the Llanberis branch shots.

The Padarn clip was pretty obvious to those who know but I suspect the vast majority of the watching viewers had no idea; at least it was nearby compared to wrong clips that have been other programmes on a specific subject. At least we know the programme was made reasonably genuinely otherwise we would have a clip of a blue sky, see for miles view from the top of Snowdon with an unseen Rob doing a voiceover rather than the very foggy shots shown.

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