Local Lockdown Walks - with a railway connection, however tenuous

[Gilbert]

The hound insisted we go trainspotting again today. She'd obviously been looking at Real Time Trains...

 

[ejstubbs]

We like to pop out to Roslin Glen* now and again.  The walk through the old gunpowder mill site follows part of the line of the tramway that linked the buildings in which the explosives were prepared:

 

 

(There are some past and present photos of the gunpowder mills here.)

 

Beyond the (partly collapsed) weir for the (no longer in situ) water wheel that provided motive power to some of the grinding equipment you can climb up to the Penicuik to Musselburgh Cycle/Walkway which in that area follows the track bed of the old Penicuik Railway.  Turn left and you arrive at the site of Rosslyn Castle station which still has the original ornamental station name set in coloured stones:

 

 

Turn right towards Penicuik and you pass over the Firth Viaduct which is where we usually turn round, although you can continue to Auchendinny and beyond via the Old Woodhouselee Tunnel should you so desire.

 

* Although it's in Midlothian and we're in Edinburgh it's less than four miles from the council boundary by road, which means the journey for the purpose of exercise is compliant with Scottish covid regulations.  (The overall journey length is only five miles).

[tender]

 

LNWR mainline Viaduct crossing the old Penrhyn Quarry Line (now footpath/cycle track) and Arfon (river) Cegin to Porth Penrhyn just outside Bangor.

[Gilbert]

9 minutes ago, tender said:

 

LNWR mainline Viaduct crossing the old Penrhyn Quarry Line (now footpath/cycle track) and Arfon (river) Cegin to Porth Penrhyn just outside Bangor.

That is excellent! But noting the bike are we off topic here   just saying....?

[tender]

 

4 minutes ago, Gilbert said:

That is excellent! But noting the bike are we off topic here   just saying....?

 

Ok, one without the bike.

[Gilbert]

2 minutes ago, tender said:

 

 

Ok, one without the bike.

That's better..and equally spectacular

Edited January 28, 2021 by Gilbert

[KeithHC]

My tenuous connection. Last week my Daughter and Granddaughter where on a walk round there village. Part of the walk is down a road that goes along side the Gloucester Bristol line and along comes a freight train. Ok it’s normal but this one was different and I even got sent a photo. It was a diverted DIRFT Wentlooge Tesco train. 
 

Keith

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Back from my morning constitutional. A bit windy today, though slightly milder.
If  this establishment was still open today, it'd probably be called Wimborne T&RSMD. But more prosaically, this is the remaining bit of what was once the S&DJR engine shed at Wimborne. Here we see some staff accommodation with, on the right, what I think was the sand drying house.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Peter Kazmierczak

[eastglosmog]

The Old Worse and Worse at Chilson bridge last Sunday:

[john new]

Today's walk of 2.5 miles included visiting, or viewing, five former railways which utilised three (possibly four) gauges. We went up onto the top of the Island and out to the former East Weare gun batteries to look out and see what shipping was around.

 

For railway content we crossed over the long closed Merchants Railway going both out and back (but at two different places). From the walk's end point we could see the remnants of three other former lines and on route had also walked past a fifth! These others were the visible remains of the Admiralty Railway including its' old engine shed, the Harbour breakwaters which used a construction railway during the build, and the Easton & Church Hope Rly which then became part of GWR/LSWR and later the British Railways Portland branch. The fifth was the 18” gauge network in the High Angle Gun Battery remains. I recall reading that the breakwater construction line was broad-gauge so that is five railways and four gauges (18”, 4ft 6”, 4ft 8 1/2” and 7ft 1/4”) in one walk. It also encompassed views of four rope worked inclines.

 

The least obvious to see is the former BR line due to post closure development in the dockyard.

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by john new
Punctuation corrected

[Rivercider]

13 minutes ago, john new said:

Today's walk of 2.5 miles included visiting, or viewing, five former railways which utilised three (possibly four) gauges. We went up onto the top of the Island and out to the former East Weare gun batteries to look out and see what shipping was around.

 

 

That sounds fun.

Me and Mrs Rivercider normally take short breaks in Devon and Cornwall, and walking a bit of coast path or old railway line is always on the agenda. We have been once to Weymouth and walked to Fortuneswell and back, we want to go back when we can, more walking on Portland can be added to that list whe  we get back.

 

cheers

[The Lurker]

One of my regular lockdown walks takes me over the Dartford Loop line between Sidcup and Albany Park. The regular Hanson empties was just passing through Albany Park at the time. I return back under the railway at Sidcup station.

 

And I pass Invicta Models just before I get to the station. The lights are on so I assume they are managing to do some online and click and collect. Certainly the Thomas stuff in the window was drawing some admiring stares from some small children last week!

[woodenhead]

This weekend I took in a bit of the Trans Pennine Trail around Lymm - this used to be the route from Skelton Junction to Warrington Arpley used by freight traffic off Woodhead bound for Liverpool and Fiddlers Ferry.

 

Quite narrow now, trees have matured on both sides of the trackbed, crossing gatekeeper's houses still exist.

[eastglosmog]

This was going to be a picture of a GWR train on the Old Worse and Worse (otherwise the Cotswold Line) where it runs alongside the bridleway from Ascott under Wychwood, but I couldn't get there:

[Gilbert]

The dog insisted we detour across the footbridge at our (deserted) local station to pick up our free copy of Metro.

Managed a phone photo of an early running East Usk Yard (Fhh) to Hayes & H'ton Tarmac Sdgs service..

This walk also takes us to the old Fry's factory - the new buidings are on the site of the yard and loading bays. The track to the GW mainline at Keynsham station goes off bottom left.

[Reorte]

One of my regular walks crosses the Manchester - Sheffield line a couple of times, and I can also see if there's anything on the Buxton line. It also passes the site of the Gowhole sidings. There are some signs of what was once there, earthworks and bridges, and the turntable pit's still there.

[Gilbert]

No trains today but a railway bridge - on the Bristol  Bath mainline near home.

Many moons ago I loosely based a model single track overbridge on this arch as all the local prototypes were double track

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Another Friday, so another walk. This time to the site of Oakley Crossing, where the LSWR Ringwood - Wimborne - Broadstone line crossed over the (then) A341; the main road from Wimborne to Bournemouth. The railway crossed the road at right angles in the foreground, in front of the modern house. The white house might well pre-date the railway, though am not totally sure.

Edited February 5, 2021 by Peter Kazmierczak

[4630]

Todays walk made use of part of the former Newtown Goods (Midland Railway Extension) in Huddersfield.

 

This section of the route is in the partly filled in railway cutting that now forms part of the Birkby Bradley Greenway.

 

Starting at the bridge that formerly spanned Willow Lane...

 

 

...and following the path in a north-east direction, passing under Halifax Old Road...

 

...and on to Honoria Street where the overbridge still has these in situ...

 

...before reaching the next bridge at Back Honoria Street...

 

...and a short distance further to the bridge which carries the A641 Bradford Road, complete with cliché bus.

 

For those interested, this is a Google Maps reference for the area;

Willow Lane, Huddersfield

 

 

 

[ianmacc]

The entire network of the east and West Yorkshire union railway is in walking distance of my house and I have covered most of it in these past three lockdowns. Little bits of infrastructure still around but nothing of significance. 

[Gilbert]

A real train seen on today's walk. A class 280...sort of..

[Rivercider]

While making my regular lockdown walk along Weston sea front I realised that by increasing the tenuous factor I was able to see the route of one proposed railway (and also the site of a short narrow gauge track ).

 

Weston bay is dominated to the south by the limestone feature of Brean Down which projects for one and three quarter miles out into the Severn Estuary. In 1861 the Brean Down Harbour Company was launched, proposals included a breakwater, docks, and a railway running along the northern flank of  Brean Down to link to the Bristol and Exeter (GWR) route at Lympsham. In 1864 there was a ceremony to place the Foundation Stone, and work did get started on the harbour, but storms and disagreements meant work was soon abandoned.

The scheme was revised in 1887, but again came to nothing.

Looking south across Weston Bay to Brean Down. The harbour was to be constructed at the seaward end on the right. I assume the Harbour Railway would have been cut into the lower slope of Brean Down, and then at the landward end curve right behind Brean Down, then cross the River Axe before joining the main line at Lympsham at a triangular junction. 8/2/2021.

At the tip of Brean Down is the remains of the Palmerston Fort built 1870-72, the harbour would be on this side in the lee of the land here. 8/2/2021.  

 

In WWII the fort was refortified, and also became the site for some of the experimental weapons being developed by the Admiralty Department of Miscellaneous Weapons Development at HMS Birnbeck.

Near the tip of Brean Down a track was constructed and trolley loaded with rockets was launched along it, which crashed over the edge into the sea.

It is eight miles walk from Weston pier to the fort which I have walked twice, but not since lockdown. 

The rocket track at the seaward end of Brean Down seen back in pre-Covid days, next to it is one of two searchlights connected to the 6" gun battery, 21/11/2018 

 

Edit -  here is a closer view of the rocket track as Mrs Rivercider keeps a lookout for enemy shipping.

Brean Down fort 18/7/2018

 

cheers

Edited February 8, 2021 by Rivercider
Additional photo

[4630]

2 hours ago, Gilbert said:

A real train seen on today's walk. A class 280...sort of..

 

 

Just for the record, Colas 70815 with sisters 805/809/810 working 0F75, 10.30 Crewe Basford Hall to Westbury Up TC.

 

[Rivercider]

1 hour ago, 4630 said:

 

Just for the record, Colas 70815 with sisters 805/809/810 working 0F75, 10.30 Crewe Basford Hall to Westbury Up TC.

 

I remember in my EWS days we thought it an extravagance to move four light diesel class 47s from Barton Hill to Westbury for weekend engineers work.

 

cheers 

[caradoc]

One of my regular walks takes me to the infilled overbridge on Double Hedges Road in Neilston; The end of the line !