One Square

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Nunthorpe, south Middlesborough

 

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Another mast

 

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Could the 'se' at the bottom of the square be the end of the word 'racecourse'?

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Could the 'se' at the bottom of the square be the end of the word 'racecourse'?

Well, yes it could . Haydock Park racecourse, between Ashton-in-Makerfield, Golborne, Haydock and Newton-le-Willows.

 

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near Castlecary, NE Cumbernauld

 

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Salfords:

 

 

That is weird - I seriously considered setting that as my previous square!

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Clue - this line was built as a response to a proposed line deep into the territory of the company which built it. It was built with double track to main line standards, as it was intended to carry heavy passenger and goods traffic. In the end, this traffic didn’t materialise, the line was single-tracked before WW1, passenger service was withdrawn in the 1930s, and the line completely closed before the Beeching report. It had a nickname which might make you think it was in Egypt, rather than Britain.

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More - the line to which this was a response was backed by the GWR in an attempt to gain another access to the South Coast. It was built in part, but didn't reach the coast over its own tracks.

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Wherwell, on the 'sprat and winkle' south of Andover. I can't work out the link between 'sprat and winkle' and Egypt. Or have I had one drink too many?

 

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I can't work out the link between 'sprat and winkle' and Egypt. Or have I had one drink too many?

Well, I don’t know – I thought it would have been obvious!

 

Wherwell isn’t on the ‘Sprat and Winkle’ itself; that ran from Andover to Redbridge (according to Wikipedia). It’s on the line from Fullerton, on the ‘Sprat and Winkle’, to Hurstcombe on the LSWR West of England mainline. That line was built as a ‘blocking’ line against the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway.

 

The Fullerton-Hurstcombe line was known as the Nile Valley Railway, hence that part of the clue.

 

(Whether or not you've had one drink too many is a whole different question )

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Burgess Hill:

 

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Acton Turvill on the GW main line near Badminton

 

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Peter, thanks for the explanation about the Nile Valley line - that bit escaped me when I was looking up sprat and winkle.

 

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The square to the north;

 

 

Yes there was a junction. The MR had running powers over the LH branch.

 

On the RH branch, there was a station between the junction and the road overbridge. The branch itself terminated not far beyond the overbridge.

 

This station never had an advertised passenger service. It was only used by specials and freight.

 

Gricers descended on the station at least twice in BR days. This occasion is stated as just before closure in 1964, though the two-tone coaches make me wonder.

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Waltham-on-the-Wolds:

 

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Between Newton Stewart and Wigtown

 

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Summerston, north Glasgow:

 

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