Another land slip

[ess1uk]

Still moving 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c97wzjj8vn3o

[StuAllen]

And one on the Brighton line as well this morning https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/haywards-heath-20240406/

[phil-b259]

4 minutes ago, StuAllen said:

And one on the Brighton line as well this morning https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service-disruptions/haywards-heath-20240406/

 

Aye - and from what I have seen the embankment looks to have a significant amount of loco ash in it (the most common type of fill used to patch up earthworks from the earliest days of rail travel right through to the end of steam.

 

As any specialist in soil mechanics / geotechnical engineering will tell you Ash is pretty much the worst material to use to repair slips....

[ess1uk]

Work to demolish landslip-hit homes near railway line is underway (msn.com)https://www.msn.com/en-gb/travel/news/work-to-demolish-landslip-hit-homes-near-railway-line-is-underway/ar-BB1lp2ZH

[corneliuslundie]

I am very surprised this one has not been reported before

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cumbria-train-derailment-sinkhole-lancaster-barrow-northern-b2517101.html

My sister who lives in Grange over Sands tells me that the line is theoretically due to reopen soon but in un likely to because the embankment in the area ids reported to be made of sand. Sounds unlikely but one never knows.

Jonathan

[Grovenor]

It has, see

 

[The Stationmaster]

On 10/03/2024 at 20:02, phil-b259 said:

 

Don't talk nonsense! Water meadows were not created / designed by Victorians - they are a consequence of geology, hydrology and the sculpting of the landscape by ice ages etc.

 

Whilst its true that Victorians generally did not build houses on water Medows that is largely because the technology to do so was in its infancy and the need to do so was not perceived to be there as it was considered quite acceptable for poor people to live in slum housing 

Clearly you don't understand how water meadows work.  A water meadow is (or rather was) a managed area of meadow where use was made of seasonal increases in rainfall and water flow in. order to get the grass into the best possible condition for the time of year when the meadow would be used for grazing and/or hay production.  

 

Normally a system of drainage channels - often natural streams with some alteration, and small sluice gates (and in. later years field drains) were  used to ensure even distribution across the meadow of any excess water.  An expert who really knew how to manage his water meadows aimed to minimise the depth of any water build-up to a level where it benefitted rather than ruined the grass.  And a very important part of livestock management was to get animals out onto water meadows as early in the year as possible to avoid running out of hay - but the meadow ground had to be firm enough to take animals without being damaged.   So doing it properly was something between a skill and an art and needed plenty of experience to get it right.

 

Water meadows should not be confused with a river's flood plain which is a natural consequence of the way in which a waterway has devbek lopped over the centuries.   I believe some parts of flood plain could be used as water meadow but it required far more in the way of artificial channelling ot water and control otf water levels.  Hence most water meadow tended to be sited where the flood plain began to rise away from the river.  Plenty of them seemed to have existed into the 1950s  but vanished as farm labour forces were reduced and as a longer winter feeding period became possible due to easier production of silage.  The last ones near where I live could still be seen - but clearly no longer managed - into the early 1960s but are now either gravel extraction pits or worked out pits with top soil returned but now flood because the water is no longer managed. 

[The Lurker]

I for one knew nothing of water meadows (as opposed to flood plains and flood meadows) even though I suspect I lived opposite one in Northampton (although the narrow header stream was also used for mills - the area I lived in was a crazy derivation of something like the "south mill on the river").

 

The wikipedia page is quite interesting, as is this historic England pamphlet:

 

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/conserving-historic-water-meadows/heag176-conserving-water-meadows/

 

and this one too but you have to download it:

 

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/iha-water-meadows/heag237-water-meadows/

I was also looking to see if the meadows along the Cray had their origins as water meadows but I think Capability Brown and numerous paper mills long ago covered any traces.

Edited April 16 by The Lurker
add further link

[ess1uk]

Another at Bathgate

https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/airdrie-bathgate-line-to-remain-closed-at-caldercruix-as-engineers-repair-sinkhole-damage

Edited April 22 by ess1uk

[Wickham Green too]

Should that be in the Grange -over-Mud thread rather than the Landslip one ? ☹️