Rediscovering the Cambridge to Kettering Line
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 พ.ย. 2018
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A journey along the alignment of the former Cambridge to Kettering railway, to see what remains of this lost line.
*Please note* that between Cambridge and Huntingdon, this film incorporates footage previously seen in Rediscovering Lost Railways films. It has been included for the sake of completeness.
CONTACT
rediscoveringlostrailways@protonmail.com
CREDITS
- Between Cambridge and Huntingdon: www.disused-stations.org
- I was unable to obtain satisfactory details for photographs of stations from Buckden to Kettering and would very gladly welcome information so they can be rightly credited.
Music
- Ivor Gurney, 'A Gloucestershire Rhapsody'
Further Information
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketteri... - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Drove under the Grafham railway bridge last night on my way home from work to Godmanchester due to road works . A superb film . Now some may remember R and D model shop in Cambridge which opened around 1979ish and Dougs first assistant George. Well George stated that he was a Fireman on the line on J15s which were the largest GE locos allowed due to wooden bridges at Hemmingford and Godmanchester over the Ouse . So much thrown away .
Thank you for your kind words about my film. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
yes so much thrown away and I am only at the intro!
Many thanks for another excellent voyage along one of our lost lines. This one has a particular place in my memory. I lived from 1959 to 1969 in St Ives. At the time the trestle bridge over the Great Ouse at St Ives was still in use and as a thirteen year old with too much boldness for my own good I was climbing over the river on the under parts of the structure when a steam engine trundled slowly overhead. I still remember the my terror and the trembling of the bridge. I don't recall using the train to Huntingdon, but I did travel many times from St Ives to Cambridge and to Chatteris in the other direction. I still have the two and a quarter inch map of the town showing the lines and bridges.
What a fabulous thing to recall! Memories such as these bring these railways back to life in a way my films never can.
Buses on track-bed, it's enough to make you sick. Great video again !!!
Buses are rarely a good answer for anything and are often passionately promoted by those who do not have to use them.
Pointless busway.. should of been a tramway at the very least
4:10 I hear that there is a spice museum at Longstanton. Hopefully it’s going to reopen after the pandemic has passed.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways how so? I would have thought the economics look favourable compared with rebuilding the line - less infrastructure costs, fully automated and cheaper route-side equipment, “rolling stock” that can be redeployed around the road network as demanded and far lower maintenance costs. Do you have links to studies done that back up this comment?
I would love to see a working railway as much as anyone here, but I can’t see how this could be true.
@@dj_efk I didn't say the line should be reinstated, I said that buses are rarely a good answer for anything and that they tend to be promoted by those who don't have to use them.
Thanks for this. I travelled this line several times a year as a child, with my Gran, between Derbyshire and her family home in Cambridgeshire. We would change at Leicester going S/E and at Kettering on the return journey. I still recall seeing my first A4 Pacific when we crossed the East Coast main line at Huntington. Its hard to believe it was only 47 miles, the journey appeared like an eternity.
What wonderful vivid memories, thank you so much for sharing them!
An excellent video as usual. This, in my opinion is the sort of railway that should have been retained as it enabled people from the East to access both the East Coast Main Line and the Midland Main Line. I have in the past used the cross-country line which, after leaving Cambridge strikes off to Ely , before crossing to West to Peterborough, Leicester and eventually (three hours later) Birmingham. Sad to see that the wonderful Thrapston Viaduct has been vandalised by the moronic spray can idiots. Magnificent structures built by true craftsmen...something the vandals will never be.
If you want to know why lines such as this were closed just go and look at the maps from the period they closed. Far too many of the stations on lines such as this one were built far too far away from the village they served, and once the motor bus came along with a service from the heart of the village, the writing was on the wall for such lines.
With today's habit of long distance commuting, which started over 30 years ago, I have never got my head around why BR didn't re-instate this line in to pasenger service from St Ives to Cambridge as the line was still in place until the guided bus way came along.
Excellent video. the railway used to run at the end of the road I lived in near Kettering. One of my earliest memories was seeing a 2MT chuffing up this line, I think I was about 5. For years after the closure it continued to run to Twywell to one of the last surviving iron stone quarries. It was always 25123 and 4 or 5 tipplers and a brake van, two trains a day and we used to watch it as kids. Then it shut. We went down when is was lifted and (stole) some chairs, 3. Some were thrown down the bank. They are still in my garden now, one is marked Midland Railway 1899, another LMS 1946. I can't pick them up now ha ha.
Wonderful memories, thanks for sharing 👍
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Thanks, brings back a few memories now. I used to live right near the Kettering end. The line ran for quite a way before it joined the MML We used to sit on the rail and watch the mainline trains ... the goods trains would stack up at the signals and the man in the brake van would come out with his cuppa, not to tell us off ..... to tell us what's coming up behind them? What days! Dad told me a few snippets. Apparently, the Royal train was stored there one night, one the parallel bit and apparently they tried to take a 9f up there, the curve at the bottom is a bit sharp and there was a bit of fuss because it derailed, not serious, the centre drivers are flange-less an he said they slipped off the rail?
Another poster mentioned about the Stations. Yes, some were remote.
Cranford Station was is in Cranford, population even in 2011 was only 422!!!! I'm sure they didn't all catch the train. Quite a grand station house though, still there.
Twywell about 1/2 mile from town, again population now is only 176!
Thrapston is another tiny place and had two stations, the other on the Wellingborough to Peterborough lines (not connected together?).
Then you got Raunds and Kimbolton Station ... nowhere near the towns!
But you also have to remember that Northants was a big iron ore producer, little private pits every where with industrial locos scuttling around on temporary track that moved every 6 months. This all stopped in the 60's, although Tywell, which I think was gravel? Continued till probably late 70's? Mining rights were divided so almost a different system / company / and often gauge, in every field! I live in Rothwell now and within walking distance, there was a 2ft gauge, meter, 3ft and standard systems. It's very interesting, all the fields, the hedges are a few feet above them, because the iron stone was removed and then returned to crops with the infill. 90% of the traffic was iron stone for Kettering, Wellingborough and later Corby that all had blast furnaces, long gone. It was a low grade ore so there was a lot ore. I expect you know but there is a wonderful resource, oldmaps online? I warn you though .... very time consuming looking at them! It's a bit of a rabbit hole.
Fortunately, despite "progress", Kettering Station has mostly survived in it's original Victorian state. I remember the circus train arriving, and they walked 11 elephants up the road ... took them to the recreation ground (very near by) and left them grazing there. Really.
That's why I love videos like this, I had forgotten most and it helps jog things.
So much beautiful English countryside to see along this route! I enjoyed both the video and the appropriate music.
Thank you. Without the music there's just my breathing, wind buffeting the microphone and traffic to be heard! Not good accompaniments to pastoral scenes!
Brilliant but left me feeling very sad.
Yes, I'm always left feeling bittersweet when contemplating lost railways
As the country - or what remains of it - screams out for improved railway communication between places that matter, your excellent videos continue to reflect the present melancholy state of the system that once was. Thank you, a happy Christmas and a good 2019.
Thank you very much for supporting my channel. Merry Christmas!
Peter Baxter the line was closed due to being uneconomic since the 1930s. Very few people would have used such a slow route to get from Cambridge to Kettering.
@@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819 Thank you Neil. My wife and I (we no longer drive) would have welcomed the snail's pace journey when we had to travel from Wellingborough to Cambridge recently. Leicester, via Peterborough was our route. It took most of the morning, and it cost an arm and a leg. Next time (sadly) it's road: a bus to Bedford, then the Oxford to Cambridge coach; infinitely cheaper, and much faster too!
Thanks for posting this excellent video. I moved to Raunds 20 years ago so therefore wasn't resident when the line was open. I've walked past the old Raunds station many times which about a mile and a half out of town. I know the history of the line at the Kettering end so it is nice to know the full history of the line towards Cambridge. Another line to put on your 'to do' list could be the Northampton to Peterborough line which went under the Kettering to Cambridge line just to the west of the Thrapston viaduct. It then went in to Thrapston' second station Bridge street then through to Oundle and on to Peterborough. At the Peterborough end of the line it forms part of the Nene Valley Railway. Thanks again.
I'm glad that you have found this film useful - particularly at the Cambridge end. I will certainly look that line up and, in all probability, add it to my to do list. Thanks ever so much for your comment.
Great music.
It's quite striking, I feel
Thoroughly enjoyable. I look forward to hearing what music you choose almost as much as the visual side.
Thank you so much. Alas the days of uninterrupted music are passed, as finding the right music of the right tone and the right length was becoming too much - hence the move towards some music and narration
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I haven't seen any with narration yet, so I can't comment.
St ives station is still standing. It’s directly across the road just after the traffic lights at the cross road. Really enjoy your videos
Glad you enjoy the films!
Bravo once more, an historic trip through delightful countryside. I love to view the splendid viaduct when driving on the A14. And, almost as good, you have brought me great joy with the discovery of a beautiful piece from the English Pastoral Movement for which I truly thank you.
Delighted to be of service. Whilst I know many of these pieces there are many more like this that I chance upon so the discovery is as much mine as it is yours. Very pleased you enjoyed the film.
Thanks for all the lovely rural rides during 2018 and particularly the review of the LMS Bedford - Northampton alignment, which may become part of the new East-West-Railway between Oxford and Cambridge (the new line would diverge south to the west of Olney).
My pleasure. The Bedford Northampton railway was a particularly lovely line to explore.
Loved the video. Extremely sad to see what has happened to these country railways.
I'm really pleased you enjoyed the film. It is sad isn't it? Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
One fascinating fact out this line is that the track between St Ives to Huntingdon ran on wooden trestles which were a fire hazard in dry weather and limited the trains to about 10 mph (there were normally only 4 passenger trains each way Monday to Saturday). Wooden bridges of any size by WW2 were very rare in the UK. The line received a stay of execution due to WW2 and the USAAF base at Stow Longa, otherwise the line east of Twywell would have gone during the Great Depression; the ironstone at Twywell was exhausted by the end of the 1960s and so the last bit closed with the quarries.
I had heard about the trestle bridges but it is nevertheless interesting how they managed to limp on when so many others were replaced.
Enjoyed that. I know there were a lot of little branch lines in that area serving the Northamptonshire ironstone mines.
Another great video. It’s a great pity the lovely viaduct at Thrapston can’t be put to use, perhaps as part of a cycle track. The local council wants to wake up to there huge historic monuments
Thank you - I agree that it should be maintained/used. It is just lucky that it is there at all, since so many councils etc would delight in tearing such a thing down.
Outstanding work Thank You
Very kind of you to say so, thank you
also just approaching Huntingdon there is the remains of what may have been a signal box around 200 yards east of Godmanchester station, as well as the track bed appearing to widen out at this point on its approach
I'll have to look out for that
Thank you, I do remember catching a train for Cambridge from Kimbolton station and then on to Gt, Yarmouth.
That's quite a journey by train! Thanks for your comment.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways
Most journeys to Great Yarmouth are 'quite a journey' !
Excellent as ever! Many thanks for your hard work and all the best for Christmas & New Year!
Thank you - and to you too
Excellent presentation. Thank you
Thank you very much for saying so!
Thanks once again. Really enjoyed this, following on the street view with the spare laptop. First class. Please keep these coming :-)
You have my word that I will! Many more films ready to be published at the click of a button and I'm making a few films at present too.
Another line I need to add to my list to walk Thanks for a great video and look forward to more next year.
It certainly would be a walk of two halves - Cambridge to Huntingdon is clearly accessible - Huntingdon to Kettering much less so. I'm glad you enjoyed the film - thank you for supporting my channel.
Truly fascinating, thank you very much for this video. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Looking forward to 2019 and your biggest project to date .... Thank you for your videos throughout 2018. Much appreciated
Thanks Andrew - and to you too
I'd missed this one, somehow. I often travel the A14 and remember a bridge near Kettering that was definitely of railway design, gone with the conversion of previous roads into the A14. I also got sent to assess the condition of Thrapston Signal Box for moving to Nene Valley Railway. I arrived on the same morning as Mc.Alpine's men. We chatted for a few moments, it was them that told me that a new road would be coming through where we were stood. A pal and I also accessed and explored the old Buckden station. Fascinating little place! It's Signal Box had been used as a greenhouse for a time by its previous owners. Derelict when we found it, with planning notices erected for its imminent demolition. The whole site is now beneath the new A14.
Glad you found this film and thanks for your story. I would've loved to have been around to see these lines, even in their state of disrepair.
peebee143 err, Bucken is about half a mile south of the A14 and so could be under this road. There is an underpass on the northern edge of Buckden which carried thevline undervthe A1. This now carries the road from Buckden to Brampton under the A1.
Another cracking film!
Thank you sir!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I'm in Towcester so if you ever do the SMJR line I'd love to meet you and walk a few miles!
Thank you - that is certainly on my long term hit list - I'll get in touch when I'm going to be in the area.
Excellent as usual!
Very kind of you to say so, thank you
Many thanks for a really interesting journey.
My pleasure. Do enjoy my other films in the series and subscribe if you've not already done so!
Nicely done, great to see old photos of Swavesey station on here.
Thank you - yes, thank goodness they had the foresight to take these pictures back in the day!
Another scenic route, sadly got the axe, like the LNWR between Rugby and Peterborough a line they should of kept open imo, but there is plans to re-open the line between Northampton and Market Harborough which is a cycle path now, atm the line closed in 81.
I can't see the point tbh without opening the rest of the line.
Funny enough though you can still walk along most of old track bed of the former LNWR between Rugby and Market Harborough, though a few bridges have been removed. I wouldn't be surprise if you could walk the majority of the route to Peterborough from Market Harborough.
But what the Midland Mainline needs is more Cross Country routes to re-open again especially south from Wigston Junction (Leicester)
roumour has it the burton-leicester line is set to reopen and possibly tie with an extended Crosscity at Lichfield.
Great video as usual! Thanks!
Very kind of you to say so - thank you
Another great video!
Thank you - I wonder if this would be better patronised today...?
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I would say "Defiantly"!
I think the St Ives station house is still there on the town side and the station lines used to come in from the south and sweep North past the cattle market which is now a Waitrose car park.
Many thanks indeed 🙏
Wonderful.
Thank you very much for saying so!
Another great video and again more redundant concrete sleepers which is strange for a line of this age...
Yes I couldn't make sense of this. Perhaps they were just dumped from the nearby MML rather than having much to do with the line in my film...
The line from Thrapston to Kettering carried a substantial amount of Ironstone right up to the end of 1969 when the Twywell quarry finally ceased operations, it is possible that any track maintenance could have used concrete sleepers.
Fantastic,👏👏
Thank you for saying so!
On the west side of the Road at Huntingdon still remains the station Matsers House which has fallen into disrepair, although currently (2024) has some new scaffolding around it so maybe getting a refurb?
Thanks for the update!
Great Work..
Thank you! Next film will be uploaded this weekend!
Oh this is lovely thanks for posting.I have a sleeper bolt on display that I picked up from a walk on the old line near Godmanchester.My mum would love this video as she was born very nearGodmanchester station.ps The crossing gate post is still there! Next to the old crossing keepers cottage.
I'm so pleased you enjoyed this film and that you have some personal connection to it. My next film will be out in just over a week - do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
What on Earth possessed them to build a busway rather than reinstate the railway? Cost I suppose. A project beset with slippage and litigation sadly. Yet another poignant view of the English countryside and a new discovery for me, the excellent piece by Ivor Gurney. Thanks for sharing these gems from the past.
As a fan of the railways, I must confess that a busway does not seem like the obvious choice here. I find that buses are often promoted by those who don't have to use them. However, I'm glad you enjoyed the film and the music!
there is a few like this another notible one is the Leigh busway in Manchester. it has it's uses though and has provided an improvement for passengers in the area, one advantage is that buses have the power of detour and trains sadly lack that power (unless your Doc Brown)
Questions were asked about the busway, and a lot of people wanted the rail line reopened instead. Sadly politicians act as if building a railway is some lost technology.
Fantastic again. Love your videos. Merry Christmas. May I recommend then Northampton to market Harborough line, the whole line minus small bits can be walked on cycled Some lovely spots and thankfully a small steam railway at chapel Brampton
Thank you for your comment an recommendation - I'm going to look it up now!
Excellent film and well put together...thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your comment. My pleasure. Do see my other films in the series.
Great Video , I live in Thrapston which had two station, the other (Bridge St) was on the Peterborough to Northampton line, This passed under the Viaduct crossing the Rover Nene seen in your video.
Really glad you enjoyed the film and I must explore that other line at some point!
Thrapston station was in great condition until the arson attack. Such a shame it was lost.
I didn't know that's what happened. What a travesty!
I was sub agent on the A14 for that section (my section was Twywell to just east of the A45 junction)...that would be about '89. A firm used the old Thrapston station as their office and I often used to drop in there for a chat. I can't remember what they did, but they used the old sidings area for storage. They were still there about 10 years later...didn't realise the place had been torched. We also had to remove a load of old army boots from the cutting immediately east of the station (don't know how they got there!) and we all had to have Anthrax jabs as it was rife in the area...all the trucks were sheeted and the guys had to wear protective gear. A final thought...we had to shift a lot of muck from what is now the A14 cutting east of the river back towards Twywell. This involved getting CAT 631 scrapers (around 40T each loaded) across the river. Someone suggested using the old viaduct, but luckily(!) they wouldn't fit, so we used a Bailey bridge instead! Great videos!!
Enjoyed that footage well done-maybe Thrapston to Northampton next ?
Always happy for recommendations! Glad you enjoyed the film and do subscribe if you've not already done so.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Thanks, yes,.....in the early days it stopped at Denford to pick up Bricks from the Brick kiln there......well done again.
I once saw a Class 25 around Cranford, around 1975...
That must've been quite a sight!
The date would be in my diary, it was pulling some old coal wagons containg iron ore if i remember, so it would be leaving the area , i was on the old A604 or was it A45, later became the A14. @@RediscoveringLostRailways
Nice video and intresting at the same time shame they never carried on with the guided bus way through to Kettering at least it would have kept some of the route memorable look forward to seeing more of your video's in the new year :-)
Certainly more cross country routes of one kind or another would be most welcome! Thanks for your comment.
Very nice and I can follow along on Google Earth, too.
Excellent - That's how I first got into exploring old railways!
You might like to choose some of the following 'pastoral' works for future videos:-Delius On Hearing The First Cuckoo In SpringSibelius Symphony No. 3 second movementSibelius Symphony No. 6 first and/or second movementRachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 slow movementRachmaninov Symphony No. 2 slow movementRavel Daphnis and ChloeBrahms Symphonies Nos. 1, 2 & 3 slow movementsDebussy Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un fauneMozart Clarinet Concerto slow movementElgar Serenade for Stringsplus suitable movements by Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn
Very grateful for this. I'll look into these as finding the right music can be quite a challenge! Thank you again.
Wonderful and just a bit sad :(
Yes, it is a shame that these lines are not criss-crossing the countryside still
7:51
This bit of the A14, as you probably know, is now the A1307, as the A14 goes on its newly-built course.
I see thanks for the heads up!
I would love to see the abandoned Underground Highgate station when I arrive in May!
It's worth looking at the TfL website to see if tours of disused underground stations are being conducted
Love to watch these uploads! Love the before and after photos you share chap!
@@timdaugherty5921 may I recommend www.disused-stations.org.uk from which many of them are sourced. Really great information there too.
Strange that if this line were still going.. the need for the upgrade of the A14 would of been less likely!
Yes, just so - imagine the lorries it could take off the road!
When was the photo of Longstanton station taken? My memory is that, in the early '70s, there was still a canopy on the platform opposite the main building, so I assume that the photo subsequent to that period.
I'm not sure, but I think the photo is from the line's post-passenger days...
I keep seeing I think a former railway viaduct when I’m going to my grandpa’s house on the A14 it looks similar to the Thrapston viaduct but it’s not on a curve
I don't know of any other viaducts along that stretch, but I would not like to say for certain...I wonder which one it could be?
Why replace a railway (public utility) with bus service using the same route??? I wonder whose company needed to expand??
Buses are rarely the answer to anythin and often promoted by people who don't have to use them.
As with all of your Video’s very informative and well put together. An interesting work of preservation of long lost lines for future generations. Just one point I found that the Music on this one was a little distracting, previous editions have used somewhat more gentle classic tracks.
Yes, I wasn't too happy with the choice of music either. However, I'm glad you enjoyed the film more generally!
“At Longstanton I’ll stand well clear of the doors no more.”
Just so!
At 1.24 the engine is I think 1000 one of 45 Johnson's 4-4-0 compounds and superheated by Fowler built at Derby it is in a awful condition. I saw it a special double headding out from St Pancress with 2-2-2 Scotish Regon 123 at Harpenden on the embankment at Southdown in the 50's would love to know the date?
If any one knows the specials date think some were between 1957 and 60 could they comment please, thanks.
By the way in it's LMS maroon wilt gold detail lining and 1000 on tender also black nose to nearly steam doam, 123 was just as magnificent, former at I think NRM latter Transport Museum Glasgow.
Thanks for reviving memories of the disgusting closure as it was built to European gauge it could have been converted to HS2 with all the links to the rest of the North of England Wales and the two capital cities in Scotland.
Thanks for a great detailed video.
You say that it completely closed in 1971 but on one occasion in the early or mid 80s , I got held up by some sort of goods train straddling the Longstanton level crossing .
After about 15 mins I gave up and went around through Cottenham. I’m sure I remember at least a couple of other occasions when I’ve seen trains using this route.
Any idea what that was about?
(Edit)
Just gone and done some research and apparently the line from Cambridge to St Ives wasn’t completely closed to all traffic until 1993 !
Great memories, thanks for sharing! It is possible I could be in error - it really does depend upon which sources you're reading! Thanks for the comment 🙂
If there's an A road with at least (most?) 2 digits, there should at least be a railway
when was that bus line put in?
I think it opened in about 2011...
I have walked over the thrapston viaduct & the path at barton seagrave several times still a shame cars took the priority fron rail.
Yes, with the A14 closely shadowing it and full of lorries, one can only imagine how much freight the railway may have reclaimed from the roads...
You need to do the lost lines of NORFOLK nearly all of norfolks lines were lost, amd there ns next to nothing on yputubr about them..
Yes I do. My ambition is to cover all the M&GN in the area in the next year or so.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways fantastic! 👍
Who s idea was it to run buses on a old railway that's an insult to steam which is king of the railways
Steam trains over buses any day of the week!
K
L
Should never have closed a14should never have been built what a travesty what a waste of money the railway should still be worked by steam traction
I daresay the A14 has its uses but it is a shame to close a cross country route such as this line offered.
That guided bus is a silly idea,I bet the buses wear a lot of tyres of running in-between those kerbs ,I bet the sidewalks perish a lot ,great video though I'm a lorry driver and I see that viaduct at thrapston all the time,it makes more interesting when you know the history of it but alas vandals have spray painted on it now ,what a shame that's got to be a listed structure now 👍
Yes the guided bus is a bit of a bizarre one!