The Cuckoo Line - Every Disused Station - EP 32
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 พ.ย. 2020
- Get Pouch for FREE and start saving money today! ▸ joinpouch.com/i/paulandrebecca
Thanks for watching folks. We use Pouch now for our shopping on various sites. So genuinely feel that it can be of benefit to you. Sign up via the link above, it costs nothing.
This is our adventure along the Cuckoo Line in Sussex. We travelled searching for all the abandoned stations along the line from Tunbridge Wells West down to Halisham. Next week we will show you the tunnels! We also find various old railway architecture and infrastructure.
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @pwhitewick
Or check out any of the following links: / everydisusedstation
www.paulwhitewick.co.uk
ko-fi.com/everydisusedstation - บันเทิง
Get Pouch for FREE and start saving money today! ▸ joinpouch.com/i/paulandrebecca
Dear Paul and Rebecca.....I was the man walking with my wife who recognised you on the line and stopped for a chat by Hellingly old station. My late nan has a remembrance bench on the line towards the Hailsham end and my grandad used to commute on the line Polegate to Heathfield for work before he had a car. He died a few weeks ago so the family plan to update the bench with his name so he and his wife are reunited on what was one if their favourite places.
Ah thanks for saying hello Steve. That's lovely that there is a bench for your nan and grandad, we saw a few along route. A perfect tribute for them both.
11.42 It's most of what was a loading gauge. Loading gauges were very common years ago. They ensured traffic leaving a sidings was loaded satisfactorily allowing it to pass safely through bridges and tunnels.
Ahh thank you, so I wasn't too far wrong when I said clearance.
The stations on this line were designed by an architect called Myers, who also designed the stations on the Lewes to East Grinstead line. Barcombe, Sheffield Park, Horsted Keynes and Kingscote all survive, with the latter 3 now part of the Bluebell Railway. Sadly, Newick and Chailey, West Hoathly, Ardingly (platform buildings - the main building survives beside the road bridge, as at Heathfield) and East Grinstead stations have all been demolished. The distinctive tile-hung upper walls (a later addition due to the original half-timbered finish suffering from damp ingress) ornate entrance porches and beautiful, ornate wooden canopy supports, make these stations some of the most attractive in the entire country.
Lots of locals pushing to get this line re opened at the moment which is brilliant.
I think you'd have a job on now to be honest but good luck to them
@@pwhitewick the seven miles between lewes and uckfield rumble on and on. If they’d spent the money they’d spent on feasibility studies over the years, right when the idea of reopening was first mooted, then it would have been up and running again. I doubt it’ll happen. Nice video today! Thanks. ( lewes local)
Fantastic line walk
Not going to happen, they’d be better of reopening Lewes to Uckfield
Great video but. It's Hailsham not Halisham.
At Hellingly you missed out on the Hospital Railway. Built to serve the local Asylum it was a standard gauge overhead electric system. However and as ever a very good film, thanks for posting.
The “thing” is a Loading Gauge. It would have had the arched-shape bar dangling from it.
Thanks for another great video.
Are you sure? Hellingly had the interchange with the Hospital Railway which was electrically powered via overhead lines. I wondered if it was one of the old support masts.
@@andrewfanner2245 Fairly sure, yes. The Hospital Railway used quite slender poles and was to the east of the Cuckoo running line. The structure in question is on the west side at the exit from the sidings, and is a chunky concrete structure, quite unlike the overhead poles used for the electrification.
Hi both, I enjoy all your videos. As a retired signalman l have a fascination with closed lines and stations, your efforts save me some wasted journeys but also inspire me to do others.....thanks. Paul....if you don't mind me sayings....Rebecca is lovely.
You missed out on the old station building at Heathfield, don't know if you were aware of it being there up on the road just before the tunnel, also I think you mean Hailsham not Halifield. Hellingly had an electric railway connecting it with the hospital nearby, some of the route can still be seen. The device in the yard is a loading gauge to check the height of waggons and yes they do normally have a curved profile hanging down. Lovely shots, many thanks.
Shame the housing estate has encroached so much on the Hellingly hospital line route
Thanks again Paul & Rebecca, really enjoy your banter. 😃
Our pleasure!
For someone that has lived in hailsham my whole life and has cycled the cuckoo trail hundreds of times, you covered most of it but there is a little more hidden history such as another viaduct hidden in a heathfield park, near hellingly there is the remains of a signalling frame in the ground, actually very close to the loading gauge you were asking about in the video (which isn’t original, it randomly appeared there about 2 years ago) the line also doesn’t finish in hailsham, the next station is polegate where there is a back filled tunnel and the station was demolished about 3 months ago, the cuckoo trail then goes on to hampden park which is still an active station. If you see this and have any more questions I’d be happy to try and answer :)
Thank you, very much appreciated. Yup this is always difficult to try and a) research as much as possible when we are making one video per week, and b) cram as much in a possible in a 15 minute video.
Thanks for the video Paul and Rebecca. Will be checking this out very soon and the line goes as far as Polegate!!😎🚂🚃🚃🚃🇬🇧
As an elderly Sussex lad, (family roots in Ticehurst), I'm a bit mystified by this here Halisham place...could it be HAILSHAM perchance? Nice to see part of this old line...thanks guys
Dave
whoooooops.
Delightful film. I walked it in the early 80s in two parts. Heathfield to Eridge was a real machete job in places. Heathfield to Polegate was a trodden path, but not a cycleway. Hellingly station had no bushes in the way, only the lack of rails told you that there were no trains at the station.
Thanks Phil. Now that sounds like proper exploring.
Talking of pouches - this one your gallows structure is likely to be a post sack collector for the mail train - hang bags for collection in nets on the side of the train, and reverse for receiving post from the train - there were some interesting mechanisms which I recall from my childhood ladybird books, but have never seen in person.
I love you guys. Always a fun video. Hope you are well and I am looking forward to your next video.
Cheers James. Got to have a laugh!
local to me walked the line in the 1980's as well as cycled a couple of years back. Hellingly had an electric railway connecting it with the hospital you can still walk a lot of the old route and some interesting finds on the way, can still be seen.
Cheers, yup I even had notes prepared for that but completely forgot!
Hi Paul and Rebecca love your videos, on our last trip back to the UK we had gone to visit a friend up in kent, on our trip home we got lost twice, once out of Tonbridge and then found our way back to Frant and then missed a turn and ended up in Mayfield, we drove up into the village and then came down into what I thought was a railway easement, it was and yes it was where the station was, now a private dwelling. I knew nothing of this line until we got got home to New Zealand when I had a look at a book called lost railways of East Sussex then I knew what I had seen. Anyway as travel in thic covid period is not happening your videos are my escape from these times, again love what you do and will one day return and explore places like this line as we are based out of eastbourne when we get back to the UK
Thank you both! Found your channel after your co-ab with Geoff and Vicky ; was asking if he was going to look at the Cuckoo and Wealden lines..... so here we are!
Haha... indeed we are Simon. Wealdon still to look at though.
@@pwhitewick Thank you! Lewes to Uckfield section has a chance of existing again (although likely not on the original alignment)
@@pwhitewick If your interested - heres an old video of trains on that same cuckoo line : th-cam.com/video/qRRJFSxglUQ/w-d-xo.html
Brilliant Video, some lovely Bridges and old platforms/buildings still exist and the former Station building at Tunbridge Wells West does look nice indeed! Did visit the Spa Valley Railway about 3 years ago but the only regret now is not seeing the old Station building. Maybe something in the future.
Cheers Simon. I saw a few deisels so I'm definitely going again soon
@@pwhitewick The reason I went to the Spa Valley Railway was for the Class 207 Thumper, the DEMU which was a lovely ride behind
From the car park at Hailsham, you can pass through a small housing estate and continue along the line to Polegate where the Cuckoo line joined the Eastbourne-London main line.
The cuckoo line gets it’s name from when it served East Sussex Asylum at Hellingly via a branch from Hellingly station with a small electric tram from a wooden platform, on that branch line, until very recently you could still see some small items of infrastructure, a few of the overhead poles that supplied electricity to the tram car, and a set of manually operated crossing gates.
When the Asylum was still standing (but derelict) the tracks and a platform were still in place, a housing estate now occupies the majority of the site and all the old infrastructure has gone.
Nice to see you got a sponsor to help pay petrol and travel expenses etc! That Tunbridge Wells West station was magnificent ! Great picture of it with all the horses and carriages outside! Some great tunnels too! Paul had bed head in a few shots haha! Thanks P & R !
Not often you see this place on youtube 11:40 I did work along here in like 2010 with the sussex rangers. On that spot we found a can with two dead mice inside. We gave them a proper burial... bit of a morbid thing but was just weird seeing it on youtube haha
Lovely little exploration. I know there's infrastructure to follow but a glimpse of a viaduct always makes your videos for me!
Lots to follow next monday!
hey paul and rebecca , another cool video , i love it when the old stations are still standing and being used , omg the weather for you guys , hope its better for your next episode , great work and thank you :)
You missed the old Polegate station, technically the second Polegate station, which is now a block of flats and a McColls shop. The original Polegate station was cited where the current station is today. I grew up in Polegate in a family home which backs onto the current railway which fuelled my love of railways since childhood. Walked and cycled the Cuckoo line many many times! Nice to see it get some attention from you both on YT!
I believe the entrance to the subway underneath the old station is still visible, bricked up. It's visible to Google maps if you know where to look!
Is the Old Polegate Station no longer a pub then?
@@trevordance5181 no, the old pub building was demolished.
High praise for Paul from Rebecca, "he's not a bad husband!"
Let me translate for all the none Brits, Paul's a super husband according to Rebecca.
Hahaha.... Yeah, I took that as high praise too!
Otherwise translated as "Work In Progress".
Love your videos Paul and Rebecca, a ray of pure sunshine in these weird and troubling times. Keep on keepin' on!
AS CONSULTANTS CONFIRM, I HAVE LOST BOTH LOWER LEGS DUE TO BEING AM INDIRECT 2ND WAR CASUALTY WITH THE GOVERNMENT UNLAWFULLY ROBBING ME OF MY MOBILITY; SUFFERING ALL MY LIFE AS A RESULT THAT PREVENTED ME HAVING ANY GOOD FRIENDSHIPS WITH ANY YOUNG LADIES, LET ALONE A RELAYTIONSHIP OR EVEN MARRIAGE. BUT D NOW WITH NO LOWER LEGS I STILL CAN NOT FIND FEMALE FRIENDSHIP,. I AM A LIFELONG LOCAK HISTORY AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT ENTHUSIAST AND RESEARCHER , WITH A VAST KNOWLEDGE DUE TO BEING AUTISTIC WITH ASPEGERS SYNDROM. BUT DUE TO TORY CUTS I CAN NOT GET ANY HELP OR FUNDS WHATSOEVER TO REGAIN MY STO;EN MOBILITY. HAS ANYBODY ANY IDEAS HOW I CAN PLEASE REGAIN MY MOBILITY AND FIND A VERY NICE YOUNG LADY WOITH SIOMILAR INTERESTS FOR FRIENDSHIP., THANKS, VERY DEPRESSED GUY, N E LONDON.
Oh, I don't know if I would go that far.
Quite a lot of the bridges are still in place and the route has not been built over, so you can say there is a hope of seeing trains again one day, but probably not in my lifetime!
I can't see it to be honest, but it makes for a lovely cycle route.
@@pwhitewick Except for your arse!
Nice vlog on a line I used to travel every year and used to love. My brother and sister and I (and mum!) used to stay with my God Mother during the summer holidays, first in Heathfield and later in Hailsham. Her daughter and my sister now live in Hailsham (not together.) My brother and I used to love going down to either Heathfield or Hailsham stations, just to watch the hourly up and down trains, from Eastbourne to Victoria, via Eridge and the Cuckoo Line.
At Hailsham, if we were lucky, we would see the evening 'shuttle' from Eastbourne to Hailsham and, if we were even luckier, we would get a ride on the footplate while the engine 'ran round' the (very short) train. On days when we went to 'the seaside' at Eastbourne, we would travel that line and I clearly remember the tremendous squealing noise on the very tight bend into Polegate.
The 'frame' you saw at Hellingly is actually quite interesting. Incidentaly, in that part of Sussex the 'ly' on the end of place names like Hellingly and Ardingly, is pronounced as in 'Arding lie'. About a mile from Hellingly Station, there used to be a large Asylum - a 'mental hospital' as they used to be called - and it used to be service by its own branch line and even had its own, quite small, but standard gauge electric locomotive. That frame is all that remains of the overhead catenary that supplied the locomotive. Oddly enough, the brick built tower of the hospital was visible from my Godmother's kitchen window. Great vlog, great memories.
Just incase you never heard of it (I can't believe that - your research is always brilliant) here is the Wikipedia entry for Hellingly hospital railway. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellingly_Hospital_Railway
I LOVE the cuckoo line. I cycle along it all the time. Very convenient for a nice bit of exercise!
Shame they closed the tunnel at Heathfield, it used to be wide open but it regularly got vandalised.
Home turf for me. Travel to work under the bridge at Rotherfield every day, grew up in sight of the west station when it was still steam....so thinking........not much I can learn here.... how wrong was I. I have never been through echo bridge in my life!! Not seen it mentioned anywhere. So I will have to go and have a look. Great video as always.
Most interesting guys, however, Hellingly had a branch line going to Hellinhly Hospital (originally the County Lunatic Asylum). It was initially used to help the construction of the Asylum and was electrified in 1902 and both the railway and asylum were opened to the public in 1903. To my knowledge it was the only line to use overhead electrification in the entire South East region. A third rail being favoured throughout. It was also a standard guage
The branch closed to the public in 1931 and to goods and deliveries to the hospital in 1959.
You two are strangely compelling....the subject matter is known to me...but I've not seen it put across so enthusiastically before...well done...I'm hooked.
Ah thanks Lee. Strangly compelling is good right!?
Thanks for another good vid. One bit of history you missed, possibly through lack of time, was to look for remains of the Hellingly Hospital Railway, which branched off and had its own motive power - electric, if my memory serves.
Yup, I actually had notes on that as well but completely forgot to use them.
Overhead wires no less. Photos here. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellingly_Hospital_Railway#/media/File:Hellingly_Railway_1906.jpg
Nothing left of it at all now
Not sure if anyone has said already but that overhanging structure was for the Line Key which the Driver/Stoker used to catch & exchange with the one they had to show they had the right for that line. Old fashioned system
Just thought I'd mention.
It's pronounced:
"Helling-lie"
"Hore-erm"
They are quite unusual pronunciations so you can be easily forgiven for these mistakes
Ahhh..... thanks
Oh, and "Hail-sherm". 😂 Sorry for being picky
@@jacobsaxby9468 I'm only grateful that Paul wasn't trying to pronounce Welsh place names in this video!! 😎😱😱
Like (if you ever get there) Lewes is pronounced: Lew-iss. And there's a tunnel there - but it's on the main London Line - it does, however, have one particular detail: it goes under the Castle!
You ain’t Leigh-ing!
Hello Rebecca (& Paul) You missed the very first Tunnel!! Between T-Wells West and T-Wells Central! It is a single line tunnel and I was one of the last to get a train from Uckfield to T-Wells Central! T-Wells West was draped in Black Bin Bags! And I got a Badge to prove my Status as a Final Passenger. He-Hee!
Panic not Sir. All ready for next week's video.
Its a loading gauge. For checking the height of goods in open waggons etc
Excellent, thank you.
Hi Paul and Rebecca I love your channel the way you guys present the history is so refreshing and light hearted and very informative looking forward to your future adventures bye from Australia
Thanks Gary, thats absolutely what we aim for.
A very helpful video. You probably know anyway, but whilst it was still open Hellingly station was used in the film Smokescreen (1963) in a scene with the late Peter Vaughn and comedy character actor Deryck Guyler
Another fantastic video. Nice to see you on ‘my manor’ I cycled from Heathfield to Hellingly a few years ago with my young sons. (9 and 7 at the time) when we decided it was time to cycle back the youngest decided he could not cycle, so I had to cycle my bike while holding his bike all the way back, and there is a slight incline going towards Heathfield 😂 Sorry one minor mis pronunciation. Hailsham is pronounced Hail (as in rain, snow)
Slight incline!?.... That must have been considerable hard work!
And Hellingly is pronounced ‘Hellingly-lie’, similar to Arding-lie. I used to live just by the Cuckoo Line and cycled it many times. Heathfield is known locally as ‘Heffle’, which is an ancient name for a cuckoo. The first cuckoo of Spring is supposed to be heard there.
A charming, lovely, adorable couple.
As always , a great video Rebecca & Paul.
Many thanks!
For the uninitiated, it was probably called the Cuckoo Line because of the Cuckoo Fair at Heathfield. Others might say it was because the people who invested money to build it were cuckoo. Never heavily used - on a map it looks like a short route to Eastbourne but it was lightly laid and heavily graded, but ran through picturesque countryside. May get more visitors as a walking and cycle trail than it did passengers as a railway.
Thanks Ian, completely agree.
Thank you! I live in Eastbourne and often cycle the line. Idea of heaven is going to Hellingly ststion and just standing and looking. Horam used to be called Waldron and Horam Road.
Great video Paul and Rebecca.
Pouch sounds good
Pouch is great. We are hoping for more opportunities with them.
Also an amazing 3 arch bridge
Fab video guys, looking forward to part 2
Next week all being well. Cheers
Never even heard of that line before so glad it has people looking after and maintain it great video by the way and you two must be getting fit with all the bike riding lol
Thank you. Much appreciated. Not sure about fit, but that was a hell of a day
thank you so very much , best wishes from wigan . still in lancashire
Thanks Tracy
Beautiful video, thank you very much.
Thanks Andrew, very much appreciated.
Another great video which brightened up my day considerably, so thank you ! As others have mentioned that structure at the end appears to be a loading gauge for wagons- they were very common in goods yards back in the day. I am surprised that it has survived for 50 odd years though and I wonder whether the present landowner has had it restored at some point.
Cheers Geoff, glad you enjoyed it.
being a resident of the south east was heathfield station a step down to the platform (the old station still exists) till this day
Great video, Cuckoo Trail ncn21 is downhill to Polegate takes 1hr on a bike.
Quite tedious going back up to Heathfield though.
Free car parking at Heathfield, nearby Waitrose has WC.
Good video and great to see you in my neck of the woods!
Much appreciated.
I will also add that tunnels at Argos Hill (accessible), Mayfield (infilled) and Heathfield (gated) were not mentioned. A better shot of Mayfield station building can be obtained from the A267 by-pass. Heathfield ticket office building and adjacent station masters house not mentioned. Polegate station and original alignment not mentioned.
Stay tuned Brian.... next week.
Super video guys - thanks for taking me along. Thouroughly enjoyed the journey along the line - lots to see. Love Pouch, but not much use to me here in Poland (despite shopping online with Tesco!)
Ah thats a shame. A pleasure to have you
Mayfield, my local disused station! I live just down from it. It's a private house now but you should have been able to walk up to it.
We felt a tad like we shouldn't after the big "private" sign.
11:52 That looks like a token gate, where the train driver would pick up a token so that his would be the only train on a single track line, and then he drop the token off at an identical gate at the other end. The gates were also used for urgent mail bags. The train driver had a catch net on a pole to collect the bag/token, so that the train didn't need to stop. I could be wrong, but that is what it looks like.
Apparently its a loading gantry.
@@pwhitewick I've never actually seen one of those, so I didn't think of it.
That strange thing looked like a scaffold!! But I don't think they have ever hanged people in Sussex. Lovely video - looking forward to the tunnels!
Loading gauge by all accounts.
Kevin Robertson, who edits the superb quarterly magazine "The Southern Way," which features articles about different aspects of the LBSCR/LSWR/SECR/Southern Railway/BR Southern Region, has produced a beautiful book on this line. Titled "The Cuckoo Line," it contains many photographs - both in Black and White and in Colour, plans of some of the stations etc. Look for it on Amazon.
you two are a pair... a pair of what is still being determined and found out! - great video as always
I'll take that as a..... erm.... compliment.
A pair of banana brains?
The structure was a loading gauge, to ensure loads on wagons would clear the structures on the line, some were adjustable to cover different clearances
That’s a loading gauge at Hellingly to the right side of the former track bed as you head south was a goods yard
A loving husband would have ensured his wife had the better bike! Bless you both. Another outstanding video from you both.
Paul, you can use the coupons to get Rebecca a proper bike😉.
Funny you should say that. We did just that today!!
@@pwhitewick Psychic!
11.38 looks like a signal stantion. Lovely video 😎
Thank you.
'Ere - you missed out the station building at Mayfield (now perched above the A267 after the embankment was cut away to build the road) and the station building at Heathfield (by the bridge, now a restaurant). You also missed out the tunnel!!! - that is sadly not open to the public any more but intact and surfaced right through. There are also some interesting bridges over the track bed north of Heathfield. You also missed the Hailsham (not Halisham) to Polegate section and the extinct junction station on the main line.
Watch out for next weeks video James. Much more to come.
@@pwhitewick OK, thanks - seems I might have jumped the gun! - I'll wait for part 2.
@@jamesgilbart148 we did miss Mayfield as we couldn't get down that driveway. But part two will contain all the tunnels and infrastructure
@@pwhitewick Mayfield station is visible from the road (just) as you drive past below it but, yes it's a private house. Just south of Mayfield just off Knowle Hill there's quite and impressive 3-arch bridge over the track you can walk over. North from Heathfield there's about a mile of open track bed - it's a pity that further on it's all in private hands and Sustrans Route 21 goes along some very hilly roads/paths instead.
Once again a brilliant video of the cuckoo line paul & Rebecca
Always look forward to your videos
I see Paul had the better bike this time Rebecca being a gentleman a lovely husband should have given you the better one lol
Thankyou guys reguarding pouch will definitely take a look
There is a height gauge on the meon trail also nearby is the pivot point of goodsyard loading crane.
I think it is in the trees behind sydenham timber centre whickham there was a good yard there
I live in hellingly 3 times a week with my dad so it would be good to meet up with you guys because I know a few places along here that you haven't seen. stay safe and keep up the great work, Jack
Cheers Jack. We actually did make another video along here which will be out next week.
@@pwhitewick I bet you haven't been to the old uckfield railway line. It is still there with all the sleepers, platform and some track. I would love to show you it :-)
@@bentonroadmodelrailway6103 yup. We covered this around three months ago in our video "The doomed Ouse Valley Line".
The thing you can't identify is called a loading gauge. Goods trains went underneath slowly and the guard checked that the load did not make contact with the bar...
Thanks John.
@@pwhitewick Now we use "High/Wide Load Detectors". One day, a high load set it off. So they inspected the train. There were five container cars in a train full of all kinds of other railcars. So someone said they're all the same height so they told the train to continue on. The first tunnel they came to, which was also was the tightest tunnel height wise, took the tops off all five containers. LOL True story. This is across the pond from you folks.
All these years of cycling the Cuckoo Trail and I never knew there was a Halisham, I guess its near to Hailsham, what with the names being so similar.
near Hellingly there was a branch line which serviced the mental hospital ...
The Station masters house is just south of that carpark in station rd
Great video as usual. Could the structure at 13:51 be a gantry for the former electrified Hellingly Hospital Railway?
I had now assumed a loading gauge but there is every possibility you could be on to something.
Hi Paul and Rebecca, I was going to be a clever boy, and say the gantry thing was a loading gauge, but I see someone's beaten me to it, anyway, it looks like you had a lovely day out, stay safe, all the best from Scotland, Stephen.
Cheers Stephen, yep a few have kindly pointed that out.
That ‘thing’ is a loading gauge, which you now must know. Enjoyed the video. Not a ‘Southern’ person but the infrastructure is interesting. No expert but riding a bike in jeans is never a great idea. Can cause chafing which, apart from being a brilliant word, is unpleasant. Good one 👍
Todays word of the day.... "chafing"
good video
Here really early, thank you!
Welcome!
How about a video about The Strawberry Line, it ran south from Yatton to Cheddar :)
Sandford and Banwell station on the Strawberry line has a rare surviving example of an early Bristol and Exeter Railway station building. It's now Grade 2 listed and houses an excellent little railway museum.
www.seiryu.org.uk/ppp/sandford.html
Brilliant as usual. I'm also banana brained.
Cheers Carl.
Current EDS completion estimate: 15/11/2057. Nice to hear more of Rebecca, especially the insult ;-)
Ok Hermit.... I neeeeed to know. Is this a calculated estimation or a wise guess?
@@pwhitewick It's the same calculation as the spreadsheet I sent you ages ago. It's basically stations visited divided by number of days since you started to get a stations/day rate. Multiply that by the total stations to get how many days to complete. Add that to that date you started to get the estimated completion date.
@@thehermit407 well it works for me as I'll be close to 80!
@@pwhitewick I'd have to make it to 95 which is highly unlikely :-(
Loading gauge , usually found near goods sheds to check loaded wagons were within gauge and so wouldn’t foul bridges signals ect
The loading gauge isn't a loading gauge! It's the last surviving pole for the electric catenary on the Hellingly hospital electric railway....as is referred to in other comments!
Yes!!!.... oddly so many sad it was a loading gauge and then this morning I saw an old video about the Hellingly line and it clicked!
nice chilled ride, not sure about the bike rebecca was riding looked like a bit of a bone shaker with no stirring 👍
Yup!... I rode it when we did the Two Tunnels. Its a nightmare to be fare!
Your mention of gas makes me think that a trip to a certain place on the south coast would make an interesting video, there is a pumping station a little inland and the rocks on the beach will burn due to the oil content :)
In fact a trip along the south coast would be interesting, with the Weymouth ferry station were the train ran down the roads, the station at West Bay, the pub on the beach at Seatown, and the Seaton Tramway :)
An important line going through some large catchment areas that should never have closed.
I think you convinced Rebecca but her look says it all
The unidentified 'thing' is called a loading gauge, and yes it did have arch shaped things hanging from it, they were the gauge in fact
Thanks Ian.
That’s a loading gauge at Hellingly, there was a goods yard there
I don’t know much about railways and tunnels but I’m getting into your videos. Can I ask you what is a ‘step’ tunnel. I see on your video the end has a different height level but why is that?
If u stopped at Heathfield u have got the tunnel and lots of telegraph poles
Can't add Pouch, no install button on the website. !! I use extensions for lots of things, there is just no ADD button.
UPDATE. Found it in the Crome Web Store. Will give it a try. I hope it does not bombard with intrusive adverts, or its for the chop!!
Hey Paul, buy a decent (full sized) bike for Rebecca!
Just done that this week!
Still buzzing over how I somehow (no idea how) managed to view this early!
Haha, yes, so I think that despite it being private, I stupidly put it into a playlist. So if you went into the playlist you would have found it.
nice one
Thanks
Pity you rushed over the rotherfield part as there is quite a bit to be found, BTW it's Hail -sham, or the sham is it's known. Would loved to have known you was visiting my own back yard so to speak.
Gday guy hope you doing 👍
Why is the bridge "stepped" is it a second bridge has been added?
Good question unfortunately I'm not sure why and if it was added. Need to do a little research on this
Have you ever done the Westerham branch? I cycled it as a teenager before the M25 was built but unfortunately didn't take a camera. Most is now buried under the M25, but there is still a little evidence of it's existence.