Who remembers the good old days a good Sunday Market and a pound to spend in Rotunda funfair ?
And then some seafood.
Well them days are gone . But now things are starting to look up as a Victorian-style benefactor in the shape of billionaire Sir Roger De Haan, whose charitable trust has helped regenerate the whole town, including a £7m facelift of the Creative Quarter.
Houses planned to be built on Folkestone seafront
A £5m cash injection from Kent’s economic and business champions the South East Local Enterprise Partnership has helped get this seafront project going, but it is otherwise funded purely from the pockets of Sir Roger, who made his fortune through the sale of the Saga group in 2004.Just over two years ago, outline planning consent was granted for up to a thousand residential units, including beach houses, apartments and town houses, with a range of commercial spaces and leisure facilities designed to serve a new community.The scale of the project is huge, with the refurbished Harbour Arm - re-opened last year
The branch line is now officially closed, and has been since 2014. Passenger trains stopped running on this line in 2001 and then to freight and steam trains in 2009. Up until now, the line is starting to be dismantled as Network Rail concluded it is not going to be worth spending millions to get the line up and running again.
The old branch line from the South Eastern Main Line at Folkestone Junction served the port of Folkestone and provided a rail connection for boat trains from London which connected with the ferry services to Calais and Boulogne in France. At the start of the video, we see the remains of Warren Road Level Crossing, originally an MCB-CCTV level crossing type. Originally, before wigwags came along, this crossing was an MWG type crossing (Manually Worked Gates) with white swing gates and a red circle in the middle. Luckily, Google Maps still have images of the crossing in 2009 when it had NRS Halogen Bulb Wigwags, very old GWE Barriers with Halogen Barrier Boom Lights and intermittent bells. These were taken out between 2012 and 2014, with a fence put in place. All that remains now are red Trespass notices and beware of the live rail, despite the railway being abandoned with no trains for 5 years
Following the line south along the A260, we eventually pass a foot crossing. Pedestrians can still cross here but either side of the pathway are the same fences seen at the Warren Road crossing.
The road slowly goes downwards and the railway crosses the harbour. A very unique railway swing bridge is placed right beside the old Folkestone Harbour Station and Level Crossing. It looks to be in the process of being restored as its a grade 2 listed building.
Some of the photos here do not belong to me (i.e. ones from Google Maps). These images can be found on the Google Maps street view on Warren Road in Folkestone in May 2009.
The remains of the Folkestone Harbour Station and Level Crossing can be seen in a different video taken at night to make it more ere, abandoned and old! were just cutting the video for the station update
This is a video showing a drive down the abandoned (or more appropriately called "to be dismantled") Folkestone Harbour Branch line from the former Warren Road MCB-CCTV Level Crossing to the end of the branch line at Folkestone Harbour Railway Station. It was recorded in April 2017.
The Lydd Railway Company (LRC) obtained authorisation to construct a standard gauge single track line from Appeldore to Dungeness with stops ay Lydd and Brookland . the line opened in December 1881
Dungeness station today
Many Army trains traveled to Lydd , where a private military railway system had a connection onto the main line This saw the ''Lydd Military Railway'' come into use, which connected the nearby Army Camp with the branch, via the goods yard. As this connection was southward-facing, as per the goods sidings, a reversal manoeuvre was required to proceed from the Army Camp, to Appledore. The Army Camp did provide an interesting traffic of regiment horses in box vans, these quite often being handled at Lydd station itself. Following the opening of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in 1927, the extra holiday traffic generated persuaded the Southern Railway (who had taken over the line upon the railway grouping) to realign its branch to New Romney by moving it nearer to the sea and opening two new halts Lydd-on-Sea and Greatstone-on-Sea - in 1937. The opening of Lydd-on-Sea Halt led to the renaming of Lydd station as "Lydd Town" to avoid any confusion.
lydd on sea halt today
The station closed on 6 March 1967 in the face of dwindling passenger traffic and insignificant freight returns, yet the line remained open through Lydd Town as far as a siding near Dungeness for freight traffic to serve the BNFL nuclear power plant at Dungeness. The future who knows !! I think it will come down to the outcome of Lydd Airport myself Booking.com
The video below shows the history of Lydd Station
Initially passenger trains terminated at Lydd.
The line's promoters hoped that creating a rail link between London and Dungeness would lead to the development of a port from which cross-channel steamers could operate.
But this grand plan failed to materialise and the branch was left to stagnate. It did though carry some shingle traffic as well as flints for the Potteries .
But owner Captain Jack Howey soon had his eye on extending the line and in 1928 double tracks carried the trains to Dungeness running close to Greatstone - a ride of 13.5 miles.
The railway operates one-third scale locomotives, both steam and diesel powered – and a fleet of passenger carriages which include mobile bars.
Trains run at around 25 mph, slowing down to negotiate the numerous level crossings and bridges which carry the track across the landscape.
Locomotives are based on classic British and Canadian-Pacific Railroad designs – with the latter being constructed as it was felt the enclosed cabs would give drivers more protection against the rain and wind which occasionally sweeps across the Marsh.
Although the trackbed from Romney Junction towards New Romney is easily traceable, nothing remains of Lydd-on-Sea Halt today except for a gated concrete approach road from Kerton Road .
Promoted by holiday camp development in the area, the Southern Railway decided in 1937 to realign its branch line to New Romney (which had been opened in 1884) closer to the sea and to open two intermediate stations - Lydd-on-Sea and Greatstone-on-Sea.
The opening of Lydd-on-Sea on 4 July 1937 coincided with the closure of Dungeness station to passengers
it was intended that Lydd-on-Sea, ½-mile from Dungeness, would serve both locations and its running in board read "Lydd-on-Sea (for Dungeness)"
To handle the expected flow of holiday traffic, the station was equipped with a long curved island platform with a passing loop on which was perched a small wooden shed. The traffic never materialised and the station was downgraded to an unstaffed halt on 20 September 1954 when its passing loop was also lifted. As passenger traffic dwindled and freight became insignificant, the New Romney branch fell into decline and was listed for closure in the Beeching Report. In 1966 the Minister of Transport Barbara Castle announced her intention of closing the Appledore to New Romney Branch and passenger services ceased on 6 March 1967. Today (2017)
Started with a visit to Rolvenden station , as we arrived we was met by the DMMU just getting ready to go to Tenterden Town .we then climb up the spectators platform to view some of the stock outside the repair shed at the station
This is the view from the platform, from here you can see some of the rolling stock . in the picture is the the back of the Norwegian , and the Ford BTH BO BO ELECTRIC Featured on the video below.
Also from the platform we got a cracking view of the undercarriage of the 4253 , amazing job being done there. by all involved .
Cheriton Halt railway station
Chevening Halt railway station
Cliffe railway station
Cranbrook (Kent) railway station part of the kent and East Sussex Railway
D
Dover Harbour railway station
Dungeness (SER) railway station
E
East Minster railway station
Eastchurch railway station
Eastry railway station
24. Eastry South railway station
25. Elham railway station
26. Folkestone East railway station
27. Folkestone Harbour railway station
30. Golden Sands Halt railway station
31. Goudhurst railway station
32. Grain Crossing Halt railway station
33. Grain railway station
34. Gravesend West railway station
35. Greatstone Dunes railway station
36. Greatstone-on-Sea Halt railway station
37. Grove Ferry and Upstreet railway station
38. Harty Road Halt railway station
39. Hawkhurst railway station
40. Headcorn railway station
42. High Halstow Halt railway station
43. Horsmonden railway station
44. Hythe railway station (SER)
45. Kings Ferry Bridge North Halt railway station
46. Knowlton railway station
47. Lade railway station
48. Leysdown railway station
49. Longfield Halt railway station
50. Lullingstone railway station
51. Lydd Town railway station
52. Lydd-on-Sea Halt railway station
53. Middle Stoke Halt railway station
54. Milton Range Halt railway station
55. Milton Road Halt railway station
56. Minster on Sea railway station
57. New Romney and Littlestone-on-Sea railway station
58. Poison Cross railway station
59. Port Victoria railway station
60. Prince of Wales Halt railway station
61. Ramsgate Harbour railway station
62. Ramsgate Town railway station
63. Richboro Port railway station
64. Rochester Bridge railway station
65. Rochester Common railway station
66. Roman Road railway station (Kent)
67. Rosherville Halt railway station
68. Rosherville Halt railway station
69. Sandgate railway station
70. Sandwich Road railway station
71. Shakespeare Cliff Halt railway station
72. Sheerness East railway station
73. Smeeth railway station
74. Southfleet railway station
75. Staple railway station
76. Stoke Junction Halt railway station
77. Strood (1st) railway station
78. Swanley Junction railway station
79. Tenterden St. Michael's railway station
80. Teston Crossing Halt railway station
81. The Pilot Inn railway station
82. Tilmanstone Colliery Halt railway station
83. Tovil railway station
84. Tunbridge Wells West railway station
85. Uralite Halt railway station
86. War Department Halt railway station
87. Westerham railway station
88. Whitstable Harbour railway station
89. Wingham (Canterbury Road) railway station
90. Wingham Colliery railway station
91. Wingham Town railway station
92. Woodnesborough railway station
Ghost stations is the usual English translation for the German word Geisterbahnhöfe. This term was used to describe certain stations on Berlin's U-Bahn and S-Bahn metro networks that were closed during the period of Berlin's division during the Cold War. Since then, the term has come to be used to describe any disused station on an underground railway line, especially those actively passed through by passenger trains.
An abandoned (or disused) railway station is a building or structure which was constructed to serve as a railway station but has fallen into disuse. There are various circumstances when this may occur - a railway company may fall bankrupt, or the station may be closed due to the failure of economic activitiy such as insufficient passenger numbers, operational reasons such as the diversion or replacement of the line. In some instances, the railway line may continue in operation while the station is closed. Additionally, stations may sometimes be resited along the route of the line to new premises - examples of this include opening a replacement station nearer to the centre of population, or building a larger station on a less restricted site to cope with high passenger numbers.
A little known lost railway in Sussex is the former Rye and Camber Tramway, which operated for 44 years as a passenger service from 1895 until the outbreak of World War II. At that point the railway passed into military hands for use with the PLUTO project designed to supply the front line troops for the D Day landings.
this video tells you all
Sadly the state it was returned to the owners in meant that it was no longer in a fit state to carry passengers and it was therefore closed for good as the cost of renewing the track was prohibitive. Yet, at its height this remarkable railway carried as many as 18000 passengers during a six month period. Designed and built by the famous light railway builder Colonel Holman Stephens, the railway ran for about three miles from the eastern edge of Rye to a rather inconvenient location at the western edge of Camber. It was intended to carry passengers to the seaside, but also to a nearby golf club for which an intermediate station was built.
As with many Colonel Stephens’ railways, the line was built on a shoestring and this rather contributed to its untimely end.It also meant that once gone, few reminders of its existence still remain.Yet, remarkably despite all this most of the trackbed is still available for walking.
so if you need a little Sunday walk i recommend it
Urban Exploration: Abandoned Train Station in Lydd Kent . APRIL2017
One of my favourite abandoned stations Lydd Town Station (formerly Lydd Station) (Closed) and Lydd Town Crossing Opened on 7 December 1881 as Lydd Station, on 4 July 1937 the station was renamed Lydd Town to prevent confusion with a newly opened station at Lydd-on-Sea.
Lydd Town Station was a substantial facility, with a large goods yard and much passenger and freight traffic generated by nearby army camps. A branch ran south from the goods yard into the army camps, which were served by Lydd Military Railway. A passing loop was provided at the station, but this has subsequently been lifted. The station was closed to passenger traffic on 6 March 1967 and to freight on 4 October 1971. Part of the site is now used as a recycling facility. There is a possibility that gravel extraction will restart south of the station, and, if so, the passing loop may be reinstated to allow locomotives to change ends and shunt the train.
If open today Lydd Town Station would serve a growing town, which is just south west of the site, and a short extension to the line could also provide much improved transport facilities to Lydd Airport (also known as London Ashford), linking directly to Ashford International Station.
The branch actually runs south east from Appledore. The convention adopted in these collections is that Appledore is north, Dungeness is south, the New Romney side of the branch is east, and the Lydd side of the branch Urban exploring is a great way to explore your local community i would recommended a GO PRO https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00O46894K/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=B00O46894K&linkCode=as2&tag=trackwalke-21
Its easy to take for granted the awesome endeavors of 19th Century railway pioneers which thread us through, around or over the nation's natural barriers. It was an age of speculative adventure, built on innovation, will power and elbow grease.
But many magnificent creations were abandoned during the industrial vandalism of the Fifties and Sixties.
today armed with my go pro
and my cannon
we capture these forgotten,abandoned and disused relics
Houses planned to be built on Folkestone seafront
