Attacked. Derailed. Blown-up: The Surprising Life of the Saffron Walden Railway
Автокөліктер мен көлік құралдары
Please SUBSCRIBE SHARE and FOLLOW on Instagram @rediscoveringlostrailways. Exploring what remains, what there is to rediscover of the Saffron Walden Railway. Might you consider supporting my channel even more? www.buymeacoffee.com/rediscov...
Particular thanks must go to the ever excellent www.disused-stations.org.uk and its contributors.
Fascinating and thorough account of filming 'The Virgin Soldiers' at Bartlow Station:
www.disused-stations.org.uk/fe...
00:00 Introduction
01:10 Overview of the route
01:44 Audley End
04:57 Attack!
05:31 Saffron Walden
08:27 Acrow Halt
10:27 Ashdon Halt
12:47 Bartlow
13:48 The Virgin Soldiers
15:04 Bartlow Junction Signal Box
15:52 Coda
Пікірлер: 312
I hope you enjoy this film - please share it far and wide - thank you, all, for your ongoing support!
@markparry63
Жыл бұрын
I live next to the former Hunts Cross to Aintree branch , North Liverpool Loop Line and it has some very well preserved buildings in the form of businesses and private dwellings including the Station building and platforms at the former West Derby station.
I remember travelling on that line in the early 1960s. As you say, it was a short walk across the yard from the Cambridge trains out of Liverpool Street to join the little railbus. I'd forgotten about Acrow Halt, but the station at Bartlow was familiar. I think some of the services used to terminate at Bartlow and go back down to Audley End, but the occasional one used to continue out onto the Stour Valley line and then reverse into the main platform for the rest of its journey to Haverhill. I remember the feeling of being deep in rural countryside - watching rabbits hop off the line into the bushes when a train trundled into their view.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Wonderful memories, thank you for sharing them!
Acrow are best remembered for producing those large screw-jacks used to support buildings, especially during reconstruction. I think, even now, the generic name for these supports is "Acrow", even though the original company went into liquidation in 1985.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Yes, that's right! A familiar name indeed!
@sidewaysaction9983
Жыл бұрын
Thanks that's a jigsaw piece that's been missing for 50 years, 4years old "grandad why they called acro props" he only explained the prop bit.
@johnfowler4820
Жыл бұрын
Yes definitely. In the UK anyway "acrow"is the term used for screw jacks.
@johncone9516
9 ай бұрын
David, i come from that area and have an Acrow holding up my garage roof😂
@davidcronan4072
9 ай бұрын
As are quite a few schools at the moment!@@johncone9516
Whilst many of our rural branch lines may have been unprofitable, many rail systems around the world are unprofitable and only exist with government support to provide a transport system affordable for all. We did our country a great disservice when our rail network was dissected by the Beeching cuts with no regard for the future at all. Yet again a government solely interested in profitability not providing a service for the people for the country !
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
I think many on here will second your remarks!
Just discovered this channel. So professional and well made. Far better than modern TV documentaries.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you - so glad you've found the channel - have a good root around and let me know what you think!
I was born a stones throw from the Borough Lane bridge in Saffron Walden, I was the third generation of my family to work at Cleales Ltd, the local Ford dealership who bought the old station site and opened a new garage there in 1971. The weighbridge from the old coal yard is retained as a feature among the new housing too. Later I moved to Ashdon, and lived at the top of the lane that led to the halt. The coach body at Ashdon was GER five compartment second class coach number 342, built in October 1883. Sometime between 1902-1904 the body was widened from 8' to 9' and the coach continued in service until withdrawal on December 31st 1915. Soon after that date, the body was removed from the underframe and sent to Ashdon where the partitions were removed and wooden perimeter seating installed.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks indeed for your thoughts and memories 🙏
@petermartin3818
Жыл бұрын
At the East Anglian Railway Museum located at Chappel on the still open section, the wooden jib crane from Saffron Walden goods shed has become a feature. Some years ago, one of our volunteer members was approached by someone from Cleales who were expanding their showrooms and found it in the grass and wondered if we would like it. Accepting the offer, we loaded it with a front loading little grey Fergie tractor onto a Transit flat-bed truck. The journey to Chappel was somewhat interesting with the crane sticking out either side a considerable distance! We also have one of the German built railbuses which was restored to operating condition a couple of years ago. No. 79963 featured on the last passenger train working when the service was withdrawn, and there are other photos and vids elsewhere. Great stuff - and thank you.👍
@johncone9516
9 ай бұрын
I worked for Cleales of Haverhill from 1968 to 74, Didn't the old station yard in SW belong to to Dick Jossaum who was a director of Cleales?
should reopen to haverhill and beyond as a light railway
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Yes, something ought to be done there!
Another wonderful exploration! That former carriage at Ashdon really needs preserving before it's too late. Love the aerial work, really places you firmly in the current landscape while picturing the heyday.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you - the drone is a true wonder!
Good stuff ,I was stationed at Wimbish barracks for a while .
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks indeed!
@markparry63
Жыл бұрын
Has the name been changed from Carver Barracks?
@richardchadwick4028
Жыл бұрын
@@markparry63 no stand corrected ....
I'm sure I speak for many people when I say thank you for all the work you put into making these films for us to enjoy 👏 All the best my friend 🍻👍
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Wow, thank you!
In your introduction you describe the history which provides the fascination surrounding lost railways and I totally agree. What set me of was a local line, the Melbourne Military Railway, which was a branch between Derby and Ashby taken over by the War Dept during the war. Initially used by the British then the Americans in preparation for rebuilding the destroyed rail systems in Europe after D-Day, so many little stories associated with this one short line, it is truly fascinating. Thanks again for another brilliant video.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
I saw the last passenger train depart. They should have run through trains from Haverhill to Audley End. Thank you for this. People like ti drive to Audley End station.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Thank you for yet another interesting and well researched film, proving that even a short branch line holds many surprises. Certainly the big skies and flat fields remind me of a lost Essex childhood of which, unlike the railway, nothing remains apart from memories and a very few photos. Your videos are the nearest we can get to reliving the heydays of the branch lines, some of which I actually traveled on without realizing how fragile their future would be.Thanks once again, Mike.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for you kind words, thoughts and memories, as well as your continuing support, which is greatly appreciated
Oh what a truly nostalgic journey you have helped me relive. Wonderful memories are rekindled of long ago family visits by rail from Liverpool Street to Haverhill. This branch line and family all sadly gone and very much missed. Bittersweet indeed! Thank you for posting!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Thanks for this, excellent as always. It would never surprise me if the line through Bartlow towards Cambridge got reactivated at some point. Haverhill with a population approaching 30,000 is crying out for a rail link and putting it along some of the old alignment through Bartlow would be one of the options.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
I hope so too - something must be done to reconnect Haverhill to the wider transport network!
@johncone9516
9 ай бұрын
Coming from Doomtown (Haverhill) there has been several feasibility studies done about re-opening the line but the problem is circumnavigating the town to the towns expansion.
Thank you for a very well produced video. It is a shame that the rail buses, which were supposed to save uneconomic branch lines, were not, in the end, successful. It is also a shame that the old coach has not been rescued and restored. Thank you again.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Excellent piece. My great-grandfather, a brewer and maltster, was Mayor of Saffron Walden in the mid-Victorian times. He lived at 'Farmadine' and the railway ran across his land. He had his own access to the station and a porter would bring him his ticket whenever he wanted to travel to London. The house 'Farmadine' is still there, but the garden has all been developed into the housing estate named after the house. The stained glass windows in the church were donated by him in memory of his first two wives. His third wife was my great-grandmother - and my grandfather, Archie, was born in 1879 when Joseph Lecand Taylor was over 70 years old!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Wonderful links to this line, thanks for sharing!
Beautifully shot and narrated once again. If you fancy venturing further west, my local disused line - the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton railway - is worth exploring. Quite a few buildings, including my local station in Whitchurch and some fine red brick bridges, plus stretches of track bed still exist.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
@richardchadwick4028
Жыл бұрын
Yes, good idea . I've walked long some of that line ...
Nice work. All very familiar to me as I live in Stansted! Will look out for the Ashdon waiting room next time I am over there!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Another wonderful video, always a joy to watch - looking back on railways past. In my youth I was fascinated by the lost railways on the Isle of Wight. Spent many a happy time over there exploring and finding lots of clues to the long gone railways. Some times just standing on what would have been the old track bed, just letting my mind wander back a few decades to imagine the sights and smells that would have once been there. I live in north Devon now, and one of my local pubs is the old station at Blackmoor Gate. The original building is now enlarged, with the dining area now directly where the tracks once were of the narrow gauge line that once went from Lynton to Barnstaple. I line I remember you covered quite a while back now. So once again, thank you for such an interesting and well put together film.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
My pleasure - and you might like to know I am visiting your neck of the woods this summer to make my Lynton & Barnstaple film to a higher standard!
Brilliant video. Genuinely interesting. Thankyou
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
The fact that Ashdon Halt's Great Eastern waiting room still survives today is absolutely incredible! Surely someone needs to give it a light restoration at some point, it still looks incredibly good!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
It is a wonderful relic for sure!
Thank you very much for your latest video. I enjoyed it very much as I enjoy all your videos. Keep up the good work!!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
An excellent film, very much enjoyed that. I echo those wondering why the surviviing GER carriages have not been properly preserved.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you - long may that carriage endure!
Superbly done, as always.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Love the carriages station still in situ. How lovely.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Remarkable isn't it!
Utterly fascinating as usual. The GER made their little coaches very well; there are so many all over East Anglia, some recovered, others slowly (very slowly!) rotting away. The pair at the halt on the branch look remarkably good given their age and lack of maintenance. Can't imagine Acrow were particularly impressed that their new build halt was forcibly closed just a few years later!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Totally agree! Thanks ever so much for your thoughts and kind words!
Thank you. I grew up in Cambridge and often rode my bike around this very area, all within a few years of closure. Good video. Good memories.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Totally brilliant as always! Thank you.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
My pleasure!
As always, a lovely video. Thank you
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
One of the best films on disussed railways I've seen. 👏
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Ай бұрын
Oh thank you! Do subscribe as you may well enjoy my others in ther series!
The quality of these films gets better and better. I enjoy each one as it comes.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you indeed. Alas, quantity is something I cannot do, so I'm pleased you feel i can present quality instead!
Once again, a sterling job in documenting the obscure history of these long forgotten lines. Rather sad to see the rapid deterioration of that signal box over the last five years.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
❤️
Should the line re-open? Yes, probably. Needs a bit of input from the good citizens locally. Make a big thing of Saffron in Saffron Walden. It's not that far from London that chefs can't go and buy *properly* fresh spice. Make a thing of Audley End house. Find out how the Special Operations Executive worked. Understand why you wouldn't want their operatives tipping-up at your front door.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Lots of history thereabouts!
@grahamstubbs4962
Жыл бұрын
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I think so. Pinch the Watercress Line's methods and make it a destination.
Congratulations! Another outstanding documentary that includes fascinating historical and environmental detail, balanced with just a little nostalgia! I wonder how the nearly 18,000 inhabitants of Saffron Walden feel about their two-mile trek to catch a train to London or Cambridge. No sign of a 'reversing Beeching' campaign here, presumably!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
I think most folk there who commute consider the car journey to Audley End quite convenient, but it would have been great had their railway remained! Really glad you enjoyed the film!
excellent commentary once again... i will say this using the music the way you do breathes life into the history of these old forgotten lines and gives, to me at least, a magical feeling of being there during it's active life seeing all the pictures and information and everything mixed together in a stunning representation of what once was... is just amazing to me... without these videos i would never know such smaller lines would exist and im glad i know now that regardless of how small a line is in the grand scheme of things... it was and still is a peace of history that has been remembered once more through your hard work and dedication.... i can not wait to see what forgotten line will come on the next stop of this grand adventure that is rediscovering lost railways!!!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you so so much for your generous remarks. Much appreciated!
Thank you for posting this film it brought back lots of memories as a 16yr old that used to bicycle from Haverhill to Bartlow to watch the filming of The Virgin Soldiers "What excitement" for a boy. Also at Bartlow in the triangle of the old railway lies Bartlow Three Hills, a former Roman Burial Tumuli which we played on.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
9 ай бұрын
My pleasure 🙏
As a small boy, in the 1950's, I loved travelling on the 'Walden Flyer' from Audley End to Saffron Walden as the final stage of the rail journey from Sussex to spend all my school holidays with my maternal grandparents, who lived in Thaxted Road nextdoor to Walden Dairies. For me part of the magic disappeared when steam was replaced by the W&M diesel railcars. These days I can barely bring myself to visit Saffron Walden, what with virtually all trace of the railway removed and six decades of developments that have destroyed the beautiful town of my memories.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
2 ай бұрын
Thank you for your evocative memories!
It is truly staggering how some of the first station sites have changed so dramatically to unrecognizable states.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Agreed 👍
Brilliant. Thank you for sharing.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks indeed - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Another fantastic entry in this series. Thanks so much.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
My pleasure!
Great video. Beautiful pictures of landscape and railway remains. Nice historic volume. Thanjs for sharing. Ki d regards 🚂
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Superb as always❤❤❤❤
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
I walked from Audley End to Saffron Walden a few weeks ago, and included a visit to the station. I was rather surprised the branch platform at Audley End had never been flattened, but I'm sure non-rail fans wonder why it's on two levels. Great drone shots, particularly as you can't really walk much of the line.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing!
A very interesting film. Back in the 40's & 50's my late father drove this line, along with the Stour and Colne Valley lines. I remember (vaguely) him telling me how sometimes he used to go to the loco shed at Saffron Walden early in the morning to get the loco ready for service.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
10 ай бұрын
Wonderful memories, thank you for sharing!
Brilliantly made, and well researched as usual. I live in Scotland, so I have never been there, but throughout Britain and Ireland, so many lines were closed. I remember hearing about the Black Five was cut up in situ after the filming was over.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed the film - thank you so much!
WOW! Another brilliant video. So well made with fantastic camera and drone shots, superb historical facts, great old photoraphs and a wonderful commentary. Can the carriages be saved before it's too late? Reopening the line? Unfortunatley I don't think it would be a viable proposition.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film - and agreed, the prospect of the line reopening is next to nil!
I’ve been waiting for another video from you. It’s made my weekend. Absolutely glorious. I am happy to wait as it’s just so nice to see your editing and hear your narration. Polished is the word. We are blessed with your work about Railways and Jago Hazzard with his history of the tube. History is alive.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Wow, thank you! More to come!
Thank you for yet another trip down memory lane! For two decades from the early 1990s, I lived not far from Saffron Walden, and often visited there. It was fascinating to find traces of the old railway line in the town and at Audley End Station and to imagine how it used to be.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
So glad you enjoyed the film, thank you for your kind words and memories 😊
First time I've come across your work. Am about to hit the Subscribe button with pleasure and anticipation. As a keen student of railway history in both the UK (mainly Southern Railway et al) and here in Victoria (Australia), I know I'm going to enjoy both catching up with your offerings to date and being among the first to view your forthcoming offerings.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Welcome aboard! Do have a good root around the channel and let me know what you think!
The starter signal for the Saffron Walden branch at Audley End still exists. Also, the weighbridge is still in situ at what once was the saffron walden goodsyard.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Wish I'd seen them, but I couldn't access the area!
Excellent. From December 1962 we moved to a house immediately to the north of the line between South Road and Thaxted Road and later I lived just to the south, where one night the Royal train was stabled. I occasionally rode the Maybach buses between Saffron and Audley End but have no memory of the steam trains. By a well known local landlord, I was told an amusing anecdote about the steam train crew. It was the practice of the guard to nip across to the local pub (Neville Arms IIRC) for a swift 'alf. The footplate crew one day ran the loco back and forth to give the rails a really good sanding. Spotting the guard returning they started off very briskly and with no hint of wheelslip shot off down the line towards SW leaving the guard swaying in the wind. I wish I knew the outcome .....
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Wonderful memories! Thanks for sharing!
You make every visit to the past a worthy journey. Keep travelling, and thank you. Second Side Up FM.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thanks, will do!
After I watched this enjoyable & well researched video, I noticed in the right hand column, the Saffron Walden Line 1961 Railbus journey video posted 5 years ago by the Alan Snowden Archive. The Great Eastern carriage is clearly visible on the platform at Ashdon Halt.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Yes, I contacted Mr Snowdon to see if I could incorporate his footage into my film, but sadly I got no reply! Glad you enjoyed my effort!
Once again you have produced an excellent video and deserve congratulations. Alas! - like all your other videos there is a tinge of melancholia when we remember just how much has been lost over the years in our country and can never return. Sad.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
A delightful, well researched film with an clear and informative commentary. Thank you. Chris Davies
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Very kind of you to say so, thank you!
A superb video once again, always a pleasure to watch. Thank you for the credit. 👏🙂
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank YOU for your wonderful, kind support!
Didn't quite realise the history my local branch had thank you so much for your informative content do keep up the good work
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Definitely had you in mind when putting this together as I remembered how you said this was your local lost line!
Wonderful video 👌🏼😀
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Stunning, insightful, nostalgic, your films continue to entertain and impress. Thank you.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Very kind of you to say so, thank you 😊
Great sights, beautiful nostalgic music...well narrated,
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks indeed for your kind words
Nice work. The aerial shots help complete the picture where the alignment is inaccesible on the ground. Really agree with your comment about getting out and exploring the remains of old railways. In fact, it is this very line (and the stour valley line) that triggered my interest in them. I was absolutely amazed when I stumbled across the remains of the carriage at Ashdon whilst on a walk a few years ago. My grandmother was in Saffron Walden during the war, and recounted the incident with the train being shot at, though the story was a little different.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
So glad you enjoyed the film and that it stirred some clearly happy memories of railway exploration!
Another fascinating video. Thanks once again for the time and effort you take to keep the memories alive. 🚂🚴♂️👣🇺🇦
@RediscoveringLostRailways
11 ай бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it - many thanks indeed!
Thank you for yet another beautifully presented and narrated film. So pleasing to still find that some of the buildings remain in some sort of form or another.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Very kind of you to say so, thank you 👍
you should do old Waverley Route from Carlisle to Edinburgh
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
You're right, I should!
@jmaltby9
Жыл бұрын
The Waverley route is 98 1/4 miles in length
These videos just get better and better! Although I have no connection to the Saffron Walden area, I still found this very interesting and, as ever, the quality of the filming, production and the narration is very professional, thank you!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much!
Beautifully narrated, and beautifully filmed. Well done!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you very much!
Excellent video!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you very much!
Thanks for sharing this well produced video.Greetings from Australia.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank You another wonderful film.Nice to see what has survived especially the old coach body.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you ever so much for your kind remarks!
Interesting read about the Black 5, I knew Gerald Pagano as a customer of a place I worked. He had been a press photographer in Fleet Street and had moved on to running an antiques shop by then. He always seemed a very confident man, so I’m a little surprised he couldn’t raise the money to re-rail the loco.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your thoughts and memories 🙏
Another great chapter. Thank you
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
You're very welcome!
Thank you so much for this, and all of your other videos in this series.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you like them! You're very welcome 🙏
I think it's unfortunate that this line closed, but with the Stour Valley Line also gone, the line wouldn't really have anywhere to go, even if it were still open. The part between Saffron Walden and Audley End could re-open and use a class 139 like the Stourbridge Town branch line
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Yes, agreed - there's little to recommend the reopening of the line beyond Saffron Walden - and a class 139 or the like would be a good idea!
Your videos are always worth the wait; I loved the impression you gave of the German aerial attack with drone skill and sound effects! This one is a wonderful juxtaposition of archive photos and footage, and the modern environment. Thank you.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
So glad you enjoyed the film!
i really enjoyed this film , some superb relics still to be found too . my mate and i like to try and find fragments of wigan s many long lost signal boxes , once again , thank you as ever for all you do for us , top bloke , very best wishes from lancashire
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for your most interesting video- especially the then-and-now photo overlays, and with the green-line map marking showing old line path- ww2 fuel dump spur line- you can still see the round oil tank "shadows" on the ground. ;)
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed the film!
Once again great content!! "Thank you"👍
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
My pleasure, thank you 🙏
Excellent documentary again sir, very enjoyable and interesting. It’s interesting to note it seems the line terminii did not bring you directly into those stations, like Audley End where you had to come out of the station and walk a few steps to the Saffron Walden line. With only Saffron Walden station being the largest and only brick built station and the rest being timber built halts they can’t have been expecting much from the line in the way of passengers. A great piece of work though and one can appreciate the amount of work and time that goes into these videos. We look forwards to the next one.👍
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks indeed for your thoughts and kind words 🙏
Another great video, well worth the wait. 👍👍
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you so much!
What a treat. Another lovely and very interesting video, many thanks.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it
Wow this is very local to me and a fascinating video, thank you for making and sharing.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
A brilliant well narrated video, looking forward to the next one!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you kindly!
Absolutely fantastic mate
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you! Cheers!
Wonderful. I suppose the nearest "lost line" to me is Stamford to Wansford, of which the track bed is clearly visible along with road bridges and station buildings at each end survive, to wit Wansford Road and Stamford East - although the M&GN at Bourne must come closer still.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
I will have to investigate one day!
Absolutely fascinating. I love these videos of yours, how things used to be and sadly what they are now.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you like them! Thanks so much!
Ah, we think we are so clever, but nature waits patiently and simply reclaims everything in no time at all! Lovely video with excellent commentary.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you very much indeed!
Thank you for another fascinating video from my (Cambridge) backyard. Looking forward to more.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it - I'm in the area too and many of my films use Cambridge as their locus, so do check them out!
Thank you for this entertaining and informative film. I knew little about the line even though I have passed through Audley End countless times.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
Yet another brilliant and very well researched film! Ashdon Halt was a real eye opener with the former Great Eastern Railway carriages still in situ! Many thanks for posting! 😍👍
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you ever so much for your kind remarks!
A great trip back in time. It’s a shame some of the relics are in such shape. And the graffiti is disgusting. Seen you on the next. Cheers mate! 😊
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your kind remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
Hi, Thank you once again for a wonderful reminder of the past,(We should rebel and demand the return of the railway s,) I look forward to hearing the past , All the best Brian 😃
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
You are very welcome!
Another great film, thanks..... I believe instead of widening roads for cycling lanes. Reconditioned old track beds, should be turned into cycle paths. I know Costains have done some. But there so much more out there......
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Good call!
very well presented. thank you
@RediscoveringLostRailways
11 ай бұрын
You are welcome! Thank you for saying so!
Great video very professionally made. I used to have a job driving around this area just prior to the turn of the millennium and had customers all along the branch from Bartlow through to Saffron Walden. I remember then that the route of the line was very clearly visible and that the station at Saffron Walden was still magnificent, if looking a little forlorn. I also remember driving up the road from the Ford dealership to go over the bridge at the east end of the station and seeing the former station signal post still standing there, it felt like the line had only closed yesterday. I also had customers in the former Acrow works and I remember there being still quite a bit of track inside there set into the tarmac and concrete which I had drive over as I visited a couple of customers who had set up business in the site which was by then split into units for small businesses. Happy days.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you for your kind words and wonderful memories!
Watched and highly apreciated from the continent ;)
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Thank you indeed!
I did use to live near a lost railway (Bedford to Northampton), and aired the fact on this channel, whereupon you fairly promptly made a film about it, a fact that bowls me over to this day. I dine out on it. 11:08 one of my hobby horses: preservation railways in England suffer a dearth of late Victorian and Edwardian two- and three-axle carriages such as those shown here at Ashdon. I think those actual shells are probably beyond rescue, but hopefully they can serve as a template for some enterprising railway preservationist to recreate a rake of Great Easterns with their compartments (here removed), varnished teak with gold lettering, brass fittings and slam doors. We have more of such carriages here in Germany, and riding in them is an unforgettable experience. You wonder why anyone ever bothered with cars.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
I need to revisit that Bedford to Northampton line at some point!
@1258-Eckhart
Жыл бұрын
@@RediscoveringLostRailways If I may say so with all due modesty, it made for one of your most beautiful landscape films. I also referred the mayor of Olney to the video in the hope of drumming up support for the rerouting of the new East-West line that way in order to serve Olney and to relieve the Marston Vale line, which is an awkward railway to operate. Shortly afterwards he approved a new Morrisons on the trackbed, which I took as cocking me a snook.
A fascinating tale, beautifully narrated and filmed. The old photographs vividly illustrate the life of this short branch and allow us to glimpse the former incarnation of some of the derelict structures along the way, including those amazing railway carriages at Ashton Halt. Given its rural setting, it is difficult to see the viability of the line beyond Saffron Walden. Even so, I can't imagine that closure occured without considerablle local opposition. Today, although there is a bus service; on my occasional visits, I've found it more convenient to walk. A rail connection though, is almost certainly the stuff of dreams. Your video was a most enjoyable experience, which will accompany me in my imagination on my next visit to that delightful town. Thank you!
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it, thank you ever so much for your kind remarks!
Those GE coaches could be restored. There is enogh left for woodwork to be matched and replaced. All lines should have been kept as a strategic reserve and never built over or filled in. I remember, in 'Railway World, the Black 5 having survived to the every end of steam, becoming a film prop. It was cut up on site afterwards...the Malayan 'Emergency' was only 20 years before.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Many thanks for your thoughts and comment
That heroic music helps set the mood indeed. Meanwhile, someone should try to restore those old carriages....if they can just extract them safely.
@RediscoveringLostRailways
Жыл бұрын
Yes indeed!