I have fading childhood memories of passing through Blandford by car, to visit family in Mere, and seeing the East Street bridge in the distance. Deeply nostalgic to see it again.

Memories ! Thank you ! You have my inestimable gratitude ! At 18:23 The last steam engines to use the stour bridge at Blandford may well have been 3 that crossed on the night of Sunday 6 March 1966, one in steam and 2 with their rods off (dead ) as they cleared Bath MPD during the closure. I rode this cortege that night from Shillingstone.

An enormous amount of work has gone into producing these videos of the old line, for which I, and I am sure many others, are enormously grateful. When you are on the Pines, as I was several times before its 1962, rerouting, most of what is in your videos is inevitably missed and so many gaps of what is merely seen from train level are filled in. This is particularly because, as child at that time, the journey from Manchester sometimes felt interminable. But maturity brings with it an appreciation of the actual journeys and the countryside. If the S&D was not one of the most loved railways in britain, so many people , including yourself, would not spend so much time and effort filming it, rebuilding it and carving out much of the route for walkers and cyclists. So it must be true.

@RailFlicks

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing this with us, more episodes to come!

Fabulous and informative. Love the sounds of the trains added along the route! Very beautiful trailway for walking and cycling, looking forward to more of this. Thank you.

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your kind comment. Work will start shortly on editing the next episode. 👍😁

you have put so much effort into this production ,very well done ,i never knew the S&D but love it.

@RailFlicks

Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! 👍

The two steam locos are carrying the later British Railways crest, which dates the photo to after 1958. The track doesn't look as though it is in regular use, so I think the photo was taken between the closure of the line as a through route in March 1967 and the end of Southern steam in July 1967. Blandford station remained open for freight traffic until 2nd January 1969, although army traffic for Blandford camp was withdrawn at the end of 1967. Great concept for a video series. It's much easier to see from the air where the missing bits of trackbed went. Thanks for making this.

@RailFlicks

7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the info and your support. 👍

What an awesome video, will definitely be sharing. 👍

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

Interesting.

3:02 I wouldn't have fancied too many shifts on the Spetsbrie archaeological dig to rediscover the station platforms and so on. I'm willing the North Dorset devotees to power on through with their track extension pack B and more so that I can have a go at the deep cutting at Stur. It's always annoyed and intrigued me in equal measure.

Brilliant. Thank you.

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

You're very welcome!

Excellent.....really enjoyed the video.Thankyou so much for your efforts.

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

Just working on the next episode from Blandford to Shillingstone. We had much better weather for that, and the countryside shot's are breath taking. Thanks for your comment, appreciate it! 😊

Great video! Looking forward to next episode

@RailFlicks

2 жыл бұрын

Hopefully, next episode this Autumn. Time's a bit in short supply for me at the moment, but I've nearly finished it.

Absolutely superb, I live in between Charlton Marshall and Blandford St Mary and I regularly walk parts of the trailway - very often accessing it via the old halt, but if not then at least walking through it, such a sad sight but at least its still there to remind us of what once was . . . keep up the good work and I look forward to viewing more footage.

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Ant, I'm working on Part 4 right now! All the source material has now been shot up to Stalbridge, just the tedious editing to do! 👍

@antpoulton1990

3 жыл бұрын

@@RailFlicks superb, looking forward to these!!

You mention a level crossing (1minute 20), there was in fact a bridge there that went over the railway. The lay-by on the left of the road is actually part of the old road, a tight corner that turned onto the bridge. They demolished the bridge to straighten the road, though i can't remember when it was done.

@RailFlicks

2 жыл бұрын

I wondered when somebody would confirm this! Another person advised the same. My problem has been that there are very few left that can remember these sort of details. and sometimes I do get misleading information, perhaps muddled memories of actually a different location! Yes I've since been informed that the bridge was removed when the A350 was widened and straightened, and there's still a summit there, which now makes sense. It would never have made sense for a level crossing at that point, but this is what I had been initially informed. Unfortunately, it's a little late to change these details in the film. Thanks for confirming this for us.

Great video, really informative. Where did you get the map seen at 21:35? Thank you!

@RailFlicks

11 ай бұрын

Hi, It's a photo taken of the public notice board at the old station site in Blandford.😀

Have you thought about doing the closed narrow gauge lines in Swanage? An aerial view of Bournemouth West would also be very cool. Subscribed!

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

That's interesting, didn't know there are any narrow gauge lines in Swanage! Bournemouth West presents a few technical difficulties because its a built up area, but with a small enough drone it might be possible, I'll look into that. Thanks for your comment & Sub!

@cholloway0046

3 жыл бұрын

@@RailFlicks The Furzebrook railway - apparently closed in 1957 according to Wikipedia. I live in Wimborne so I've never really explored the area, but I did notice one of your drones capture an old bridge of the in the swanage videos.

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

There's so many disused railways in Dorset, it's a job to know where to start! I'm currently engaged with the North Dorset Railway at Shillingstone at the moment for a special programme, which is taking up all my time, but watch this space !

@cholloway0046

3 жыл бұрын

@@RailFlicks Can't wait!

@RailFlicks

3 жыл бұрын

Ah yes, that's probably the old clay mine "skew arch bridge" at Norden on the Swanage Railway. There's a great little clay mining museum there with some restored narrow gauge track! I don't think much else can still be seen narrow gauge wise, from the air, but I could be wrong.