Trivia - Has The Chilworth Topiary Been Abandoned?

[Deepgreen]

On the North Downs line near Chilworth there is a large topiary bird which commemorates the site of an accident from, I think, the late 19th century or early 20th. Passing today I noticed it is overgrown and, more significantly, has clearly been sprayed with weedkiller from a train, bearing a wide dead swathe down the track side of the shrub. Is it to be abandoned, does anyone know?

 

[Paul180]

Jessie's Seat, aka the Chilworth Chicken, will no longer be maintained. H&S regs won't allow any trimming without a line block, and the volunteers who have maintained it to date are unable to carry out the work during the hours of darkness / in the early hours of the morning when there are no trains.

 

[Whistler40145]

Jessie's Seat, aka the Chilworth Chicken, will no longer be maintained. H&S regs won't allow any trimming without a line block, and the volunteers who have maintained it to date are unable to carry out the work during the hours of darkness / in the early hours of the morning when there are no trains.

Presumably the National Grid as this section of the North Downs line isn’t electrified

 

[Deepgreen]

Presumably the National Grid as this section of the North Downs line isn’t electrified

Not sure what the Grid has to do with it - surely it's a purely railway issue? Shame - another quirk disappears. It will need to be trimmed/removed at some point, though, as it is close to encroaching on the loading gauge. Perhaps the weedkilling was to try to kill it anyway, although I don't think it's systemic weedkiller (i.e. going to, and killing, the roots). I suppose so few people even know about it that it won't be missed.

 

[Whistler40145]

Not sure what the Grid has to do with it - surely it's a purely railway issue? Shame - another quirk disappears. It will need to be trimmed/removed at some point, though, as it is close to encroaching on the loading gauge. Perhaps the weedkilling was to try to kill it anyway, although I don't think it's systemic weedkiller (i.e. going to, and killing, the roots). I suppose so few people even know about it that it won't be missed.

Reigate to Guildford isn't electrified, so not sure what electric supply would require isolating

 

[Railsigns]

Reigate to Guildford isn't electrified, so not sure what electric supply would require isolating

Nobody said anything about an electrical supply needing to be isolated. It was stated in post #2 that a line block is required, meaning that the railway line is blocked to traffic.

 

[Deepgreen]

Nobody said anything about an electrical supply needing to be isolated. It was stated in post #2 that a line block is required, meaning that the railway line is blocked to traffic.

Post number three mentioned the National Grid and I wondered why.

 

[DelW]

I usually try to look out for it when I go that way, and I noticed a little while ago that it was looking less like topiary and more like an overgrown bush.

It's a pity in a way if the tradition is lost, but the accident it commemorates was a long while ago, and any living relatives would be several generations removed from those involved.

 

[Paul180]

Jessie's seat Chilworth Chicken falls within the live red zone working area. Network Rail are doing away with "red live zone working maintenance due to an increase in near misses and unfortunate incidents so unfortunately the kind team of volunteers have been mantling the memorial for a number of years feel they are no longer able to mating it as it requires a line block which happens in the early hours of morning.

 

[Ianigsy]

Network Rail probably ought to take this down as well then - it rings a bit hollow in the circumstances….

People and the railway: Jessie’s Seat - Network Rail

Beside the railway in Surrey sits a curious topiary bird. It’s a moving memorial to a train guard who lost his life in a tragic incident almost 130 years ago this month – but unknown to many outside the local area. It survives today thanks to a band of dedicated volunteers who affectionately...

www.networkrail.co.uk

 

[JonathanH]

The line closes a number of times a year at the weekend for routine maintenance with buses between Guildford and Redhill. Why are those not suitable occasions for tending the topiary?

 

[Class 08]

Just rolling back slightly: has Network Rail actually said that Jessie’s Seat will no longer be maintained? And if it has, does anybody know which specific department or people at NR are involved?

Affection for quirky landmarks is huge – as public outrage at the burning down and demolition of the Crooked House pub clearly shows.

 

[Deepgreen]

Just rolling back slightly: has Network Rail actually said that Jessie’s Seat will no longer be maintained? And if it has, does anybody know which specific department or people at NR are involved?

Affection for quirky landmarks is huge – as public outrage at the burning down and demolition of the Crooked House pub clearly shows.

The fact that they (NR) have recently sprayed it with weedkiller doesn't bode well! Even if the whole shrub doesn't die, it's going to be very mis-shapen for a very long time. I also suspect that extremely few members of the public know about the topiary - it's inaccessible by foot, after all.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Aug 2023 ==

The line closes a number of times a year at the weekend for routine maintenance with buses between Guildford and Redhill. Why are those not suitable occasions for tending the topiary?

Presumably a closed line doesn't guarantee a lack of engineering trains?

 

[Ianigsy]

Or just transplant it to Chilworth station. There’s even a traffic island outside the entrance where it could go.

 

[Deepgreen]

Or just transplant it to Chilworth station. There’s even a traffic island outside the entrance where it could go.

It is far too large to transplant now (and has been badly damaged by weedkiller recently ayway). It will need some attention soon as it will encroach on the loading gauge so I suspect it will be chopped down.