Abandoned Railways from Above,new C4 series.

[Ashley Hill]

Starting Saturday the 21 Sept sees a new show looking at abandoned railways from above. It’s on at 2025 on Channel 4. Episode one is about Somerset.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Starting Saturday the 21 Sept sees a new show looking at abandoned railways from above. It’s on at 2025 on Channel 4. Episode one is about Somerset.

I hope it's more informative than my whimsical efforts, of looking at old railway routes on Google Maps.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

This sounds very interesting. Do we know how many episodes are in the series?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

This sounds very interesting. Do we know how many episodes are in the series?

Six episodes in the first season, which starts on Saturday in Somerset as @Ashley Hill has noted.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Six? That's not bad.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Series 1 Episode 1 is Somerset/Dorset.
Series 1 Episode 2 is Oxford (= Varsity line?)
Series 1 Episode 3 is Scarborough/Whitby.
Series 1 Episode 4 is Wales (Aberystwyth/Carmarthen).
Series 1 Episode 5 is York/Hull.
Series 1 Episode 6 is Scotland (Carlisle/Edinburgh).

Typical actual episode length = 45/46 minutes.

 

[LYradial]

Aberystwyth to Carmarthen should be good for some splendid scenery, wonder who the presenter is

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Starting Saturday the 21 Sept sees a new show looking at abandoned railways from above. It’s on at 2025 on Channel 4. Episode one is about Somerset.

As well as the delayed showing on Channel 4+1 at 2125 on Saturday (so just after 'Strictly' has finished over on BBC1) the programme is also being repeated on "4Seven" (Freeview channel 47) at 1900 on Monday evening.

 

[75A]

Starting Saturday the 21 Sept sees a new show looking at abandoned railways from above. It’s on at 2025 on Channel 4. Episode one is about Somerset.

Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated.

 

[Big Jumby 74]

Starting Saturday the 21 Sept sees a new show looking at abandoned railways from above. It’s on at 2025 on Channel 4. Episode one is about Somerset

Guessing the S&D will feature strongly? Will be interesting to see, assuming drones have been used in part. Walked most of the S&D (that was accessible) 40 odd years ago, but suspect most of it, South of Chilcompton Tunnel (with odd exceptions (Shillingstone etc), are now completely gone/unrecognisable? Will be looking in.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Aberystwyth to Carmarthen should be good for some splendid scenery, wonder who the presenter is

Voice over artiste in tonight's episode seems to have been actress Rhoda Ofori-Attah.

Made a change from Bill Nighy, I suppose!

More here...

Rhoda Ofori-Attah narrates 'Abandoned Railways From Above' documentary on Channel 4! - Sue Terry Voices

Docuseries exploring lost railway lines, each with their own unique history revealing the vibrant industries that were once dotted along their routes and the...

www.sueterryvoices.com

 

[75A]

Easy enough on the eyes and ears but never answered the question I've had for ever.
Why is it known as the Somerset & Dorset when for it's entre life Bournmouth was in Hampshire. It moved to Dorset in 1974.

 

[Western 52]

The programme had some lovely archive footage of the line. The comparison to today's shots was of course quite stark, with little left in many places. I'm not old enough to remember the line, as I was 3 when it closed, but it must have been a great line to travel and photograph. Some of that bygone atmosphere came over in the programme.

 

[DerekC]

Easy enough on the eyes and ears but never answered the question I've had for ever.
Why is it known as the Somerset & Dorset when for it's entre life Bournmouth was in Hampshire. It moved to Dorset in 1974.

Because the terminus at Bournemouth West was only about 1/4 mile inside Hampshire and the other 105 miles of line were otherwise completely within Dorset and Somerset. And being really picky, the S&DJR proper only came as far south as Broadstone Junction, which is and was always well within Dorset. The rest of the route to Bournemouth was LSWR territory.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Easy enough on the eyes and ears but never answered the question I've had for ever.
Why is it known as the Somerset & Dorset when for it's entre life Bournmouth was in Hampshire. It moved to Dorset in 1974.

Be right in saying that the 'Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway' was the amalgamation of two predecessor railway companies in 1862. So, was Bournemouth even a destination for the 'Dorset Central Railway' prior to then?

 

[75A]

Because the terminus at Bournemouth West was only about 1/4 mile inside Hampshire and the other 105 miles of line were otherwise completely within Dorset and Somerset. And being really picky, the S&DJR proper only came as far south as Broadstone Junction, which is and was always well within Dorset. The rest of the route to Bournemouth was LSWR territory.

Thank you.

 

[peteb]

It was an interesting programme with plenty of (I guess) Ivo Peters footage from the 1960s. There wasn't as much "from the air" as I'd have liked: I'd have thought they'd do a sort of low fly at high speed view (like a Tornado jet), but the drone footage left in one case 15 miles out......

Also the terminology was in places a bit suspect, eg: the "peak" of the line was mentioned whereas in all railway literature that would be referred to as "summit".

Nevertheless an interesting watch and I probably will look at the rest of the series.

 

[Peter Sarf]

A couple of inaccuracies maybe.

The narrator discussed the size of the train-shed roof at Bath Green Park terminus.
Said it was 91 meres by 33 metres wide. I cannot imagine it was 33 metres wide and yet only three times as long !. Perhaps 33 feet wide ?.
EDIT (12:45) - But, as per the replies below, including the WHOLE roof not just the central arch is possibly valid and makes it seem near enough.
/EDIT

At Shepton Mallet it was mentioned there was a brewery. I thought I heard the narrator say the brewery used to export lager all over the world. Surely it would have been ale or cider ?.
EDIT (12:45) - Apparently there were European brewers at Shepton Mallet long before we started ruining lager in the UK a century later. So it is possible.
/EDIT

EDIT (11:15) :-

And

I noticed the narrator kept referring to the S & D as "our line" which came across a bit cheesy - mind you "Somerset and Dorset railway line" is a bit of a mouthful. I chocked on the phrase "our train" when we got to the junction with the still existing lne for the last bit in to Bournemouth !.

Overall I found the programme interesting. I would have liked more detail in places but it lasted an hour already (granted adverts might have swallowed up 25% of that.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

At Shepton Mallet it was mentioned there was a brewery. I thought I heard the narrator say the brewery used to export lager all over the world. Surely it would have been ale or cider ?.

If this was a reference to the one-time Anglo-Bavarian Brewery in Shepton Mallet, some sources claim that it was very possibly the first lager brewery in the U.K. Apparently the brewery's new owners (the business had been on-sold in 1871) had brought over a number of brewers from Bavaria in the subsequent years. So, maybe they were producing / exporting "German style" beer, as well as all the various other ale products perhaps more usual at the time?

 

[jfollows]

A couple of inaccuracies maybe.

The narrator discussed the size of the train-shed roof at Bath Green Park terminus.
Said it was 91 meres by 33 metres wide. I cannot imagine it was 33 metres wide and yet only three times as long !. Perhaps 33 feet wide ?.

Picture at https://www.webbaviation.co.uk/aerial/picture.php?/29932
Seems about the stated ratio.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The narrator discussed the size of the train-shed roof at Bath Green Park terminus.
Said it was 91 meres by 33 metres wide. I cannot imagine it was 33 metres wide and yet only three times as long !. Perhaps 33 feet wide ?.

The main shed vaulted glass roof at Bath's Queen Square station (renamed Green Park in 1951) measured around 300 feet x 110 feet, apparently. That's a fair old size.

 

[Sun Chariot]

The narrator discussed the size of the train-shed roof at Bath Green Park terminus.
Said it was 91 meres by 33 metres wide. I cannot imagine it was 33 metres wide and yet only three times as long !. Perhaps 33 feet wide ?.

I concur with @jfollows - here's another photo of it. Far wider than 33 feet, looks closer to 33 metres (110 feet) width.

The history of Green Park Station in Bath — GREEN PARK STATION

www.greenparkstation.co.uk

 

[Peter Sarf]

If this was a reference to the one-time Anglo-Bavarian Brewery in Shepton Mallet, some sources claim that it was very possibly the first lager brewery in the U.K. Apparently the brewery's new owners (the business had been on-sold in 1871) had brought over a number of brewers from Bavaria in the subsequent years. So, maybe they were producing / exporting "German style" beer, as well as all the various other ale products perhaps more usual at the time?

So the UK was possibly making REAL European Lager before we started brewing (ruining) continental Lager under licence in the UK about a century later !.

Picture at https://www.webbaviation.co.uk/aerial/picture.php?/29932
Seems about the stated ratio.

+

The main shed vaulted glass roof at Bath's Queen Square station (renamed Green Park in 1951) measured around 300 feet x 110 feet, apparently. That's a fair old size.

+

I concur with @jfollows - here's another photo of it. Far wider than 33 feet, looks closer to 33 metres (110 feet) width.

The history of Green Park Station in Bath — GREEN PARK STATION

www.greenparkstation.co.uk

Thanks for the corrections folks.

Including more than what one can see inside (the single arched length) does indeed make it look like 33m x 91m (i.e. 1:3) is about right.
Further more the arguably flanks are really part of the main central roof as they reach over the uprights of the main arch. That is unlike other stations I can think of where each arch can be taken on its own. Is that an unusual design ?.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Do you mean the "church nave" style roof, @Peter Sarf with a smaller canopy running on either side of its main overall roof; and where the supporting platform columns "share" the load for main plus a side canopy?

S&D Bath to Evercreech

The Somerset & Dorset Bath Green Park to Evercreech Junction

www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk

A brief history of Green Park Station

Learn about Green Park Station's history and how it came to be home to a thriving market scene, independent shops, cafes and restaurants,

visitbath.co.uk

 

[Peter Sarf]

Do you mean the "church nave" style roof, @Peter Sarf with a smaller canopy running on either side of its main overall roof; and where the supporting platform columns "share" the load for main plus a side canopy?

S&D Bath to Evercreech

The Somerset & Dorset Bath Green Park to Evercreech Junction

www.cornwallrailwaysociety.org.uk

A brief history of Green Park Station

Learn about Green Park Station's history and how it came to be home to a thriving market scene, independent shops, cafes and restaurants,

visitbath.co.uk

So Bath Green Park roof is not in the simple sense like, for example, Paddington (iirc !). What I now see is the fact that the side roof extends over the supports and someway on to the central arch !. So from above it looks like one big roof (rather than a main arched section with flanking sloping roofs) neatly joining the arch some way above and over towards the centre of the arch.

From inside it looks more like a single arch if one does not take into account the adjoining roof areas alongside.

 

[Sun Chariot]

Bath Green Park was designed by the Midland Railway (MR) architect, John Holloway Saunders (also responsible for the beautiful style of stations along the Settle & Carlisle).

I can't find any MR station with an overall roof similar to that at Bath Green Park. So, yes, perhaps it's a one-off design?

 

[D6130]

Bath Green Park was designed by the Midland Railway (MR) architect, John Holloway Saunders (also responsible for the beautiful style of stations along the Settle & Carlisle).

I can't find any MR station with an overall roof similar to that at Bath Green Park. So, yes, perhaps it's a one-off design?

If it is accurate, a large mural on the gable end of a house near to the current Morecambe station shows the second Morecambe Northumberland Street station (opened 1873 & closed 1907, when the Promenade station opened) as having a high, curved , glazed overall roof, with sloping side-aisles, not unlike that at Bath Green Park. Unfortunately Wikipedia is very sparse on historical details of that station....so I am unable to ascertain whether or not it was also designed by J.H. Saunders.

 

[Sun Chariot]

That's fascinating @D6130 Given Morecambe's grandiose status in the 19th Century - and that it was MR territory - it makes good sense why the town would've been bestowed with a similarly-grand station.

This linked page has a photo of the station canopy interior; certainly on a smaller scale than Bath Green Park:

A Brief History of Morecambe’s Stations – Friends of The Platform Morecambe

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I noticed the narrator kept referring to the S & D as "our line" which came across a bit cheesy - mind you "Somerset and Dorset railway line" is a bit of a mouthful. I chocked on the phrase "our train" when we got to the junction with the still existing lne for the last bit in to Bournemouth !.

Isn't the context that they're taking a hypothetical journey along the line as they tell us about it? In which case, I think referencing "our train" and "our line" makes sense?

 

[Bedpan]

I found it very interesting although I missed the first 25 minutes or so (will catch up tonight). I was a bit surprised that only a relatively short distance had been covered by then. but then in fairness the programme title was Somerset so maybe reasonable that the Dorset part of the line only given 10 minutes or so. Only slight disappointment was that whilst they covered Sturminster Newton (Dorset) there was nothing about Templecombe (Somerset) and how the trains used to reverse up to the LSWR station there. Also a minute about Bournemouth West then and now would have been good.

So, on to next week. They say Oxford and the route links two university towns, but there is surprisingly little information despite the series is being shown ahead of us in Australia. It will probably be the Varsity line although that could hardly be called abandoned west of Bedford, in fact more like resurrected! Or maybe the Didcot Newbury and Southampton with its wartime role maybe, if that counts as linking the university towns of Oxford and Southampton.