each to their own but i find it hard to understand why 19 people have disliked this. it's our history and heritage. I found this so very interesting and really enjoyed the walk and information but i would not have ventured on to that pier. Well done you.
Reg Miles , aged 96 , so sad to see the island like this, before WW2at the age of14 during school summer holidays , I travelled each day from Margate to operate a photo office on the sea side prom , brought a photographer , January 1939 joined theRAF .at Halton . Would have liked to see the prom , thanks for the video .made me sad
Ironically, after they have covered the area with thousands of houses the one thing they will need to connect to the outside world is ... ... a rail link.
Great video of forgotten local history , this was originally a ship breaker yard founded by Cox and Danks in 1921 who later became famous for raising the German warships wrecks in Scapa flow.
Blimey, just recovering from the time warp as Rushenden was one of the many stops I spent days with me uncle Ray who worked out of Hoo, also remember the Ford place and the big yard outside Sheerness and sometimes a rare treat of working up to Hither Green or swapping engines at Kensington Olympia on a train heading round to Dagenham the long way round, remember the trialling of a pilot to Willesden from Olympia but it was such a nause it was soon halted amid outcry by region union people crying demarcation etc lol The other jetty that ran on from the big yard other side of Sheerness was a bloody sheer drop on one side, no room for people on foot and always felt a leetle vertigo for a small lad as I was then in the 70's. Its a real shame the heritage couldn't have bridged that small gap at its end to the Ford line thus giving it a mainline access chance and even run alongside to come out the other side to pick up this line, sometimes on the Ford line we would be in the doyen of SR engines the 73 which tolerated the rough rails better than the 33, they were even looking to plant the 74's down there at one point. I remember my dad often had to go flag down the Ford line and run as lookout at Sheerness, there was a proper tiny signal box for Ford and sometimes he would be driving down from Sittingbourne or Hoo Jnc box just to see thru the Ford train and give the driver his docket. One funny story was one day in the 33, I needed a wee so me uncle goes "open the door and let nature enjoy the watering" sort of thing and as we were trundling along I let go and this farmer was at the fence waving at the engine only to start cursing and swearing as he got a "wash" he wasn't expecting... I wasn't allowed to go after that day so I guess he had a right go at BR over it.
Another superb video. I love the way that you manage to find such evocative sites, and just how many of these sites are accessed from dull urban environments. What a great day for making your video, too, and the view from the end of that jetty is astonishing. I work in a gatehouse, but my view is nowhere near as good as the view from the one in your video. I'm quite envious of the people that worked there in the past. Thanks for sharing. Nice one.
Saw this in line in action In roughly 2009. Cannot believe how quickly it has been removed. I remember thinking how odd it was to see such an industrial operation so late on in this Modern day. Would have loved to have had a ride down the branch in one of there shunters.
This is really informative and great to watch. It made me feel like a child again during my explorations of the Garrison and Well Marsh during the early sixties. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for yet another of your superb video presentations. As it concentrated on an area that I have know well for close to seventy years, it was all the more interesting. Perhaps at some time in the near future, you will progress on to following the route of the now long since defunct line from Queenborough to Leysdown. A railway line that ought to be restored to serve the vastly increased population, the holiday traffic and of course, the large prison community and all those that service it.
Very interesting and well made. I like that you kept all the natural/surrounding sounds in. Thank you for creating this. If you go on Google Earth, you can actually see look-down photos of the scene from as far back as 1940!?!
Loved this. All those old boats and ships - they presumably belong to someone or some company - they're not exactly abandoned, but also, they will probably never move. Makes me wonder what happens with the owners the day after, the week after, the year after the last time they sailed.
Probably sold to a breakers by their previous owners when they became uneconomical to repair or run. The breakers probably keep them aside there for when work slows down a bit just to keep things ticking over, as if it sinks and beaches there in that sheltered spot it isn't going to cause any bother. Also bearing in mind scrap prices aren't as high as they once were.
Really good video. I like that fact there's no music or chatter in your stuff. They are just really good videos with abit of information. Fantastic work. Keep it up.
Remember this from holidays in the early 60s. This was a regular hive of activity back then with loads of shipping traffic in the estuary. Looks like a bit of a wildlife haven now. Thank you for uploading this.
My play area as a kid, I wasn't like the other kids, I liked to explore. Also there is a 2nd branch line when you look from Queenborough station that runs next to the rolling mill line.
What surprises me about UK planning is that they rip up old railways build houses and then have a problem of incorporating public transport to dis courage car use
@@olly5764 Not suggesting this was a passenger line. In Hampton they seem to have removed a long stretch of industrial railway line and are building about 15,000 houses. All traces of previous industry were removed and the developers wanted to close the road into the city. They have put about 15 to 20 restaurants packed together on the site while restaurants and pubs in the city close as houses and flat are built in their car parks. This is planning UK style.
@@keith6400 yes but your point was about ripping up old railways, often to bring lines like this up to passenger standard, you have very heavily up grade them, which may involve lifting the trach, re-buildig the formation, and even the demolition and re-construction of structures, so simply ripping up the line isn't the backwards step that it may seem.
Unfortunately, the loss of physical rail infrastructure, lack of usage being detrimental to both profit and maintenance, and final removal of services due to age and uncompetitive costs, is all to common, especially in Australia where road transport is the dominant force. Another interesting vid of the forgotten 👍👍🇦🇺
3:59 looks like an old concrete sleeper in the former trackbed; and some wooden ones at 4:09. Nice vid and good explanation. YT suggested this video, good advice.
I remember living in Queenborough in 1984 to 1987 it was such a lively place, Seeing the Shunters cross at Rushenden, Can't believe 7 years ago the line closed, Its a bloody Tragedy, Damn the 21st century 😔I loved seeing the Activity of the Scrap yard and the little Shunters when I was a boy of 10 to 14 at the time When class 33s and Classic Thumper Style locos ran through the Station from Sheerness to here or to Sittingbourne or to London. JUST Tragic since I last lived there with family in 1987.It's like a bloody Ghost town.Name and Shame those in Government bunch of Hasbeens.
...steelworks...closed....site now used for storage of imported vehicles.... The story of modern Britain. Have never been to that part of Kent; interesting insight. Thanks.
I worked in the Rushenden rolling mill for a short while. Very bad safety record. Along the Rushenden Rd then the Sheerness one there were potteries a glue works a bottle works and various other industries now gone. Apparently house building and a 400million regeneration scheme?
In the US it is very common to run across remains of a ripped up railroad. To the untrained eye, you may not even notice any of these things, but if you know what to look for, you can find abandoned railroads EVERYWHERE. Im not sure how common it is in the UK, but I know that in the US it is extremely common.
Hi, l have no real idea where you are, off the Kent coast ? But it IS interesting and a throwback to how we were and why things change , like it or not , once the profit stops then so does the business. I have no doubt that there will be huge (housing?) redevelopment. Seems slightly short sighted to take up the tracks, that would help to ease the movement of materials. Thanks. I live in Teignmouth. Devon
Really enjoyed that!..Thanks for showing us the WHOLE route....Outlaw!Surprisingly good video; liked the subtitles, the pace, the information you gave, and the steady filming....how did you do that?...body mounted or hand held...or other?Thanks for this forgotten,and forgetting history.
This is what happens when consecutive British governments are willing to sell out our industries to the EU . They quite happily pay them 39 billion but will not invest in our industries . The Eu say we can't prop up suffering industry like our steel yet prop up French farmers under the agricultural policy .
The EU is a Franco/German carve up it was never intended to benefit the U.K. but rather to neuter it. We must restore our manufacturing base post Brexit.
I used to work at the rolling mill which the line ran through.... We still used the coal wash as we called it. Used to off load steel billets Great times
i deliverd welding rods to the rolling mill in the 80s , and looked forward to seeing the diseil go across the road - going by memory i think they had 2 locos , class 17 locos shunting . the tracks to the pier were very wonkey to say the least , lol .
I love that landscape, and could probably spend a few weeks exploring Kent's estuaries. I grew up with Manchester's post industrial dereliction, and miss it now it's all been built on. You can't beat a bit of bleak beauty and ruins.
Thanks. It takes a bit of research but it's possible to find information on these old lines. Then it's just a case of taking a trip down there to see what is left!
Superb! Thanks for this invaluable record of a part of the industrial rail network of the UK. Lived in Kent for many years, even worked on the IoS occasionally, but never got to see this part. Interest in Heritage Railways has only developed since those RH&D times. Views are similar to my own discoveries at Sharpness Dock, and you had a wonderful day for it! Look forward to more 🙂
That small blue oil tanker, the Grovedale H built 1966, has been beached there since at least 2012. I would wager that it has slowly been leaking fuel and oil for some time. The bottom has probably rusted out by now. That will be a pain to dismantle.
Fascinating insight, as ever. Been wondering, what's the state of Ridham Dock now? Remember that being the port of departure for containerised supplies for the Falklands campaign. Edit - forgive me, you covered that a year ago - I'd assume little has changed \m/
So sad to see our industrial heritage slowly rusting away and vanishing. Our industry and manufacturing a mere shadow and a memory of what we used to proudly make - stolen from us by EUROPE :((
We have a Parliament of [literally-] penny-pinching Euroquislings, many of whom have anti-British backgrounds.They'll do anything for money and for anyone: hence the systematic run-down/asset-stripping of the country.
It saddens me to watch this...I bet your heart is still breaking..like mine ...to a time when everything was alive...I grew up 60's in Ballymena ..wrong side of town (Harryville)...next to a goods yard/Harp brewery/etc....went to sleep with the sound of shunting trains (steam too!).......on one of my few trips home over the last 30/40 years..I went for a walk there .........and I cried..........all gone.....and sadly ....not replaced with anything..........of any wonderful significance. Thanks for posting...best wishes from Kaapstad.
Great video, would love to have seen some pictures of the line in action as well because that gives the "then and now" contrast. Amazing how quickly nature starts claiming things back, but I suspect that jetty hadn't been maintained that well for years before closure. Many thanks for covering some interesting subject matter!
I remember waiting for the train to come along and squash all our penny's when I was a kid. There was also another line that branched off at Queenborough that went to Leysdown that was closed in the 50s.
Wow, this is a bit of a throwback. My ex lived in Rushenden and I've done this exact walk many times, back when the lines were still in-tact. I even have a video of myself operating set of points on this line somewhere, although that may be lost now. Will try and dig it out!
Very nice video. I have a few photos of the wharf when me and my dad went about and explored it's final days before the tracks were ripped up. Honestly, they were like spaghetti, I couldnt imagine a train going down it without it falling off the side lol.
When I lived on the island as a lad, my friend's uncle was a train driver on this line, we always knew his engine as it had a damaged chimney. He used to give us rides in the cab, health and safety, Eh?
Happened on this video by chance. Really enjoyed it. Go to maps.nls.uk/view/101428278 and zoom in: you can see the original lines on the map (this is the 1931~1934 map view) .
wouldnt it be ironic if boris got to be PM, got his airport built and this infrastructure was required again... remember what Docklands looked like in the 70's and early 80's...
I always find it amusing when I see " The Isle of Sheppey " word,. It has an ey on the end, this indicates that it is an Island, something that you can see all around the coastline and elsewhere
There were three branches off of Queenborough, you forgot the Sheppey Light Railway, which closed in 1950. I am digitally reconstructing the SLR using Dove Tail Games "Train Simulator". Long term I intend to add all of Sheppey's lost railways into my route, including what is in your video. I have a Facebook group for my route at facebook.com/groups/sheppeylightrailway/
You're right, I did miss that one! Interestingly, you can still see the route the Sheppey Light Railway took from Queenborough to Leysdown on Google maps. Some parts are still noticeable which I might take a look at sometime
My dad worked in the rolling mill, and when I was around 5 he got one of his mates to take us on a ride on one of the diesels. It must have been along these tracks. Thanks for bringing back that memory.
Great video and on a beautiful day. So interesting. Really sad that we have lost our industrial tradition and these once productive sites now act as storage for overseas industrial producers.
Great video, Morthren. So much industry, and all lost. While things change, it is always sad to see such dereliction, rather than progress, but this was quite an insight into what used to be here .
Fascinating. Thanks for doing this. It’s like going on a hike before bedtime. I’ve never been to the UK but I much prefer a walk to tourist traps. Abandoned railroad grades are all over here in the woods of Northern PA and some of the best views I’ve had came from following them. The best ones to chase are the ones left from coal mines and lumbering here. Some are well over a 100 years empty so picking them out requires sharp eyes. Most just drive by in their cars and never notice.
Used to do a lot of deliveries round Queen borough in the 70,s.I remember the ex BR shunters running back to the yard, bobbing up and down, the track was really rough. In the rebar factory yard was a collection of ancient bogie bolster wagons. Along the road towards sheerness, on the right were some more sidings where the were a few industrial locos stored. A number of Ex BR shunters were used, cut up and exported from Queenborough I also delivered to the new road that now covers the area.
Fascinating video, so interesting. And as people say, the writing on the screen is much better than narrating out loud. If it weren't for you, we would never get to see these parts of England, hidden away forever. It also looks very nice round there on that docks area, so peaceful and serene. And we thank you for risking your own safety, going round those parts, looks like there were no other human beings for miles around!
Thanks for this - really fascinating. I think I may be something of a kindred spirit, in terms of being fascinated by the world's less glamorous, less-trodden paths. However, I don't do my research as you have - thanks again! Shame Kent, as everywhere in the South East, seems destined to be one huge new town. The industry seemed less invasive in a strange way...
And yet someone still leaves old barges there to be scrapped. They'll be "cleaning" that lot up in 20yrs. Raising what's left of them and dredging the "contaminated" mud from the bottom of the bay.
when industry builds something, there should be a 5% reserve put in escrow to cover future demolition costs. So much industrial wasteland is just walked away from.
Where I reside, when the price of petrol and diesel went up for no apparent reason to highs unforeseen, the railroads reopened a bunch of what seemed to be abandoned tracks and sped up the use of the tracks that were still being used. Pavement was escavated, people had to move community gardens that were made over old tracks, and new ballast and ties were placed where needed. I lived next to a railroad that got three trains a month. Today, that same railroad gets 10 trains a day. I love it!
What i love about your posts is the on screen narration as opposed to talking over them. To me this is much better! Thanks for sharing!
The beauty of this place is the silence, narration spoils the experience.
each to their own but i find it hard to understand why 19 people have disliked this. it's our history and heritage. I found this so very interesting and really enjoyed the walk and information but i would not have ventured on to that pier. Well done you.
Reg Miles , aged 96 , so sad to see the island like this, before WW2at the age of14 during school summer holidays , I travelled each day from Margate to operate a photo office on the sea side prom , brought a photographer , January 1939 joined theRAF .at Halton . Would have liked to see the prom , thanks for the video .made me sad
@@regmiles1970 God bless you, Sir: wish I could meet you to hear your tales. We have much to learn from folk such as yourself...
48 inbetween. I think they complain about the wiggly camera and not about the content. I added some datails in Openstreetmap thanks to morthren.
Ironically, after they have covered the area with thousands of houses the one thing they will need to connect to the outside world is ...
... a rail link.
No, cars can be used. Pull up the tracks, scrap the locomotives, and build houses!
@Quanchy Plimp lol
Thanks for sharing this exploration, it was really nice walking with you, I felt like I were with you!
Great video of forgotten local history , this was originally a ship breaker yard founded by Cox and Danks in 1921 who later became famous for raising the German warships wrecks in Scapa flow.
Blimey, just recovering from the time warp as Rushenden was one of the many stops I spent days with me uncle Ray who worked out of Hoo, also remember the Ford place and the big yard outside Sheerness and sometimes a rare treat of working up to Hither Green or swapping engines at Kensington Olympia on a train heading round to Dagenham the long way round, remember the trialling of a pilot to Willesden from Olympia but it was such a nause it was soon halted amid outcry by region union people crying demarcation etc lol The other jetty that ran on from the big yard other side of Sheerness was a bloody sheer drop on one side, no room for people on foot and always felt a leetle vertigo for a small lad as I was then in the 70's. Its a real shame the heritage couldn't have bridged that small gap at its end to the Ford line thus giving it a mainline access chance and even run alongside to come out the other side to pick up this line, sometimes on the Ford line we would be in the doyen of SR engines the 73 which tolerated the rough rails better than the 33, they were even looking to plant the 74's down there at one point. I remember my dad often had to go flag down the Ford line and run as lookout at Sheerness, there was a proper tiny signal box for Ford and sometimes he would be driving down from Sittingbourne or Hoo Jnc box just to see thru the Ford train and give the driver his docket. One funny story was one day in the 33, I needed a wee so me uncle goes "open the door and let nature enjoy the watering" sort of thing and as we were trundling along I let go and this farmer was at the fence waving at the engine only to start cursing and swearing as he got a "wash" he wasn't expecting... I wasn't allowed to go after that day so I guess he had a right go at BR over it.
Haha! Funniest tale I've heard of in a long time. Bet that farmer always remembered you!
Thank-you for these recollections.
Another superb video. I love the way that you manage to find such evocative sites, and just how many of these sites are accessed from dull urban environments. What a great day for making your video, too, and the view from the end of that jetty is astonishing. I work in a gatehouse, but my view is nowhere near as good as the view from the one in your video. I'm quite envious of the people that worked there in the past. Thanks for sharing. Nice one.
Thanks! It was a very nice day. The view from the jetty was nice too along with the tranquillity of the area
I'll never understand why but I get all nostalgic and sad when I see abandoned rail tracks, especially those set into tarmac.
Me too. I felt as if was me walking that journey.
sad yes...its called progress ...
@rockabye baby 😂😂😂😂😂 What are you talking about? I thought progress was adding infrastructure, not removing it.
@@dumdum7786 not all progress is good... it's unstoppable..man will carry on until he self destructs, we are to clever for our own good..
Saw this in line in action In roughly 2009. Cannot believe how quickly it has been removed. I remember thinking how odd it was to see such an industrial operation so late on in this Modern day. Would have loved to have had a ride down the branch in one of there shunters.
Great stuff. Very informative and really like the walking sections
Really enjoyable. You managed to bring the atmosphere of that place right into my room.Thanks very much for sharing.
same here...
This is really informative and great to watch. It made me feel like a child again during my explorations of the Garrison and Well Marsh during the early sixties. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for yet another of your superb video presentations. As it concentrated on an area that I have know well for close to seventy years, it was all the more interesting. Perhaps at some time in the near future, you will progress on to following the route of the now long since defunct line from Queenborough to Leysdown. A railway line that ought to be restored to serve the vastly increased population, the holiday traffic and of course, the large prison community and all those that service it.
Lost places are magic but please be carefully by yourself !
Gabi Lang That’s why the OWNER put up no trespassing signs. This is wanton lawlessness.
Very interesting and well made. I like that you kept all the natural/surrounding sounds in.
Thank you for creating this.
If you go on Google Earth, you can actually see look-down photos of the scene from as far back as 1940!?!
Loved this. All those old boats and ships - they presumably belong to someone or some company - they're not exactly abandoned, but also, they will probably never move. Makes me wonder what happens with the owners the day after, the week after, the year after the last time they sailed.
Probably sold to a breakers by their previous owners when they became uneconomical to repair or run. The breakers probably keep them aside there for when work slows down a bit just to keep things ticking over, as if it sinks and beaches there in that sheltered spot it isn't going to cause any bother. Also bearing in mind scrap prices aren't as high as they once were.
Really good video. I like that fact there's no music or chatter in your stuff. They are just really good videos with abit of information. Fantastic work. Keep it up.
Very informative and enjoyable to watch. Sadly nothing stays the same.
Nice explore and fair play to you going all the way to the end of the pier. The surface looked very dodgy towards the end.
Remember this from holidays in the early 60s. This was a regular hive of activity back then with loads of shipping traffic in the estuary. Looks like a bit of a wildlife haven now. Thank you for uploading this.
I'm wondering what you used for camera stabilisation. Excellent. My walking vids just bounce all ovet the place. Thank you.
My play area as a kid, I wasn't like the other kids, I liked to explore. Also there is a 2nd branch line when you look from Queenborough station that runs next to the rolling mill line.
Nice job. And the soundtrack is really good too.
What surprises me about UK planning is that they rip up old railways build houses and then have a problem of incorporating public transport to dis courage car use
This isn't and was never a passenger line, and we haven't closed an ripped up any passenger lines for a while now!
@@olly5764 Not suggesting this was a passenger line. In Hampton they seem to have removed a long stretch of industrial railway line and are building about 15,000 houses. All traces of previous industry were removed and the developers wanted to close the road into the city. They have put about 15 to 20 restaurants packed together on the site while restaurants and pubs in the city close as houses and flat are built in their car parks. This is planning UK style.
@@keith6400 yes but your point was about ripping up old railways, often to bring lines like this up to passenger standard, you have very heavily up grade them, which may involve lifting the trach, re-buildig the formation, and even the demolition and re-construction of structures, so simply ripping up the line isn't the backwards step that it may seem.
Seems kinda spooky out there
The Rushenden Estate is real 12 toe country. Paddle faster I can hear banjos!
@@chrisdansey4878 I think I heard somebody squeal.
Sheerness just as glamorous as I remember it.
Unfortunately, the loss of physical rail infrastructure, lack of usage being detrimental to both profit and maintenance, and final removal of services due to age and uncompetitive costs, is all to common, especially in Australia where road transport is the dominant force. Another interesting vid of the forgotten 👍👍🇦🇺
Kinda makes ya thing what's next huh?
Andrew Hallett-Patterson and now there's a scramble to rebuild lines as the roads are overloaded.
Now the railway and steel works have gone I'm wondering what will happen to those remnant ships in for breaking?
I don’t live on the isle any more but it’s always interesting to see these videos. Never knew this existed!
3:59 looks like an old concrete sleeper in the former trackbed; and some wooden ones at 4:09.
Nice vid and good explanation. YT suggested this video, good advice.
Eagle eyed!
I remember living in Queenborough in 1984 to 1987 it was such a lively place, Seeing the Shunters cross at Rushenden, Can't believe 7 years ago the line closed, Its a bloody Tragedy, Damn the 21st century 😔I loved seeing the Activity of the Scrap yard and the little Shunters when I was a boy of 10 to 14 at the time When class 33s and Classic Thumper Style locos ran through the Station from Sheerness to here or to Sittingbourne or to London. JUST Tragic since I last lived there with family in 1987.It's like a bloody Ghost town.Name and Shame those in Government bunch of Hasbeens.
...steelworks...closed....site now used for storage of imported vehicles.... The story of modern Britain. Have never been to that part of Kent; interesting insight. Thanks.
Good job. No stupid music. Thanks
Oh Lord, they knew not what they was about - once the fever to lift -
Fost took rootin' sprout.
I worked in the Rushenden rolling mill for a short while. Very bad safety record. Along the Rushenden Rd then the Sheerness one there were potteries a glue works a bottle works and various other industries now gone. Apparently house building and a 400million regeneration scheme?
In the US it is very common to run across remains of a ripped up railroad. To the untrained eye, you may not even notice any of these things, but if you know what to look for, you can find abandoned railroads EVERYWHERE. Im not sure how common it is in the UK, but I know that in the US it is extremely common.
Hi, l have no real idea where you are, off the Kent coast ? But it IS interesting and a throwback to how we were and why things change , like it or not , once the profit stops then so does the business. I have no doubt that there will be huge (housing?) redevelopment. Seems slightly short sighted to take up the tracks, that would help to ease the movement of materials. Thanks. I live in Teignmouth. Devon
fascinating video, thanks for the upload. Am thinking of taking my camera over to the Rushenden Pier area so that was really useful, thanks.
Thanks for this . I am an islander through and through and have investigated most parts of the island but did not know this area at all .✌️
Thanks from Australia. Great video, really interesting. Used to spend schoolboy holidays on Sheppey a long time ago.
Really enjoyed that!..Thanks for showing us the WHOLE route....Outlaw!Surprisingly good video; liked the subtitles, the pace, the information you gave, and the steady filming....how did you do that?...body mounted or hand held...or other?Thanks for this forgotten,and forgetting history.
This is what happens when consecutive British governments are willing to sell out our industries to the EU . They quite happily pay them 39 billion but will not invest in our industries . The Eu say we can't prop up suffering industry like our steel yet prop up French farmers under the agricultural policy .
Well said. We have certainly suffered under the undemocratic unelected EU.
The EU is a Franco/German carve up it was never intended to benefit the U.K. but rather to neuter it. We must restore our manufacturing base post Brexit.
I used to work at the rolling mill which the line ran through.... We still used the coal wash as we called it. Used to off load steel billets
Great times
i deliverd welding rods to the rolling mill in the 80s , and looked forward to seeing the diseil go across the road - going by memory i think they had 2 locos , class 17 locos shunting . the tracks to the pier were very wonkey to say the least , lol .
I love that landscape, and could probably spend a few weeks exploring Kent's estuaries.
I grew up with Manchester's post industrial dereliction, and miss it now it's all been built on.
You can't beat a bit of bleak beauty and ruins.
Another mess created by man and not cleaned up and rotting away. Not the worst I’ve seen it but he sure is disgusting.
Very interesting. All seems to have developed to make a few wealthy people even more wealthy. I wonder were they live. It wont be here.
Interesting to see! There used to be a ferry connection between Vlissingen, here in the Netherlands and Sheerness.
Very nice video. It's fantastic how history can be ripped up and just forgotten about. Luckily you dont forget about this stuff!
Thanks. It takes a bit of research but it's possible to find information on these old lines. Then it's just a case of taking a trip down there to see what is left!
Superb! Thanks for this invaluable record of a part of the industrial rail network of the UK. Lived in Kent for many years, even worked on the IoS occasionally, but never got to see this part. Interest in Heritage Railways has only developed since those RH&D times. Views are similar to my own discoveries at Sharpness Dock, and you had a wonderful day for it! Look forward to more 🙂
That small blue oil tanker, the Grovedale H built 1966, has been beached there since at least 2012. I would wager that it has slowly been leaking fuel and oil for some time. The bottom has probably rusted out by now. That will be a pain to dismantle.
It was for sale last year, might still be, 10 thousand English pounds!I live local and take a walk that way sometimes.
Fascinating insight, as ever. Been wondering, what's the state of Ridham Dock now? Remember that being the port of departure for containerised supplies for the Falklands campaign.
Edit - forgive me, you covered that a year ago - I'd assume little has changed \m/
Great video, I want to do the same walk and make a film focusing on the wildlife.
So sad to see our industrial heritage slowly rusting away and vanishing. Our industry and manufacturing a mere shadow and a memory of what we used to proudly make - stolen from us by EUROPE :((
We have a Parliament of [literally-] penny-pinching Euroquislings, many of whom have anti-British backgrounds.They'll do anything for money and for anyone: hence the systematic run-down/asset-stripping of the country.
Kinda creepy how there are those large boats just sitting there and nobody around at all
Considering the priority these days is to recycle everything, the loss of the steelworks and this line is such a waste. Thanks for sharing.
all my yrs of living in the bourne and never once made this trip very enlightening
thanks for making this video, very enjoyable to watch
Makes history all a bit futile really. But it could have made in part a pleasant and interesting little preserved line.
Isn't there one to the paper works?
It saddens me to watch this...I bet your heart is still breaking..like mine ...to a time when everything was alive...I grew up 60's in Ballymena ..wrong side of town (Harryville)...next to a goods yard/Harp brewery/etc....went to sleep with the sound of shunting trains (steam too!).......on one of my few trips home over the last 30/40 years..I went for a walk there .........and I cried..........all gone.....and sadly ....not replaced with anything..........of any wonderful significance. Thanks for posting...best wishes from Kaapstad.
Great video, would love to have seen some pictures of the line in action as well because that gives the "then and now" contrast. Amazing how quickly nature starts claiming things back, but I suspect that jetty hadn't been maintained that well for years before closure. Many thanks for covering some interesting subject matter!
I remember waiting for the train to come along and squash all our penny's when I was a kid. There was also another line that branched off at Queenborough that went to Leysdown that was closed in the 50s.
Wow, this is a bit of a throwback. My ex lived in Rushenden and I've done this exact walk many times, back when the lines were still in-tact. I even have a video of myself operating set of points on this line somewhere, although that may be lost now. Will try and dig it out!
Found it if you're interested. Video was much shorter than I remember! ua-cam.com/video/eLeqbIdizSA/v-deo.html
That microphone could pick-up a gnat's fart.
Haven XBMC
🤣
Local gnats: "That's not me farting!"
165 likes, 0 dislikes! Well done! 👏 👏 👏
It didn't last but thanks 🙂
Very nice video. I have a few photos of the wharf when me and my dad went about and explored it's final days before the tracks were ripped up. Honestly, they were like spaghetti, I couldnt imagine a train going down it without it falling off the side lol.
When I lived on the island as a lad, my friend's uncle was a train driver on this line, we always knew his engine as it had a damaged chimney. He used to give us rides in the cab, health and safety, Eh?
Shame it cant be renovated and turned into something of use
I liked your explanations of what you were showing us.
Happened on this video by chance. Really enjoyed it. Go to maps.nls.uk/view/101428278 and zoom in: you can see the original lines on the map (this is the 1931~1934 map view) .
Thanks for that. There was a lot more to the railway in that area than I thought! You can even see the long gone Sheppey Light Railway on the map.
one other line you forgot used to be on: leysdown branch
superb video, very interesting exploration.
wouldnt it be ironic if boris got to be PM, got his airport built and this infrastructure was required again... remember what Docklands looked like in the 70's and early 80's...
The wreck of the Montgomery in the estuary, with all it's unstable ordinance aboard made "Boris Island" a complete non-starter.
Probably my imagination, but when you started along the first part of the pier, your footsteps sounded as if you were tippy toeing quietly...
I probably was! 😄
Great video! That line looks like it would've been a neat operation.
Thanks!
Most interesting. Many thanks. Special thanks for presenting it in a gimmick-free way! (Others please copy -- but they won't, of course.)
I always find it amusing when I see " The Isle of Sheppey " word,. It has an ey on the end, this indicates that it is an Island, something that you can see all around the coastline and elsewhere
I love stuff like this. Great video pal.
A nice walk today. A sunny day, made it look like it was worth it.
Hottest day of the year in the UK so far!
The last couple of weeks here in the Carolinas were a bit warmer for this time of year.
Fascinating slice of history.
There were three branches off of Queenborough, you forgot the Sheppey Light Railway, which closed in 1950. I am digitally reconstructing the SLR using Dove Tail Games "Train Simulator". Long term I intend to add all of Sheppey's lost railways into my route, including what is in your video. I have a Facebook group for my route at facebook.com/groups/sheppeylightrailway/
You're right, I did miss that one! Interestingly, you can still see the route the Sheppey Light Railway took from Queenborough to Leysdown on Google maps. Some parts are still noticeable which I might take a look at sometime
@@morthren I've been using Google Maps, along with historical imagery from Google Earth, three books about the SLR and Railways on Sheppey.
My dad worked in the rolling mill, and when I was around 5 he got one of his mates to take us on a ride on one of the diesels. It must have been along these tracks. Thanks for bringing back that memory.
Great video and on a beautiful day. So interesting. Really sad that we have lost our industrial tradition and these once productive sites now act as storage for overseas industrial producers.
Thank-you. All very sad.
Great video, Morthren. So much industry, and all lost. While things change, it is always sad to see such dereliction, rather than progress, but this was quite an insight into what used to be here .
Thanks!
Thanks for the video
I loved watching this.
Fascinating. Thanks for doing this. It’s like going on a hike before bedtime. I’ve never been to the UK but I much prefer a walk to tourist traps. Abandoned railroad grades are all over here in the woods of Northern PA and some of the best views I’ve had came from following them. The best ones to chase are the ones left from coal mines and lumbering here. Some are well over a 100 years empty so picking them out requires sharp eyes. Most just drive by in their cars and never notice.
Thank you for a very interesting video . Stuart.
Currently, on Google Street View, you can see more tracks leading to the Rushenden Road level crossing. The images are dated 2009.
I wish I could get the railway crossing & the give way signs
Used to do a lot of deliveries round Queen borough in the 70,s.I remember the ex BR shunters running back to the yard, bobbing up and down, the track was really rough. In the rebar factory yard was a collection of ancient bogie bolster wagons. Along the road towards sheerness, on the right were some more sidings where the were a few industrial locos stored. A number of Ex BR shunters were used, cut up and exported from Queenborough I also delivered to the new road that now covers the area.
Fascinating video, so interesting. And as people say, the writing on the screen is much better than narrating out loud. If it weren't for you, we would never get to see these parts of England, hidden away forever. It also looks very nice round there on that docks area, so peaceful and serene. And we thank you for risking your own safety, going round those parts, looks like there were no other human beings for miles around!
Thanks for this - really fascinating. I think I may be something of a kindred spirit, in terms of being fascinated by the world's less glamorous, less-trodden paths. However, I don't do my research as you have - thanks again! Shame Kent, as everywhere in the South East, seems destined to be one huge new town. The industry seemed less invasive in a strange way...
Nice! Shows how the industry has changed.
And yet someone still leaves old barges there to be scrapped. They'll be "cleaning" that lot up in 20yrs. Raising what's left of them and dredging the "contaminated" mud from the bottom of the bay.
I used to do contract work in QRM and it was fascinating watching the ex MOD shunters scuttling around on the atrociously maintained track.
Thank you for this. I have never been on the Isle of Sheppey before actually.
when industry builds something, there should be a 5% reserve put in escrow to cover future demolition costs. So much industrial wasteland is just walked away from.
Where I reside, when the price of petrol and diesel went up for no apparent reason to highs unforeseen, the railroads reopened a bunch of what seemed to be abandoned tracks and sped up the use of the tracks that were still being used. Pavement was escavated, people had to move community gardens that were made over old tracks, and new ballast and ties were placed where needed. I lived next to a railroad that got three trains a month. Today, that same railroad gets 10 trains a day. I love it!
Very enjoyable..thank you.
Very Peaceful , Cheers.