Rediscovering the March to Spalding Line
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2018
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A journey along the alignment of the former March to Spalding railway, to see what remains and what there is to rediscover of this lost line thirty-six years since its closure.
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Music: Ralph Vaughn Williams 'In the Fen Country' - Авто та транспорт
So much left to see. Stations, signal boxes, signals, lines themselves. Plate layer huts. - what a gem. superb film
So pleased you like this one. It really is fertile ground for exploration! Do let me know what you think of all my films in the series.
Fabulous footage and revealing of our transport history. Bitter-sweet in that the historical pictures show how we've stoically marched backwards since the 1950s. Understandably, many lines were lost leaders, but had even 50% remained, the economy of the Fens and greater East Anglia would have flourished and the population demographic been more prosperous and better educated. Places like Wisbech, Spalding and Holbeach, once fine working and middle-class towns, have sunk miserably.
I think I remember as a child in July 1980 travelling from Lincoln to Norwich going on this route with the bumpy line due to subsidence, and certain the locomotive was a class 40.
That must've been quite a ride and one I'd have been glad to have taken myself
Amazing Footage!! Love railroad history!!! Greetings from Tennessee USA!
Thanks ever so much! Always happy to greet an American cousin!
Another brilliant video. Those bridge piers on the river Nene are remarkable. Love it.
Yes, fabulous solid engineering!
Excellent video as always. Amazed at the relics to be found along this route.
Thanks ever so much - yes, so much left behind - remarkable!
To think that all lines into Spalding were nearly lost entirely. The existing Spalding to Peterborough line, now laden with dozens of huge intermodal freight, other various forms of freight, and a now improved faster passenger service was very nearly axed along with this route. Only through a massive campaign by the local community that fought to keep it open did it survive.
It’s another very nostalgic, sad video to see this line gone, but it’s good to see so many old relics still standing, even with years of negligence!! Just shows how tough they built things back in the day!
In essence, this line has effectively been diverted, as the new dive under at Werrington forms a direct connection with the Peterborough - March - Ely line and the Peterborough - Spalding - Lincoln line. Thank goodness it was saved. A little thing back then made the world of difference. It’s important to fight for what you have. Use it or lose it.
Beautifully put together and with the most appropriate soundtrack.
Thank you very much for saying so!
Once again the music helped to convey the sadness of the demise of yet another section of our former railway heritage, thank you for showing us yet another lost line.
geoff wallis Thanks - I'm glad you enjoyed the film. More to come at Easter!
I find it difficult to actually write about the feelings your videos raise. A mixture of sadness, interest and longing I think. Thank you
My very great pleasure, many more to come!
Thanks again for another trip down memory lane,your video`s are always a must watch for me,well done .
Thank you for continuing to support my channel. My next film will be out at Easter.
This is my 8th video to watch !! I love history like this and the old structures still standing! I am glad I found you
Yes, it is always wonderful to find these relics often tucked away in the middle of nowhere gradually decaying. It's certainly a treat to find them!
So many memories of such good days we had in the past , God alone knows how our country is better today
I think many on here would agree with your sentiments. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
Brilliant nostalgic footage; love the music, and the mapping!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
Years ago I visited HMP Whitemoor on several occasions (not as an inmate I hasten to add!) and your video captures the bleakness and solitary nature of Fenland wonderfully well. It is a unique and very lovely part of England. Thank you so much for this video.
Thank you for your kind words about my film. I can't take full credit though as I feel Ralph Vaughan Williams' music plays a major role!
Noticeably more railway infrastructure left behind when this line closed than was usual BR practice. Makes the course of this railway even more poignant. Well done the people of Cowbit for maintaining the station house and signal box in tip-top order. Brilliant video as usual and an excellent choice of music.
Many thanks indeed!
Congratulations on yet another fine piece of work. The Anglia region is gradually yielding up its railway secrets! Once again the choice of music could hardly be more fitting. Bravo!
philly delphia Thank you for your comment. I'm quite pleased with this one overall! Coming up next at Easter will be a remake of my Varsity line films, making good on shaky camerawork and including the mothballed Bletchley to Bicester section.
What was the music? If I remember right the Spalding - March line shut well after the Beeching era.
March to Spalding survived in use until September 1982. I've been past the impressive Guyhirn brick viaduct many times now :)
Wonderful films thanks
Again it was a pleasure to watch :) and you really found a good railway that showed off how good the remains are :) keep it up love the videos
I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I suppose a lot remains in place since it closed relatively recently. I was pleased to see so many of the signal boxes restored and living lives beyond their former purpose. My next film will be out at Easter.
Very good. Had to change trains at March a few years ago and during the long wait walked along to the Spalding line for a look. This video answers my questions about the route.
Thanks for your comment and subscription. March is a beautiful station. I'm glad this film helped provide answers! Do see my other films in the series.
Love to trace the course of these forgotten routes now left over to mother nature, or built on for new purposes.
A bygone era now a relic from the past.
Times and circumstances change, as does their continued requirements, so things get swept aside and life goes on.
Nostalgic memories to savour and view then and now.
Thank you for your thoughtful remarks - I'm so glad you enjoyed the film
That's a fantastic video. I took that line once in my teens, just prior to closure so that I could experience it. I used to enjoy watching the trains rounding the final curve just beyond Spalding station, which was visible from the rugby field. Back in the 80's there was a lot of goods (flyash?) traffic on that line. Great memories, and I'm pleased to see some of the buildings and line furniture survives today....
Thank you for your evocative memories - I'm really glad you enjoyed the film!
I suppose Vaughn Williams In the Fen Country was a natural for this. Very enjoyable as ever, thank you very much.
Yes, it lends itself very well I feel!
How short sighted if they had just mothballed this line they could have used it for all the north south freight avoiding the East Coast mainline. Instead millions are being spent on underpasses and bridges to make freight trains avoid crossing junctions. A lovely piece of footage I remember working in the fields at Postland in the summer seeing summer holiday specials on the line. Murrow always intrigued me with the old crossover of the M & GN
Kevin Chestney It is a fascinating stretch of line for so many reasons and you're absolutely right about the short sightedness in its closure. I'm glad you enjoyed the film. Do subscribe and watch the others in this series. My next film will be out at the end of the month.
Kevin Chestney er it closed almost 40 years ago and no one can make predictions about next week let alone next year. How could anyone know in 1981 that railfreight levels would be high enough to justify the building of the new junction at Werrington, especially as we have been through a couple of recessions since then?
As for mothballing it quickly becomes expensive as it is only a short term measure and not a long term solution. You still have to maintain the entire route and gain no revenue from it.
@@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819 If closing it wasn’t bad enough, then building on it certainly was. It doesn’t cost anything to leave track in place, but the removal of it in 1985 would’ve added a whole load of meaningless cost with nothing gained out of it. All we have now is jammed up roads, full to the brim of dangerous HGV’s, noise pollution, and enormous costs to keep repairing the roads that they impact. Public transport is also something else that is non existent around most of the fens. Since these closures, all that’s left are isolated, divided towns and villages that are getting majorly left behind.
Wow! Thank you so much for a high-quality and evocative video. I've been a railway enthusiast for 60+ years and moved to the Spalding area a couple of years ago. We're not short of disused railways around here and I've already had a nose about on several of them. But your brilliant effort has inspired me to explore more of the March- Spalding route. Thanks again.
Oh I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film and that you've found my channel! Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series. You are indeed spoilt for railways but the line to March is still peppered with so many fine relics that I urge you to explore! All good wishes.
I think there is a growing interest for the possible reopening of this line
That's good to hear!
Ther was a by pass built from spalding to Peterbotough a few years back. It brought in to view a semaphore signal that had remained out of sight for decades untouched. It wasnt more than a few days and a few spanners later, someone climbed the ladders and stole both the arms.!!!!!!!! It was a great sight to see in the middle of nowhere. Be about 2011. Just a post now. the Postland signal box was in good condition around 1998. I cant believe how the owner has let it go. there were sidings in front of spalding station where thr supermarket car park is now.
Just beautiful. Thoroughly enjoyed this, only the second of your videos that I have watched. Thank you for including the composer name and piece of music you use each time, too. Choice of music spot on, both in length and theme. Thank you for such a quality piece of work.
Thank you very much! The amount of railway relics still remaining is quite surprising. As you watch my videos, you see a lot of them are accompanied by the music of Vaughan Williams - I'd like to think he might approve of their use in these films!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways RVW is oneofmy favourit ecoposers, so this will be a treat. Just been writing to my friend in Leeds, an 84 year old railways enthusiast, and suggesting he access UA-cam to enjoy your videos. If this was the 1960s you would have been employed by a TV station to deliver your videos. Thank goodness for UA-cam.
Off the top of my head, the films that use RVW are my Varsity Line film, Ely to St Ives, Banbury & Verney Junction, Cambridge to Mildenhall, Lynton & Barnstaple - but there could be more. Yes, do send them to your friend - I hope he enjoys them. As for having these on the TV...well I can't say I wouldn't like that!
Excellent...I remember being diverted along this route back in the 1970s when i was on the footplate at Kings Cross...usually at weekends for engineering work on ECML...brings back some long lost memories...thanks!
George Gunn thanks for your comment. That you were on the footplate gives such an interesting perspective. Do have a look at my other films and thank you for sharing your memories.
i remember that as i was born in March
This is one of my favourites. The filming and music lend a great poignancy.
Ah, revisiting my early work! So many relics still to be found here!
Brilliant. That has cleared up what I was trying to find out. I was at Rings End recently, took some pictures and saw all that you show but I also noticed a small platform and I wondered if it was a Halt but I now I assume this was used for the loading of goods. Many thanks.
Glad this film helped. As you can see, there are many relics of the line to still be found as you can see!
Thank you that's brilliant
My pleasure! Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series
So glad to find this video. I’ve recently driven along the Feb roads in this area and noticed not only the evidence of the former railway, but also that there is so much left. It makes sense now I know it only closed in the 80s- thank you for this insight
Fen* obviously not feb
Really glad this answered some questions - I've made a few Fenland railway films, so do subscribe if you've not already done so!
love this and the music
Many thanks indeed. It was a bleak day for filming but some lovely relics remain!
I love the film I just moved to the area and have been filming the old railways keep up the good work
Thank you for your kind words about my video. Do subscribe as there are a number of films in this series and many more to come. Expect the next one at Easter. Thanks again!
This is my favourite one. Vaughan Williams ' Fen music is perfect and the photography fabulous.
It's a fine piece of music and some lovely relics still to be found
@@RediscoveringLostRailways ...you can hear the wind swirling across the bleak fens and imagine the big sky. Colours in the music match your photography.
Brilliant once again, we are being totally spoiled by your fine work. So much left to discover on this line thankfully. I look forward to watching many more.
NO, DO NOT MAKE PEOPLE LAUGH, THIS IS CERTAINLY NOT BRILLIANT AS THE JOB IS NOT DONE WELL AT ALL, WITH SLOPPY RESEARCH < LIKE YOU GET FROM SO MANY INCOMPETENT LAZY TV COMPANY DOCUMENTARY RESEARCHERS > SPOILING THE GOOD FOOTAGE BY ONLY GIVING YEARS INSTEAD OF THE EXACT DATES THAT YOU GET WITH VERY GOOD RESEARCH,ED PRODUCTIONSE THEN NO OPENING OR CLOSURE INFO GIVEN AT ALL. ALSO IT WOULD BE NICE TO KNOW WHAT THE LOVELY MUSIC IS, BUT NOTHING ON THIS GIVEN = SO A TOTALLY VERY POOR JOB RESULTS IN CONSEUENCE !!!..
Sorry - it has been a year or so since you posted this garbled response and I've only just seen it. Have you any sense of irony or self awareness? The joke is on you my friend.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I have no idea why this person added a reply to my comment. Keep up your excellent work, you just can’t please some folk.
@@TheDiomedef16 thanks for your kind words and for supporting my channel 🙂
@@grahamlea2160 Went on your channel with a desire to view some videos and learn the proper way of making a documentary. What did I learn? That you don't have any videos. Least ways none that you yourself have produced. What I DID learn is that you are subscribed to Rediscovering Lost Railways. As the gentleman asked, do you not see the irony?
A real pleasure to watch, thank you so much once again. The restored signal box is really good. Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to the next one.
Andrew Holloway Thanks Andrew! My next one will be made at Easter. I'll be remaking my Varsity Line films and include the mothballed Bletchley to Bicester section. Can't wait to make it!
I so look forward to that one.
It'll be great to make it with a proper camera, not the shaky mobile phone with which I made the original! Thanks for supporting my channel.
A pleasure, thank YOU for taking the time for making these videos to enjoy.
Murrow flat crossing consisted of the GN&GE joint main line March to Spalding and the M&GN joint Peterborough to Sutton Bridge GN : Great Northern GE : Great Eastern M : Midland Railway
Such wonderful station names.
Alison Lee Aren't they just? I do like Gedney Hill (in the flattest part of the country) and Cowbit of course!
One of my favourites..
What's so wonderful is that there's so much left to see!
Your videos are brilliant! Excellent research, coupled with superb camera work, accompanied by the relevant OS maps and perfect music. I have lived in various areas you've filmed and seen things I recalled and things I wish I'd seen, even felt homesick. I had the pub in Welton-le-Marsh for a couple of years, and loved driving by the converted signal hut (or Station?) at Burgh-le-Marsh about 3 miles away toward Skegness, it used to make me wonder what other villages were served by long closed branch lines. I could watch these forever, so well done. Thank you.
I'm so pleased that you enjoyed the film and that you have found my channel. Thank you for your kind words about my films. Many more films to come in the months ahead, so stay tuned!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I never hit the notification bell as I get plenty of suggestions for the channels I subscribe to, but I have to make an exception for your channel. Looking forward to your next journey!
Another incredible video , so i subbed as these are amazing
Thank you very much. Let me know what you think about them. Next one will be out early October. I tend to post films every two months.
Beautiful choice of music!. I see from the photograph at Guyhirne that the local dignitaries turned out to greet you. Thank you from Toronto!
I told them I was coming and they really put on a show! Always delighted to welcome a cousin from across the pond. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
Great video enhanced by the music!
Many thanks indeed!
I remember the signal box at French Drove, it was for sale and has now I see been converted to a home. The station and box were once owned by Contour Autocraft who occupy the goods yard still and I think the station is still a converted house. Great stuff and interesting to watch
It is a lovely signal box and this line has so many remains to be viewed. Glad you enjoyed the film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
Driven this line many times a proper railway
Thanks for your comment. I suppose it looks very different today from when you last drove it!
I have all 9 East Anglian railway DVDs from TVP (Transport Video Publishing. The most attractive one is 'Branch Lines Across East Anglia' as its shows Wisbech East in all its colourful glory with a Derby Lightweight 2-car DMU stopping train in the King's Lynn bound platform.
Many people blame Beeching for our lost railways but I don't. I am old enough @ 71 to have lived through Nationalisation, the decline under BR, Beeching and eventually Privatisation (something I applaud as it happens). My family were railwaymen and women and I did part of my apprenticeship at Swindon. Many years later I was Project Officer for the East West Rail Consortium seeking to re-open the Bicester to Cambridge line. Without much success!
The real villains (IMHO) were the BR senior Managers who conspired to make out certain lines were not economic (when they clearly were) to have them closed under Beeching. The Settle / Carlisle line being the classic example especially as it survived. And of course when services were ended (as most should have been) by Beeching they then committed what I would class as industrial sabotage by lifting tracks, demolishing signal boxes and stations and then selling the trackbed to anyone as long as it was built on. What they should have done is mothball every mile and siding, run weedkiller trains along twice a year and simply maintained the railway rights over the trackbeds. A policy that would have cost next to nothing and certainly less than the cost of thousands of engineers trains lifting thousands of miles of tracks.
Projects like EWR now have to spend £ Mns just to obtain rights that were held barely 40 years ago and bypass built on trackbed. And don't even get me started on the idiocy of lifting a second track and moving the other to the centre of the alignment!
Sadly this beautiful line is a perfect example of this deliberate policy. Shame on them
Thank you for your comment and your insights. I suppose Beching is an easy target, but there's clearly much more to it than that. Have you watched my new Varsity Line film? I've kept an eye on the East West Rail Consortium website for a few years now and I'm hopeful that a wrong (the line's closure) can be made right.
Hi there - No I haven't but I will look out for it and have a view. As you mentioned the EWR website I must claim my moment in the spotlight as I was the one that first created it and then maintained it ...
The good thing is yes it will be rebuilt now the Government has adopted the project and senior people from Network Rail appointed and the two university cities re-connected by rail once again.
Fantastic! It's good to have an 'insider' commenting here!
1chish stop being a rose-tinted fool. By the time of BR there were far too many lines chasing far too little traffic (traffic lost to the roads since WW1). Many of these lines had never been profitable even in the years after their construction. The Varsity Line is a joke, with poor, sorry no real, connections to the ECML. Who in their right mind wanting to get to York or Newcastle from Bedford would want to change at Sandy and then Peterborough when they can go to Derby and make a single change?
The real villains are people like you who have little or no understanding of how the national economy works. The line is this film was closed during the recession of the early 1980s because it was more cost effective to re-route trains via north London or Peterborough and the ECML than maintain this unprofitable line.
Mothballing is a very expensive option, almost as expensive as keeping the line open, with the added disadvantage of not bringing in any revenue. I can't see the Treasury accepting that kind of spending with nothing coming in, especially as they didn't like spending more money than was being earned by a railway line.
@@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819 you must have pressed your angry button on the keyboard
I used to work with a guy at Boston Dock. He used to be S. & T. Supervisor somewhere in this region. He told me what the signal used to be near Cowbit, and the other one also near Cowbit. I think one was the section signal heading toward Spalding, the other was inner home to Cowbit. I remember when the line closed, I was offerred, but did not accept (pratt) a ride on the recovery trains after closure.
peebee143 lion
Thank you for another thought provoking beautifully made Film, I suspect that it must take Days to produce the finished Film. Once again such lovely Music.
Each film takes several weeks to plan and can usually be filmed in a day by starting bright and early!
Rediscovering Lost Railways Thank you for your Reply, I note from some of the Films that on Occasions the Weather has been fairly unsettled, the Varsity Line for example, although it does add to the atmosphere, however there must be Times when you have to postpone filming I suppose.
@@peterjhillier7659 Yes, in fact I tried filming this one in December and had to call it off a third of the way through, eventually starting again in February. In fact, filming in winter has the advantage of allowing me to better see what remains of these lines.
Rediscovering Lost Railways Thank you for your Reply, I look forward to more of your lovely Films.
Great!
Thank you sir!
I was an office cleaner at March in 1986, saw all the plans for the prison spread out on the desks there
Valuable information for our incarcerated crims!
Here in Australia I worked in my youth for the Queensland Railway Dept., as did my father for many years, and his father for a few years till he went to war with the A.I.F. in 1916. He was just 21 when killed in France 8 Aug. 1917.
I am humbled by the reference to your grandfather and his sacrifice. The world owes so much to Australia and her brave people. Advance Australia Fair!
The first image in your slideshow is actuallys to be Wisbech East Station, showing the main two platform faces for March and King's Lynn trains on the left, and the lower level Tram platform face (Wisbech / Upwell Tramway) and its avoiding loop line on the right. The two victorian gas lamps on the island platform suggest a pre-1950 era in which the photograph was taken. The DVD 'Branch Lines Across East Anglia' (by TVP) has a rare 28 minute colour film edited journey along the entire former Great Eastern March to Magdalen Road Junction Branch Line, via Wisbech East, prior to closure in September 1968.
Fen Tiger Thanks for the information, I'll look that up. Thanks again.
thank you
Mick Jarman My pleasure. Do subscribe and look at my other films.
As usual brilliant video. This line shoud never have been closed
Thank you for your kind words about my film and for your subscription. My next film will be coming out in a couple of weeks and there's more to follow in the coming months.
Kenneth Naunton as with all closed lines this line was duplicating other routes and could support its costs via the revenue it generated and the taxpayer wouldn't support its rentenion.
Were you aware that it only had 3 passenger trains each way per week day plus a few intercity trains on summer Saturdays plus a falling number of freight trains due ti the recession of the early 1980s at the time of closure?
Neil Dahlgaard-Sigsworth the irony being we are now building the dive under at Werrington so freight doesn’t foul the ECML. Had this line remained, this wouldn’t be necessary 👍
Great video, the Holbeach, Postland and Cowbit stations are on one of the regular cycle routes I do, I just wondered if you might do the Wansford to Stamford part of the Stamford and Essendine railway,
Thank you! I'll certainly look into it!
Really sad to see that signal box next Postland station in such a state.
Marcus Nixon Though I'm glad so many relics of this railway remain, like you, I'm saddened to see this lovely building in such a forlorn state.
I'm surprised it's still standing!
i remember so much FRIGHT and passenger train being diverted over the JOINT line from Spalding when there was a mishap on the main line i also remember the HUMP sidings before the PRISON was built and passenger working on PLT 3 and 4 to Spalding
Kevin Goodrum Thanks for your comment. It's always good to hear from those who remember something about these lines in operation.
I like walking disused railways but your video is far more comfortable. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your comment - I'm glad to be of service! I've just finished editing my latest film and it will be uploaded in the next couple of days. Do subscribe to make sure you don't miss it.
At 5.41. As you can see the signal box is a relatively modern replacement. The original which was hit in a 'crash' proved to be uneconomic to repair., I think. There was a crossing of the M&GN ( Peterborough to Sutton Bridge) at this point on the level. I would have to check but the 'crash 'was on the crossing.
"Of course, he's not going to climb up the signal gantry, it would be far too dangerous ... oh ... he did!" :)
I can resist anything except temptation!
When I was in the S&T installers at Cambridge we put the barriers in at Cowbit, BR was good at wasting money on lines doomed to close! During the whole time we were there - about a week - I only saw 2 trains!
Just two? Goodness!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Yes - ridiculous, wasn't in it, the reason for putting barriers in was to get rid of the box by eventually converting them to AHB's but the line closed first. The trains were a March - Doncaster DMU and a parcels, although probably more ran at night.
You could always spot that signal gantry along the A16
Shame the line closed would have been really useful today
So many wonderful relics still to be found!
I worked at Kilby signal box when this line closed,british rail was losing traffic so fast that this line was shut however now that the east coast main line is full there was some inquirery if it could be reopened
Thank you for your comment. I also heard of the proposal to reopen it but I fear this looks unlikely. Have a read of this fascinating article that puts it better than I can: www.railmagazine.com/news/rail-features/a-lost-line-and-a-lost-opportunity
Destruction of this line is one of many..you only have to look at the bigger picture,to realise....it's not just our railways,but the slow dismantling of our country..very sad indeed?
This line shut in the early eighties? Looks like it went fifty years earlier, unbelievable!
Yes it's quite striking how so many portions of it are just desolate!
Another great video! Other than the flat crossing was there any physical connection between the two lines at Murrow?
There's a question - I don't think so is my answer, but there may be some elder, wiser master who knows differently!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways There was a chord from the Eastbound M&GN line to the Southbound GN&GE Jt. line toward March.
was good to see the concrete semaphore signal gantry at cowbit...Ty for taking the time to record it.. there are not many left now in situ and so complete...
this what the one at Denver Junction on the Kings Lynn Line looked like before the junction and siding closed... incony.org/360Panorama/Denverjuntionpano1/New%20Panorama1.html
Incony Blue Thanks for your comment. The signal gantry was certainly a highlight of this exploration. My next film is going to be a much improved remake of my Varsity line films. I'll be doing the Stoke Ferry branch in the summer when the line looks at its best.
then certainly use my image of Denver Junction.. if you want to.. you wont find another like it.. i put it together much by fabrication looking up maps and old images and making measurements - which did not include the siding at all.. i had to work it all out even the signal gantry, since there are only images looking the other way without the siding that was there.. and i put in every single telegraph wire and the poles... the right hand view from mid centre is totally composite.. as are the trees and the box itself...and much of the track... it is about 1965... and that is a Bedford CA van at the station crossing..
Thank you, I'd be delighted to include this picture - I was going to ask if I could use it, with a credit for you of course. Do make sure you subscribe to my channel so you don't miss any future films. I look forward to make the Stoke Ferry film when it gets warmer! Thanks again.
I hope the Signal Box at Postland gets saved & restored
I read somewhere that its owner would like to do just that, but there are some issues to do with the council or the like...
kool
Well I'd begin to restore it anyway
BUT make it safe 1st, during & after reconstruction
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I'd love to buy it and do the work. There's also a railway cottage next to it, completely hidden by the undergrowth. Do you know who owns that?
There's something uniquely, deeply, deeply depressing about the Lincolnshire Fens.
@@johnny5805 agreed
Hmm, that diamond xing at Murrow; I can find ref's for it, but can I spot where it would have been on google-earth... not a chance. Presumably that other line is defunct too and ploughed-up? Oh, and thankyou for these films! :D Ah-ok, just 'drove' the road (google again) and spotted the signal-box. Blimey there's almost no signs at all, of any railways! Will you explore that line too? (I'm new here so not seen all vid's, apologies if you've done it)
No there's almost nothing left! I've not done that other railway yet - but it is on my 'to-do' list. Do subscribe and set up alerts so you don't miss any films. Next one is coming soon.
Thankyou and will-do :)
I know I'm a year late but at French drove i saw railway tracks in there for their house
Yes, they've done a good job of preserving its character!
They sure have!
Like history was uprooted
Yes, just so!
How do you find out about a stations history that has not yet been written about yet
If there's nothing on wikipedia or www.disused-stations.com, I suggest joining one of the many Facebook groups where so many people know so many things about the most obscure aspects of railway history - the Disused Stations or Disused Railways groups are excellent for this.
One thing I've noticed throughout the videos that I've watched so far, is that most of the basic grading is still intact and ROW's (possibly) are still there . Couldn't these lines be rebuilt sometime in the future for rail and/or other purposes?
I think that there's a strong case for it, particularly with this line, but as you have no doubt already guessed, there's a general reluctance to build railways, meagre political will and the fact that so many alignments have been built upon.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I think now that the upgrading of Werrington junction is now being built, any hope for the spalding to March line re-opening is sadly now dead and buried!
Another short sighted closure as the government pushes for housing many find new town or extensions to town with no transport options and often objections are based increased traffic in unsuitable rural roads and congestion caused..
Yes, just so!
Such a shame. Many lines if there now would save lots of road traffic. Beaching was so short sighted and the destructer of British Railways.
It's a widely held view. I think this line in particular would've benefitted freight traffic.
Beeching had nothing to do with this. This route was squandered by BR and BR alone.
@@digestive7258 Thatcher was behind this closure.
1st Civil Servant: "We need to build a new prison near March". 2nd Civil Servant: "In that case we need a disused railway line". 1st Civil Servant: "I can't seem to find one here on the map". 2nd Civil Servant: "Then we can't possibly build a new prison there, out of the question".
Just so! Allthough I think this line would make a good relief line and bring investment to the areas served by the railway, I'd be surprised (and delighted!) if the powers that be reinstatied it. More's the pity. I hope you enjoyed the film nevertheless.
At Murrow this line crossed the M&GN line from Peterborough to Wisbech.
Yes, that's right. Thanks for your comment. Do subscribe if you've not already done so.
This is a great little series. the music is brilliant too, who is it ?
Thank you! Have you subscribed? It would be great to have you on board. In this case the music is called 'In the Fen Country' by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
How many people will mourn the loss of a road? Most are overcrowded with impatient drivers, so unlike the branch railways that were our heritage. Why the need to destroy the bridges, rip up track, sell off land to greedy developers? There seems to be a determination to prevent anyone ever restoring these lines, it is intensely sad.
Agreed. Governments hate railways probably and don't see their value. Do subscribe and watch my other films if you have not already done so!
Mykbyker because the taxpayer did not want to pay. It's as simple as that. The railways were built piecemeal by those looking to make a profit with no governmental direction leaving places like Leicester with 2 lines to London, which in Nationalised system pulled resources away from each other, leaving both lines weakened. The taxpayer decided enough was enough and directed the government to do something. And lo it came to pass. And lines were pruned from the network, but the land remained with BR, who now had no use for it and so they sold it off to protect the remaining lines. The taxpayer with his new shiny car to drive demanded roads to drive on and so the government built them, using the now redundant trackbeds (a good example of recycling).
Black and white photo of march is wisbech not march.
Whoops! Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
Really enjoying your videos
Any chance you can keep the text on screen 5 seconds more as not all of us are fast readers.
I do keep pausing but it spoils the video
Keep up with the Dog bollocks
P arjacpar Thanks for your comment. I'll certainly keep that in mind when I edit my next film - I agree, having to pause the film does interrupt the flow somewhat. I hope you enjoy my next film and my future films.
Should be shown where the M&GN flyover was just outside Spalding considering you'd have walked past it to get some of the shots and quite alot of that is still there. Great film otherwise.
I didn't see any evidence of it...it looked like it was lost under a housing estate...however, I'm glad you enjoyed the film!
jon COE also missed was the M&GN level crossing at Murrow.
It’s guyhirn not guyhirne
Keep digging and you'll see I'm correct
3:07 Does this mean mum is 'The Beast'?
I must be dense...
@@michaela.chmieloski3196 The Merc's number plate...
@@novakingood3788 Ah, I thought that might be it, but the clarity on my cellphone isn't good enough to give me a clear view.