welcome to blue skies
welcome to Swindon and welcome to the start of the Swindon and Highworth Light railway
is that the name? yes like really light railway. And welcome to the Light
railway that never ran any trains or the train company they never any
trains we will come to that shortly but first of all we join us here next to the
mainline don't it he trains today because it's Sunday and there's loads of orange
people all over the tracks they'll observe orange overalls on
so Iguess its the network rail army so we're unlikely to get any which is a
real shame. Welcome to an every disused station, yes lets call it
an every disused station because we are visiting stations
and they are disused and everyone here everyone
yeah so this this is the start of the line just down there as a start where it
branched off yeah so this is this is a starting point this is where GWR all made
the final connection or the line that was built by the Swindon and so you join
us at what is referred to as Kingsdown Junction so that was only probably the
sort of mile past the actual Junction for the main line where you just saw us
so this isn't the Swindon and high worth Light Railway and it been planned what a
plan but notions of the actual railway van gogh's is 1845 and again 1860s
finally in 1875 the company was formed and it wasn't until 1879 that they've
raised 28,000 pounds of capital shares to build the line and the sword the
first sword was cut correct 1879 yes sir over there just right now there was
another Junction head Kings down injunction went to a station just
through there I better say it but that was at South Mastin
vickers-armstrong halt so took workers to the South Marston factory where some
very early sort of spitfire and Masrtons I think the Marston was a plane
yeah so the early Spitfire yeah so that was just off tour right now so we're
gonna count as a tick because I said this is about the closest we can get
through there and but we're now walking sort of up the line for a good mile or
two towards highworth in that direction
where are we over 1879 yes so first sod has been cut right as far
as you got so 1881 they finished 1881 GW I'll make the final connection to the
mainline where we start the video then what mid-february 1880 what I believe is
when it finished mid February 1881 and the fourth or fifth of March okay I
think it was more the fifth of March they it got inspected now it was
inspected by somebody we've already talked about on this channel Colonel
your hland Colonel Holland was a massive kind of
Health and Safety advocate for the railways which is fantastic he was like
a officer the Tabor is disaster he helped you report on that I think he
deemed the railway was a bit well rubbish makes a bit rubbish short of a
better phrase loads of major faults yes 14 minor faults 14 major and then lohan
minor right and he deemed that it was nowhere near completion
we'll have to get past today's problem is mud clearly and we've got a perfectly
good pair of boots in the car but stupidly we decided that you know
we're not going on a long walk we just wear trainers how did that work out well
good ok so we're heading toward Stanton,
Stanton Fitzgerald.
Yolland so Yolland said you can't open the line because there are
countless repairs but you need to make to the line the ballast isn't thick
enough to hold the sleepers that was countless health and safety issues point
issues least swindle and high worth a lot of railway company said can't afford
it mate fix it tough luck what are you gonna do
cuz you're not opening the line what the next Rebecca and they ran into GWR yes
because couldn't afford it originally we're gonna run trains on
the line anyway for 60% of the profit all receipts yeah 10 years for 60% of
the receipts
okay what this is up there with my favorite embankments I mean it's no sin
deferred but this is up there right okay you wanna cut down there scared a bit
muddy again so we've come we've come as far as we can off Staunton station hope
whatever was just further up there but we've got private land that way the
pathway goes across this field I'll pass those horses and the water and
its feet water down there so we can't became physical you can't get any I
think there's weddings we struggle in that well so we're gonna walk back to
the car and then try and drive a little bit further off
yep
okay so this is Hannington and it looks like it's been completely ripped
apart in terms of the earthworks you can still see some concrete fence posts down
there okay so this is the final proper station hunt we already know that high
worth is completely gone and you stood alongside the back for now because
bricked a job well long here I don't know if it was brick so have a look at
the case but we're stood on what could well be the platform edge some concrete
down there but nothing like this I'm guessing this is the alignment all right
there
well this is great and better than we expected to get
with Hannington we just thought it would be a little bit of a wooded area
but actually this is great this is the pathway back up to the road
you've got the canopy there's a platform here no this is the right this is the
lower section of platforms this is the eastern end of the platform right here
this will be the edge there this will be the the bit that went
obviously down towards the the ballast and right ahead of us here is the
pathway up to the road you can see that on the old maps this is a great little
Tick for Hannington. Fantastic.