Hello, we're up to episode number five
of London's Lost Railways.
We actually start today here at Staines West.
That's what this building now is in Staines,
slightly outside of London,
but then we go inside London
up to West Drayton as we follow the path
of the Staines West to West Drayton Railway.
(birds chirping)
The Staines and West Drayton Railway
opened in 1884 and was run by GWR,
who had to have a separate station, Staines West,
as they were not allowed to connect up
with the other main Staines station.
That railway company had their own
separate line running to Windsor.
But a connection between the two lines
was put in place in the 1940s.
Plus later, in the 1980s,
a second connection was established,
and that was to allow continued access
to an oil depot after the line
up to West Drayton was closed.
And that line, up to West Drayton,
had five intermediate stations.
Well, some of them barely stations really,
but just simple platform halts.
And most of them were really infrequently used
with very low passenger numbers.
So, the line eventually closed to passengers in 1965.
But there's a surprising amount left to see
if you just go looking for it.
The line starts at this building here.
Nowadays, it's been converted into modern offices,
but the station's retaining wall still obviously exists,
as well as the nice touch of some track with buffers,
and a sign saying Staines West
that's been put in place.
But the real fun starts if you walk down Moor Lane
and you find the footpath that takes you onto the moors.
That's Staines Moor, and then beyond that, Stanwell Moor.
(footsteps crunching)
You immediately find a bridge, which goes over the river,
and the Windsor Line, but it's also where there are
still old rusty tracks that would have run to West Drayton.
And coming down the bridge to the embankment,
you can't go any further 'cause there's a fence,
but you can get really close to the old rails.
So, the old rails of the old Staines West branch,
and the connection.
Then you got the Wraysbury River,
and then the current day lines,
the Southwestern Railways rolling past going up to Windsor,
but you're right here by the old rails
with trees growing up (laughs) through the metals.
(train engine roaring)
You then have a choice to keep your feet dry
and carry on walking down Moor Lane,
or do what I did, and that's elect to get your feet
soaking wet by walking across the very soggy moor.
Follow this path of the electricity pylons
and head west to find the trail of the old railway again.
And yes, I did have this feeling of bleakness here,
but there was also a beauty and tranquillity
amongst the bleak landscape, which I loved.
So, you come to the western side of Staines Moor,
then you come through this gate
for a really cool thing.
As you saw back on Moor Lane
where we first entered the moor,
there are information boards dotted all over the place.
And here another one pops up.
But this time with the most detail I've seen so far
about the old railway,
the railway, which used to go over this bridge.
And after checking out underneath the bridge,
the obvious thing to do, of course,
is to climb up the steps
to where the old alignment used to run.
(birds tweeting)
So I'm on this bridge
'cause the railway had to go high up here,
to go over the Windsor line
before then dropping back down to Staines West,
so, there's this little tunnel
we could walk under, graffiti.
The single track used to go above here.
(plane engine roaring)
You can hear the planes.
We're getting close to the airport.
And the walking path here
then is the alignment of the old railway.
Now, you might see the occasional
dog walker around here,
but aside from that, it's ghostly quiet.
Well, okay, with the rumble of the motorway
in the background, which we'll address in a moment.
Oh, and there's another information board
that gives a nod to the old line.
Now, the abandoned station to encounter next
was first opened as Runnymede Range,
but later became renamed to Yeoveney Halt.
I didn't think I was going to find
any remainder of it at all,
as online research had shown me
that there was nothing left.
So, I was very, very pleased
when I stumbled across some old concrete posts
and other things in the location where the station was.
There's also something very definitely (laughs)
railway-esque looking.
I think we found it.
(metal gate rattling)
(metal gate clinks)
So, I'm walking along a less glamorous part now.
The railway was over to my right,
and then came over this way over the path,
and over to here.
The noise you can hear is the M25,
which obliterated all traces of the railway.
And basically, it follows the path
up to the junction where we're going next.
So, thanks motorway.
(engines roaring)
So, you negotiate Junction 14 of the M25,
and there's no remains at all of Poyle Halt,
but it would have been in this location here.
And the next section is then,
let's just say, extremely industrial,
and an industrial park has now obliterated
the location of Poyle Estate Halt.
There is nothing to see here, so keep walking.
And keep walking until you excitingly find
this old bridge where the railway
would have crossed a river.
And this is the Poyle Channel.
I'm recording this now quickly before a plane landing
at Terminal Five goes directly overhead.
It's a bit noisy if you stand here too long,
but the railway has come from along there
and it comes out just down there
onto our final destination for the day,
and that's Bath Road.
And we've come to the point
where we can go no further,
where the rails are still in use.
If we look at our original map,
there's a section here in red that is still in use
as a freight line that heads up to West Drayton.
This location, there would have been Colnbrook Station,
and there is still a station house,
or is that a station cottage?
It's still here as a private residence.
Although the most brilliant thing
must be the signs and lights that are no longer in use
for a level crossing that is no longer here.
And that brings us to the end of this episode,
but that freight line there
actually goes up to West Drayton,
which is where we'll pick up Lost Railways again
with another old railway there
that takes us to Uxbridge in the next episode.
If you want to see that, press subscribe,
and check out the whole playlist.
Thanks for watching.