Now I know that if you live in Heaton Mersey this bit of our railway heritage is not lost but is there for all to see.
But for me it was a surprise to come across it and reignite my interest in all thing’s railway.
That said I bet most people will not value these old viaducts and embankments, in the same historic way they might treat one of those castles “Cromwell knocked about” or the remnants of a Roman aqueduct or Egyptian pyramid.
So it was left to Andy Robertson to celebrate this bit of the old railway line, by taking a series of pictures, adding that, “Inspired by Barbarella Bonvento's picture on the blog, I went to clock the other bits of ex railway. Considering how many railway lines Heaton Mersey had there is not much left”. *
But I like them, and more than that they do offer up a memory of when the country was cross crossed by railway track from the great main lines down to quiet, sleepy branch lines, which ran a few passenger trains a day along with early the milk train.
I shall leave it to others to wade in with the history of this particular track, but I will dig out my copy of Mile By Mile on Britain’s Railways, which was published in in 1947 with “the object ……. to encourage the passenger to anticipate his progress, and to enable him to know to a nicety, what he next will see from the window at any and every stage of the journey.
It is such a pity to sacrifice this experience to idle slumber, or to concentration on a magazine that would be better enjoyed at home.” *
Now this seems a pretty neat idea to me, and I have to say it is one that I try to practice, whether I am on a train, tram or the bus.
But I rather think it is an ambitious project that few would undertake, especially when what is being described is nothing less than the routes of the main railway companies in 1947.
But this is what Mr Pike set out to do in a series of little books just as the railways became nationalized.
The publications covered the L.N.E.R, the LMS, and Southern Railways but for reasons which have never been established he failed to keep his promise of one on the G.W.R. **
Nevertheless, for the other three there were details of “the gradients of the lines, speed tests and mileages, viaducts, bridges and embankments, along with tunnels, cuttings, crossovers and streams, rivers and roads.
For good measure there were also lists of towns, villages, churches and mines, factories and works and an account of features of interest and beauty to be seen from the trains.”
It was all of the information which made a train journey worthwhile.
And of course, with the passage of time and the end of both steam locomotives as well as many of the branch lines his guides have become a piece of history.
So, lots to do before more of Andy’s pictures appear here.
Pictures; bits of railway architecture in Heaton Mersey, 2020, from the collection of Andy Robertson and the cover of MILE BY MILE ON BRITAIN’S RAILWAYS, S.N.PIKE, published by Aurum Press Ltd, and original Mile by Mile on the L.M.S. 1947
* Relics of our industrial past …….. doing the essential walk and making it historic .... no. 23, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/05/relics-of-our-industrial-past-doing.html
** MILE BY MILE ON BRITAIN’S RAILWAYS, S.N. PIKE, 1947, published by Aurum Press Ltd, 2011.
That said I bet most people will not value these old viaducts and embankments, in the same historic way they might treat one of those castles “Cromwell knocked about” or the remnants of a Roman aqueduct or Egyptian pyramid.
So it was left to Andy Robertson to celebrate this bit of the old railway line, by taking a series of pictures, adding that, “Inspired by Barbarella Bonvento's picture on the blog, I went to clock the other bits of ex railway. Considering how many railway lines Heaton Mersey had there is not much left”. *
I shall leave it to others to wade in with the history of this particular track, but I will dig out my copy of Mile By Mile on Britain’s Railways, which was published in in 1947 with “the object ……. to encourage the passenger to anticipate his progress, and to enable him to know to a nicety, what he next will see from the window at any and every stage of the journey.
Now this seems a pretty neat idea to me, and I have to say it is one that I try to practice, whether I am on a train, tram or the bus.
But I rather think it is an ambitious project that few would undertake, especially when what is being described is nothing less than the routes of the main railway companies in 1947.
But this is what Mr Pike set out to do in a series of little books just as the railways became nationalized.
The publications covered the L.N.E.R, the LMS, and Southern Railways but for reasons which have never been established he failed to keep his promise of one on the G.W.R. **
Nevertheless, for the other three there were details of “the gradients of the lines, speed tests and mileages, viaducts, bridges and embankments, along with tunnels, cuttings, crossovers and streams, rivers and roads.
It was all of the information which made a train journey worthwhile.
And of course, with the passage of time and the end of both steam locomotives as well as many of the branch lines his guides have become a piece of history.
So, lots to do before more of Andy’s pictures appear here.
* Relics of our industrial past …….. doing the essential walk and making it historic .... no. 23, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/05/relics-of-our-industrial-past-doing.html
** MILE BY MILE ON BRITAIN’S RAILWAYS, S.N. PIKE, 1947, published by Aurum Press Ltd, 2011.
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