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W/C 10 November 2008: Page 2

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Progress on the Old Railway Line Article

We are continuing our move towards a permanent article on the old Canterbury-Whitstable Railway Line and, this week, we take a look at one of the most fascinating stretches of line..... between the Harbour and All Saints Church. I say "fascinating" because it has strong links with other elements of the town's history and ties in closely with some of our existing articles.

As always, it is a joint effort between all our readers and I am sure everyone will chip in.... because, as you will see, we still have quite a few questions to answer!

I would like to thank Brian Smith, Terry Phillips and Peter Dalrymple for their help in making the draft possible.

A Quick Look at Geography & Context

Let's take a look at a plan of the area in the mid 19th century.... 

The railway line is marked by the dark red line. However, for the moment, we will concentrate on what surrounds it.

The green area is the low lying flood plain of the Gorrell stream. It is enclosed by elevated land - including an old sea wall upon which Harbour Road (later known as Harbour Street) was built. The darker brown areas mark the hills surrounding the town. Notice that the main urban developments are confined to the west - on a raised strip of land upon which the High Street and Oxford Street developed.  Notice also that the two east-west roads (Harbour Road and Church Road) avoid that swampy floodplain. Harbour Road petered out at the Castle leaving Church Road (later renamed Old Bridge Road) as the main link to isolated outposts to the east. In particular, Church Road provided access to the small hamlet of Church Street - a location that is generally accepted as the original 'Whitstable'.

If this description of the geography sounds familiar, it is not surprising because it is based on that detailed in Brian Smith's articles, the History of Whitstable Coastline (click here to view) and "Origins of Whitstable - Name and Place" (click here to view).

The map helps to explain a few things about the C&WR line when it opened in 1830. Notice that it did not link directly into the main centre of population. It aimed at a section of coastline between Long Beach and Reeves where the railway company already planned to open a new harbour. The harbour arrived in 1832 and, together with the rail track, it re-affirmed Whitstable as the seaport of the City of Canterbury. The railway became an artery for imports and exports - supplementing existing trade at the Horsebridge where operations relied on a simple beachside ramp and a slow road link to the city via Blean. 

Freight was a key element of the line but, from its inception, it also carried passengers.... and by the 1840s, it even connected with steampacket services to London via the River Thames. By the 1890s, the seaside had grown in importance as a healthy leisure facility and trains brought day trippers to the beaches of Tankerton, the shell fish stalls of Long Beach and the amusements of Beach Walk. In fact, one of the line's early impacts was to bring about the development of the Beach Walk, Tower Parade and Tankerton Slopes areas as a seaside resort. 

Initially, the line was a point to point connection with a passenger station at the harbour and another at the terminus in North Lane, Canterbury. There were no intermediate stops at that time.

Before we move on, it is also worth correcting a misapprehension that may have grown up over the years. At the outset, the harbour was first and foremost a cargo port and it was frequented by Thames barges and larger vessels. It was not the spiritual home of Whitstable's oyster and shell fish fleets!!! This is touched upon in some of our other articles - Oyster Dredging by John Harman (click here to view) and Sheringham and the Johnson Family by Ian Johnson (click here to view). 

Oyster dredging and shell fishing continued to operate primarily from the beaches. As John Harman explains, it was easier and quicker to moor small sailing vessels in the bay than to manoeuvre them out of a harbour by winch or oar amidst larger vessels. Furthermore, the quays of the harbour were surrounded by railway tracks! It was later that fishing vessels came to prominence in the harbour basin... when vessels became motorised and the cargo trade declined.   

Crossing the Terrain

In building the line, the engineers had several obstacles to negotiate en route to Church Street.

The first (the thoroughfare of Harbour Road) was overcome with relative ease. With both the harbour lands and roadway located at the same height, a cheap and simple level crossing was created. 

The second issue was a little more difficult and costly as the line needed to span the lower and more swampy land of the Gorrell flood plain. The chosen route took the track eastward for a short distance before curving south towards Canterbury. This arc meant that it shadowed the higher ground but the line still needed the services of an embankment to keep it above any floodwater and ease the sharp incline posed by the hills to the south. 

The embankment kept the track out of the marshy ground but it also provided a barrier to water draining from the hills to the east. Remember that Tankerton didn't exist at that time and so there was no man-made drainage system to hide it all below concrete roads! At times, surface water would must have flowed along ditches to join the Gorrell Stream and this had to be catered for. As Garth Wyver pointed out in our Visitors Book, at least one culvert was used to allow a ditch to pass under the line. This was located between the present day Station and Clare Roads.

First of the Bridges....

The third problem arose when the line met Church Road to the south. With the track raised on that embankment, a level crossing was not an option. The only solution was a bridge and the cross section below shows the set up.... 

The bridge was a wholly brick construction and catered for the limited requirements of the day. It was low, narrow and quirky. The quirkiness stemmed from the fact that it wasn't a straightforward arch. It was a twisted arch  which coped adequately with horse drawn vehicles but was destined to cause traffic problems as technology progressed! 

The Old Bridge in the 1960s shortly before its
 demolition. Photo kindly supplied by Jock Harnett

In effect, its architects had unwittingly given it an in-built obsolescence that would later be used by officialdom to justify its demolition. The bridge also suffered other problems as Terry Phillips remarks....

The town claimed it as the "Oldest Railway Bridge in the World" and, eventually, celebrated its existence by renaming Church Road as Old Bridge Road. Was the claim correct? Well.... before adjudicating, take a look at Terry Phillips' explanation below...

So, if you want to impress visitors by telling someone that you live in the town that had the oldest railway bridge in the world, first define "railway" to suit your purpose... because views vary! You could also refer them to the Guinness Book of Records. Brian tells me that the relevant entry describes the line as 'First Regular Steam Passenger and Freight Railway in the World'.... but adds that it would be better expressed as "steam hauled" rather than just"steam". 

Irrespective of the bridge's faults and the debates over its pedigree, there is no doubting that  it was an attractive rural structure that became a piece of local folklore.

The All Saints Incline

After crossing the old bridge, the line met the rising ground of the All Saints incline. The embankment started to lessen in height until it levelled out altogether close to the present day site of Ivy House Road. Shortly after that, another piece of engineering was required in the form of a shallow cutting that clipped the top of the hill and allowed the track to ease its way onto the flat section of land at South Street. 

Mode of Operation

Whilst the C&WR gains much of its reputation and esteem from its role in the vanguard of railway development, it's pioneer status actually presented it with many difficulties in the immediate aftermath of its creation.  

At the heart of the  problem was the fact that it was originally planned as a horse drawn tramway.... and not as a railway running steam locomotives. Thus, it followed a very direct route to Canterbury... but not one that was necessarily the most suitable for a steam railway. Furthermore, whilst it utilised banks and cuttings, it did so on a limited basis and never achieved the degree of levelling that later railways would employ. Quite sharp inclines remained. 

By the time the line was actually implemented, plans had changed and new technology was employed on the inclines. This took the form of static steam-powered winches that hauled wagons and carriages up the slopes by means of single rope (later a wire). The rope ran over pulleys to keep it above the ground and sleepers. For the northern most section of the line (from the harbour to Bogs Hole valley), even more advanced (but even more experimental) technology was used in the form of a locomotive - the famous "Invicta".

Our stretch of track is particularly interesting because, at various stages, it used all three forms of 'technology'. As part of that northern section of track, it was served by the locomotive for a short period. However, Invicta eventually failed to cope with the Church Street incline and increasing loads.  As a result, it was restricted to a short length of track between South Street and Clowes Wood.

After Invicta's removal, carriages were hauled up from the harbour by horses before a static steam winch was installed near All Saints church. However, by the mid 19th century, technology had advanced to the point at which the entire line could be operated by newer locomotives.   

The Most Interesting Section

Much of the harbour to All Saints section of track is relatively mundane. However, the short section surrounding the Church Road bridge is one of the most fascinating elements of the entire line. This is because it was subjected to so many changes in the decades that followed and many of those changes reflected what was going on both in Whitstable and the wider world. They also reflected very different eras of railway and engineering history.

So, from here on, we will focus on a little on that strip of track even though it is little more than a few hundred yards in length. Along the way, we will develop our simple cross-section from this starting point...... 

1860s: Another Line... Another Bridge!

In 1860, Whitstable gained another railway when the eventually named London, Chatham & Dover Railway Company constructed a branch line from Faversham to the Isle of Thanet.  

Arrival of the East-to-West London-Thanet Line

In passing, it's worth noting that the LC&DR track also clung to the natural contours and avoided the low lying areas of the town! 

The London-Thanet service was a little different from the local C&WR which by now was owned by the South Eastern Railway Co. It provided a major link to both  the Medway towns and the capital..... and it was certainly NOT just "point to point"! In fact, it was a substantial move towards a countrywide rail network - placing greater emphasis on passenger traffic and the world at large. Not surprisingly therefore, its station was built in the heart of urban Whitstable - on a railway bridge that traversed Oxford Street. The new railway became our route to the wider world and it remains our mainline to this day. 

There was no immediate attempt to link the two lines but some negotiation was necessary between the two railway companies on the subjects of access and engineering. The new line met the Canterbury & Whitstable track just a few yards north of Old Bridge Road and the C&WR embankment was blocking the west-east route to Thanet. The outcome was a new bridge that allowed the LC&D track to burrow under the C&WR. This was quite different from the nearby road bridge of 1830. It was of metal construction, mounted on brick abutments. 

Our C&WR cross section now looked like this.....

Late 19th & Early 20th Century....

On the face of it, our stretch of track now settled into a few decades relative of stability and, by the late 19th century, it was set amidst the "golden age" of rail travel. People wanted to go places at speed and, whilst road transport was emerging on a local basis, we still awaited trunk roads and the mass produced private motor vehicle. An integrated rail network was the holy grail. 

Locally, some of the posturing was coming from our neighbours along the coast and grandiose schemes were set in motion... only to be discarded as Brian Smith and Terry Phillips explain..... 

The land purchase is interesting because it highlights the fact that  much of the terrain south of the London-Thanet Line was open countryside at that time and relatively easy to acquire. The loop line land included areas now occupied by All Saints Close (known in the mid 19th century as "Coppins" and, in the 1950s as "London's Fields") and Millstream Close. However, whilst roads such as Thurston Park and Douglas Avenue appeared further west in the ensuing decades, the railway-owned fields escaped development until the 1960s/1970s. In the meantime, they were never fully returned to agriculture. Hay was collected from them once a year but, for the most part, they were treated as public open spaces - frequented by children and the occasional visiting funfair or circus. 

How different would it have been if the loop line purchase had never taken place? We could also pose the question of what the area would have been like today if the loop line had been built.... with an embankment stretching from All Saints Church to the mainline near Stream Walk. I suspect our town map would have looked very different today .

(Note: The eventual construction of All Saints Close and Millstream Close may have had another railway connection. Both followed in the wake of the electrification of the London-Thanet mainline track and government initiatives to lure people into a life of commuting in order to relieve pressure on inner city London These policies also led to building developments further afield - such as the South Tankerton Estate, Sherwood Estate and Summerfield Avenue).  

To 1915... The Interchange Phase

Herne Bay may have missed out in 1902 but it did make some gains a few years later as the amalgamated railway company continued to seek ways of integrating the C&WR into its network. The end result was less ambitious and it may have been partly prompted by other developments around Whitstable.

Whitstable was expanding and, during the 1890s, the extensive lands of the Tankerton Estate were mapped out for development on the elevated ground to the east. Builders were also starting to eye up the old flood plain of the Gorrell Stream..... a move that would eventually fill the gap between Whitstable and the new suburb of Tankerton. Whilst Oxford Street, High Street and Harbour Street  would remain the commercial/community hub, the town's centre of gravity was shifting eastwards. There was a need for a re-think.

The outcome was a new Whitstable station on the main London-Thanet line. This was located on the site of our current day station with a London bound platform in Old Bridge Road and a Thanet bound platform in a developing Railway Avenue. It was opened on 1st January 1915. (Note: The cramped old mainline station in Oxford Street was closed but its buildings survive to this day in the brick arches beneath the rail track. For a long time, it served as the local Labour Club but it is now a popular restaurant appropriately called "The Whistlestop"). 

From its more easterly location, the new station could conveniently serve both Whitstable and Tankerton. Moreover, as its platforms would extend virtually to the embankment of the C&WR line, it opened the way for some interworking between the two lines. This "interworking" took the form of a new station on the C&WR (called "Tankerton Halt") with steps and pathway linking to the Thanet-bound (ie "down") platform of the new "Whitstable" station. The Halt actually opened on 1 July 1914 - 6 months before construction of the mainline station was completed.

With all these changes, our C&WR cross section was becoming ever more complicated. It looked something like this....

I doubt that too much money was spent on the Tankerton Halt structure. It was very much a utilitarian creation.... mounted on banking, supported on stilts and boasting a waiting room that was little more than an oblong shelter.

It is worth noting that Tankerton Halt was not the only addition to the C&WR around this time. In fact, the railway company owners appeared to be moving away from the line's 'point to point' origins and starting to plug local communities into the network. Apart from Tankerton Halt, two other intermediate stations were constructed - Tyler Hill (in 1908) and South Street (1911). The experiment lasted just 16 years before the line discontinued its passenger services altogether. From 1930, it operated solely as a freight line.

1915-1921 - Another Bridge?

In reality, things may may have been even more complex than our cross section (above) can conveniently show... because we now suspect that there was yet another bridge. This would have been a pedestrian bridge and I use the word "suspect" because we have yet to find clear references to it in any literature. Our enquiries are continuing.

So, where did the "extra" bridge idea come from? Well, it stems from a 1921 family photo that we will look at in full in a moment. For the moment, let's study an enlarged extract.....

The picture shows the steps leading down from Tankerton Halt to the Thanet Bound platform of the mainline station. To the right, we can just about see the bridge that carried the C&WR track over the mainline.... but, it is partially obscured by what seems to be a narrow, arched pedestrian bridge.

Where did the footbridge lead to? Logically, one would guess that it linked to the London-Bound platform of the mainline station. However, to date, all evidence refutes that conclusion and we now feel that it bypassed the mainline altogether and provided direct access to the public footpath in Old Bridge Road. This makes it quite a significant structure because it becomes a direct and quite separate "main entrance" to Tankerton Halt station. If our musings are correct, the scene would have looked a bit like like this.... 

.

Notice that the Whitstable mainline station also provided a pedestrian bridge and it remains in use to this day. Why then, would another pedestrian bridge be needed alongside Tankerton Halt? 

To answer that, we need to consider how the town was developing. Tankerton was fast becoming a major suburb of Whitstable and Old Bridge Road remained the only convenient route to the stations from the east. Without a Tankerton Halt pedestrian bridge, Tankerton residents would have had quite a trek to reach the C&WR platform. In fact, they would have had to walk down Old Bridge Road, cross the footbridge of the mainline station, proceed through the station booking hall, march back along the platform, mount the steps and traverse the ramp. This would have added a quarter of a mile to their jaunt!  

When would the Tankerton Halt footbridge have been added to the scene? We are not yet certain.... but, given its significance, it is likely to have been constructed in 1914 at the same time as the platform. 

If anyone can confirm or refute our pedestrian bridge theories, we would love to hear from them! It's a fascinating piece of history because it helps to explain exactly how the station operated and tells us a lot about the way our town was developing around the railway lines. 

1920s

By the 1920s, things were really moving on at quite a pace in Whitstable. To the east of the C&WR track, the lands of the Tankerton Estate were now becoming a desirable residential area and the mainline was providing an important link to London for its inhabitants. 

To the west, roads such as Railway Avenue, Station Road and Westmeads Road were being populated on the old flood plain - and this included the first council housing estate in the country which arrived in 1921. My grandparents became one of the first occupants of those new council houses.... at No 36 Railway Avenue. This property was almost wedged in the angle between the CW&R line and the northern platform of the London-Thanet mainline station. Thus, my family photo box contains a few interesting photos!

The first shows my grandmother, great grandmother and grandfather in the rear garden. The platform of the London-Thanet line is out of shot to the right but Tankerton Halt is clearly visible on the C&WR embankment in the background....

The garden looks "new" and uncultivated and I would guess that it was taken shortly after they moved in around 1921. If we enlarge an extract, we get a more detailed view of the halt station....

The steps on the right lead down to the coastbound (down) platform of the London-Thanet line. The "Heath Robinson" structure on the right appears to be our "phantom" pedestrian bridge leading to Old Bridge Road. Behind that, is the austere main bridge carrying the C&WR track over the mainline.

The photo below shows my mother in the gap between nos 36 and 38 Railway Avenue. It was taken looking NE towards Tankerton some time around 1925/26 and the fence marks the line of the Railway Avenue roadway. At that time, the road was truncated by the railway embankment and ended as a cul-de-sac....

In the distance, you can just make out the northern end of the Tankerton Halt platform - located between Clare Road and Station Road.

Brian Smith has raised an interesting question about this photo as it shows the platform ending in a sloping ramp. Normally such slopes were a feature of stations that had more than one platform as they allowed barrows to be wheeled between them. However,  Tankerton Halt only ever had one platform.

1930-1935... and More Issues!   

In clinging to the foothills of the town's high ground, the old railway virtually marked the boundary between expanding Whitstable and emerging Tankerton. However, its substantial embankment was now an inconvenient barrier to east-west communications at a time  when motor vehicles were starting to appear in significant numbers. 

As we have seen from our map, there were only two east-west roads in urban Whitstable - Harbour Street (along the coastal strip) and Old Bridge Road (skirting the former marshland of the Gorrell flood plain to the south). To make matters worse, Old Bridge Road  was restricted by that narrow, low and quirky brick bridge inherited from the days of 1830.

The answer to the problem centred on two cul-de-sacs that had already aligned themselves on either side of the C&WR. They were Teynham Road and Railway Avenue. All that was needed was a hole in the embankment to link them. This fairly 'obvious' idea heralded the arrival of the Teynham Hill bridge and subway.... and the construction work makes our cross section a great deal more complicated.... 

The new road and subway didn't just provide a general east-west road link. It enabled Tankerton folk direct access to the 'coastbound' side of  London-Thanet line. By now, a fenced pathway linked the subway to the eastern end of the platform of the mainline station. 

During the 1930s, the mainline would fast establish Whitstable (and particularly Tankerton) as a commuter town for London. This continued well into the 1970s and 1980s before poor services led to a gradual decline in commuter traffic. Although now unused, the fenced path still exists amongst the undergrowth.

If you think about it, the subway and bridge were substantial pieces of engineering. The bridge itself  was a heavy metal construction mounted on concrete abutments and the road level had to be lowered several feet. Some of my family photos provide evidence of the construction work. The one below shows the widening and surfacing of Railway Avenue close to the junction with Station Road.....

Part of my grandparents front garden was commandeered for the project but the subway railings did at least give the family a new garden seat! I am told that my mum is the girl sitting astride the new subway railings and it is possible that the boy is Tom Dunn who lived nearby.

The postcard below shows my mother (on the right) walking under the new bridge while workmen were putting the finishing touches to the tarmac in Teynham Road....

I have seen a reference to the subway opening in 1935. My family photos below show the official ceremony... almost outside my grandparents house.....

My old mum told me an amusing story about all this. The Roller was supposed to be the first 'vehicle' to pass through the subway.... but it wasn't. Shortly before the dignitaries made their way up the road, a local man sailed down the hill on a bike or in an invalid carriage. It didn't go down well!

Mind you, if we analyse the photos in a little more detail, we might find that those officials had little reason to be aloof ! Let's start with the postcard of the bridge. The Tankerton Halt platform can be seen on the right of the photo. It traversed the bridge and ended a short distance to the north - behind the houses in Station Road. Unremarkable? Yes.... but only if you overlook the fact the C&WR ceased to carry passengers 5 years earlier (in 1930) and there was seemingly no need for a lengthy Tankerton Halt platform anymore! 

In fact, by the time that Rolls Royce crawled under the bridge, the platform may not have existed at all. Evidence uncovered by Brian Smith suggests that all the railway line's halts (Tankerton, South Street and Tyler Hill) were removed in the four years that followed the cessation of passenger services!

Why would the local authority build a bridge to accommodate an unnecessary platform? Well, it might have been at the insistence of the railway company... who, presumably, weren't meeting the cost of  the bridge! If so, it wouldn't be the first example of the railway playing "hard to please" with a local authority. If you read our last Chat Column, you will know that the KCC had to provide an extra wide bridge to carry the Coastal Road (ie Old Thanet Way) over the line out at South Street  in 1935 .... in case an extra track was needed for a railway that was in the initial phases of terminal  decline! The bridge also had to have a clearance of 17 ft... despite the fact that Tyler Hill Tunnel to the south was just 12 ft high and would prevent any high cargo from making it to Canterbury!  

However, there may have been another reason for the Teynham Hill bridge poser.... and it may be reflected in the length of time taken to accomplish the overall construction work. Recently, both Brian Smith and Terry Phillips have suggested that the Teynham Road bridge may have been built first and that the subway arrived a little later. Brian has suggested that this may have come about as a result of delays in purchasing some of the land.

My family photos suggest that it may have been even more complicated than that. In the photo of the steamroller working on the Railway Avenue tarmac, my mother would appear to be around 10-12 years old. As she was born in 1919,the shot appears to have been taken around 1929-1931.... 4-6 years before the subway was opened. Is it possible that BOTH the bridge and a PART of the subway were built some years before completion of the overall project. If so, the planning (and even some of the construction work) may have taken place in the1920s.... when Tankerton Halt Station was still in use by passengers. 

Of course, there is one other possibility....ie that Teynham Road subway was opened much earlier than 1935.

If anyone can throw some light on it all... let us know!

1952 & 1953....

Having lost its passenger services in 1930, the C&WR lost its working existence altogether on 29 November 1952. However, it did re-open briefly from 5 February to 28 February 1953 to bring much needed aid to the town in the wake of the massive sea flood that occurred on the night of 31 January/1 February. 

The emergency use of the line is interesting. It arose because the banks of the main London-Thanet line had been severed by floodwater out at Seasalter. The banks of the C&WR were also hit by the flood in the area of Gorrell flood plain but they appear to have stood firm despite their 1830 origins. 

Shortly after this (possibly in late 1953), the rails were removed.

Photo by Gordon Phillips showing the rails being removed from the Old Bridge circa 1953
Picture kindly made available to Simply Whitstable by Terry Phillips

We were now left with a cross section that looked like this.. 

.... but without trains and tracks.

A History Without Trains

It's interesting that so many accounts of the C&WR history stop in 1953.... and start again with the line as it is today! One can understand that but, in truth, the line actually continued to create history and many memories for local people.... albeit in a more gentle and sedate way. It is this period, arguably as much as any other, that endeared the line to the people of Whitstable.

Amongst the first explorers of the defunct line were children! In urban Whitstable, much of the track was guarded by spiked metal railings. At various points, the spikes where hammered sideways to provide makeshift styles.... whilst, in other places, the bars were bent lower down to provide gaps through which children could squeeze. Another method of access was achieved by loosening a spike so that it could be removed and replaced as a secret gateway!

Each gang of local children populated a different section of the embankment and their encampments normally surrounded a favourite "climbable" tree. These camps bore the tell tale signs of young people - with a rope dangling from a branch enabling ragamuffins to swing out over the sloping embankment. Often, the rope would have an old car tyre tied to the bottom.

It was all very tribal. My particular tribe occupied the bank to the rear of Station Road at the junction with Railway Avenue and our territory stretched across the three bridges to London's Fields. We knew every bush, every track and, indeed, every inch of our domain.

The track also became a pedestrian (and cycle) highway for both ragamuffins and families. Northward, it provided a direct route to the beach. To the south it, provided a safe and pleasant walk to the stream at Convicts Wood, the springtime carpets of bluebells and primroses at Clowes Wood, the mysteries of Tyler Hill tunnel and ultimately the city of Canterbury. 

The line actually allowed us into areas that we had never been able to access before!

Proposals and Rumours

During those years, suggestions and rumours circulated the town regarding the future of the stretch of the line from the harbour to All Saints Church. One suggested that the track could become an arterial road linking the harbour with the Coastal Road (now  the Old Thanet Way). This would enable heavy goods vehicles to bypass the narrow urban roads of the town centre and provide access to any new developments that might take place on the acres of waste ground released from the railway sidings and railway workings at Tower Parade. The new road would have a short spur linking it to Old Bridge Road and providing access to the railway station. (Interestingly, such a spur would have been been a roadway implementation of the old loop line proposed by the railway company back in 1899!).

Despite all the logical arguments, the arterial road idea overlooked the fact that the track and its bridges were built for a single track railway and were too narrow to carry a two lane arterial road. Costs would have been substantial and, with the harbour in some decline, the road's viability would depend in part on what the local authority decided to build on those derelict railway lands surrounding the harbour.

Perhaps, the issue cropped up too soon in the town's history. Remember that the line closed for the last time in 1953.... shortly after the major sea flood and just eight years after World War II. The town was still recovering and it was governed by the old Whitstable Urban District Council - a small and relatively cash-strapped authority. There was insufficient support for grandiose schemes and new developments around the harbour were piecemeal. New buildings on the old railway sidings (between the harbour and Beach Walk) included a bowling alley and petrol station. Building on the lands to the south of Tower Parade included a Youth Centre and the Whitstable Medical Centre. None of these initiatives needed or warranted the arterial road and, in any event, the Youth Centre and Health Centre buildings actually obliterated the key section of track linking the line with the harbour.

Another rumour suggested that a link road could be built between Church Street (at the current day entrance to Ivy Bridge Road) and Old Bridge Road. This would provide access the station with traffic bypassing both the sharp bend in Church Street (at Sampers Farm) and the old brick railway bridge in Old Bridge Road. Interestingly, such a scheme might just have saved the old bridge from  demolition!

Although the grand ideas were never implemented, they did, perhaps, leave some marks on the town landscape. Houses built along Old Bridge Road (on London's Field opposite the mainline platform) did not extend fully  to the C&WR embankment. A curious triangle of greenery was left - probably to accommodate any future link road. See the 2008 photo below....

Photo by Peter Dalrymple © Peter Dalrymple

Dismantling

With no overall plan for the line, the rail lands and track were subjected to a further series of disparate and uncoordinated developments. 

Amidst considerable anger and protest, the Old Bridge in Old Bridge Road was demolished in 1969.  In the years that followed, the metal span was removed from the Teynham Road Bridge and both the span and southern abutment were removed from the bridge over the main London-Thanet rail line. The latter demolition also involved the removal of the short stretch of embankment between Old Bridge Road and the mainline track. In 2008, our cross section looks like this....

Peter Dalrymple's photo below shows part of the cross section.....

Photo by Peter Dalrymple © Peter Dalrymple

The main reason for the removal of the lovely old red brick bridge in Old Bridge Road bridge was that it was a hazard to modern traffic. Its limited width restricted the road to single line traffic and prevented the creation of a pedestrian path. Its low arch imposed severe height restrictions and its twisted shape created a blind spot. Over the years, there were a number of motor accidents... which could be heard from our house in Railway Avenue!

On top of this, all three bridges gave rise to financial and safety issues. The bridges had to be be inspected regularly and maintained in a reasonable state of repair despite the fact that they no longer served a practical function. Furthermore, they had become dangerous playgrounds for children. Occasionally, youngsters took to dropping stones onto both road and rail traffic and the Teynham Road bridge had become a spectacular climbing frame with a substantial drop onto spiked railings. There were some unfortunate accidents.

Further dismantling of the line has since occurred at the northern end of the track in order to accommodate The Oysters sheltered accommodation building and housing/industrial developments. Essentially, the track and embankment has disappeared as far south as the junction of Station Rd/Diamond Road. 

The Track Today.....

In 2008, the status of the track can be summarised as follows....

Sections shown on the map are described and illustrated below...

Section 1: Harbour St to Diamond Road

Little or no evidence of the C&WR now remains on the harbour quays. Furthermore, much of the northern section of the line has been redeveloped to make way for the Whitstable Health Centre, Whitstable Youth Centre, the Oysters sheltered accommodation building and various commercial/residential developments bordering Station Road. This can be seen in Peter Dalrymple's aerial photo below. The dotted line marks the route of the old line and, as you can see, there is no evidence of the track until the embankment appears on the right edge of the picture.. 

Photo kindly supplied by Peter Dalrymple © Peter Dalrymple

Or is there? In fact, garden of the Oysters building contains a large grass hump. Is this landscaping... or a small section of the odl embankment. We need to find out! 

Sections 2a and 2b: Harbour Street to Diamond Road

Southward from the junction of Station and Diamond Roads, the track remains largely intact as far as Teynham Hill. However, it is somewhat overgrown and a small section is missing along the line of a pathway between between Diamond Road and Clare Road. 

I believe this missing 'piece' was in the vicinity of the old culvert under the railway. I also suspect that the bank was carved away when the old Whitstable Urban District Council renovated a sizeable section of the town's drainage system during the 1960s. The work centred on the Gorrell flood plain and was known as the "Gorrell Drainage Scheme".

Sections 3a and 3b: The Teynham Road Subway

Whilst the metal span has been removed from the Teynham Hill Bridge, the subway and both of the original concrete abutments are still in evidence.... 

Section 3c: Bridge Over Mainline

Only the northern abutment remains of the bridge over the mainline. The metal span and southern abutment have been removed along with the short stretch of embankment that linked it to the old road bridge over Old Bridge Road.....

Photos kindly supplied by Peter Dalrymple © Peter Dalrymple 

Photo by Dave Taylor

Sections 4: All Saints Incline - Old Bridge Rd to Ivy House Rd

No evidence remains of the lovely red brick bridge over Old Bridge Road but its location is marked in a few ways. The most significant is the presence of the railway embankment on the south side of the road. There are also two adjacent street signs - one for Bridge Approach (the eastern section of the highway) and one for Old Bridge Road (the western section). 

Photo by Dave Taylor

The southern embankment remains in tact although it is somewhat overgrown.... 

The eastern side of the embankment
Photo kindly supplied by Peter Dalrymple © Peter Dalrymple

The old rail track remains on top of the embankment
Photo kindly supplied by Peter Dalrymple © Peter Dalrymple

Section 4b: Church Street Incline - Southward from Ivy House Road

The overgrown section (described above) stretches to the level ground close to Ivy House Road. At this point, the line enters a cutting which takes it past All Saints Church cemetery. Here, there is good news because the track has been paved and serves as part of the Crab & Winkle cycle path to Canterbury. The paved section extends to the old level crossing at South Street.

Photo kindly supplied by Peter Dalrymple © Peter Dalrymple

The Future?...

So, what of the future? Well, here we would urge our readers to visit the web site of the Crab & Winkle Line Trust who are committed to promoting the history of the line and reclaiming the path as a public access link between Canterbury and Whitstable. 

It is an ambitious project that could ultimately return us to the days of the1950s when the disused track provided so many memories for us all. However, a number of major problems need to be overcome and quite a few surround the piece of line that we have discussed in this article.

Technically, the biggest issue surrounds the yawning chasms left in the track following the removal of the three bridges. The proposed solution employs a "two bridge" approach. The first bridge would be a metal span across Teynham Hill subway - mounted on the original concrete abutments. The second would be a cable-stayed bridge that would span the much wider gap left by the demolition of the other two bridges and intervening embankment. This is shown on our cross section....

For the latest information on this scheme and a whole heap of history and old photos, visit the trust web site at....

The web site also explains how you can help with the work of the Trust.

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