One answer might be that the whole scheme took many years to complete. In other words, it was all designed in the 1920s when the C&WR still served passengers and the WUDC didn't think it was worth changing the plans. Another similar theory revolves around the assumption that the bridge was built first. Did it arrive in the late 1920s and was the subway built much later (ie in the mid-1930s)? 

However, even with these explanations, there are curious problems. The whole scheme would have taken years to complete. So, where are the newspaper reports of the protracted work. Where are the photos of the gradual development? In particular, where are the photos of a completed bridge with no subway?

Even more curious is the fact that Brian Smith has uncovered evidence that might yet suggest that all the line's "halt" stations had been removed by 1935!

Yes, a mystery indeed, but remember - there were 3 bridges: The Old Bridge, the Teynham Rd bridge and the bridge over the London-Ramsgate line. 

Remember too that the current Whitstable station platforms were only extended towards the old line in 1959 to accommodate the longer 12-coach electric trains. Before that, there was a little waiting room on the up (London-bound) platform with a coal fire in winter and a short tarmac ramp up to it from Old Bridge Rd (roughly opposite "Coppins") with lockable iron gates.

Could it be that what we can see in the photo is a continuation of the C&W Tankerton Halt platform (ie was it built over Teynham Rd AND the Ramsgate line)a nd that the only path down from it was on the Teynham Rd side?  Was there any room for a path or flight of steps down to the Old Bridge Rd side?

In 1967 I researched the microfiche and other documents held in the Beaney Institute, Canterbury for the history of the C&W.  I've no recollection of the plans for the layout of the halts on the line.
Does anyone remember the remains of a more solid structure (maybe another platform?) a little south of the Old Bridge and to the west side of the track bed?  
 

Barry Freeman
Shaftesbury
Dorset

Thanks, Barry.

I think it very unlikely that the Tankerton Halt platform extended across the London-Thanet line. If you look to the right of my great grandmothers head, you can just about make out what I believe is the sloping end to the platform behind the ramp leading down to the steps. 

The steps provided access to a path that linked to the Ramsgate-bound platform of the mainline station. That path existed before the mainline platform extensions were added and it was retained after the extension work.

If you look at the "possible footbridge" structure, you can see quite a gap between it and the main bridge over the London-Thanet line. It is also slightly arched and set at a slightly lower level than the platform of Tankerton Halt. 

If it was merely part of the platform, there would be no gap and one would expect it to be to be a level structure. 

The other very important consideration here is that, without a footbridge to Old Bridge Road, Tankerton Halt would have been very difficult to reach from Tankerton. There was no Teynham Road bridge when the Halt was opened in 1915 and there would have been little point in a path to Railway Avenue as the area was simply undeveloped marshland. 

In fact some kind of direct link to Old Bridge Road would have been essential if the Halt station was to function properly. 

I have examined other family photos and there was sufficient embankment on the C&WR to allow steps from a footbridge to Old Bridge Road. However, it would have been more difficult to provide steps leading directly to the London-bound platform as the abutment of the bridge over the mainline had a very angled 'wing' on its west side.

I know the ramp and waiting room that you have mentioned. However, they came some time later. Terry Phillips has referred me to photos that show the mainline station in the early 1920s as viewed from the C&WR. Neither structure appears in those photos. Terry has also mused over the possibility that those photos were taken from the mystery footbridge.

It all adds up to that weird structure being a footbridge.... but can we find a senior Native to confirm it!

Your comment about the remains of a structure just south of  Old Bridge Road raises some fascinating questions. I don't know of such a structure but it makes me wonder why the C&WR didn't build Tankerton Halt there. If it had done so, there would have been no need for footbridges or ramps. Passengers could merely have crossed Old Bridge Road to reach the mainline.

One answer is that the railway company wanted a much more integrated connection between the two stations and considered a link to the mainline's Thanet-bound platform as crucial to their plans. Another possibility is that they may have been aware of local authority proposals to develop Railway Avenue and the surrounding area. There may even have been talk of a future Teynham Road bridge and subway.

Of course, there is a third possibility.... ie some of those involved didn't really know what they were doing! The more I learn about the C&WR, the more I suspect that its owners were driven by some pretty bizarre  "ideals" rather than real business acumen. That statement may shock a few people and cause me to cop a bit of criticism!!! However it's worth considering some of the weird developments...

1. In 1930, they talked the KCC into building a massive bridge over the line at South Street in order to accommodate the new Coastal Road (now known as the Old Thanet Way).... despite the fact that the line was already in decline, about to discontinue its passenger services and had a much lower height restriction imposed by the Tyler Hill tunnel to the south
    
2. They bought a vast amount of land and built a signal box in order to provide a branch line linking the C&WR to the London-Thanet railway.... and it never happened.
    
3. In the 1920s/1930s, they appear to have talked the local council into building a Teynham Road bridge capable of supporting Tankerton Halt platform. However, by the time Teynham Hill subway was opened, passenger services had ceased and the halt was defunct.
    
4. They built intermediate stations on the C&WR at a time when buses were beginning to take over local traffic. The experiment lasted just a few years before passenger services ceased.

It will be interesting to see what other curiosities turn up as we continue to discuss it all.

Oh for a time machine!  What memories are locked inside the brains of your ancestors in that photograph.

Yes, having looked through a magnifying glass, what I can see is that the footbridge (and you've now convinced me it is!) is separate from the rail bridge over the mainline. That does seem an excessive expense, given that they could have incorporated it in the rail bridge. 

I agree it does have a slight rise too.  The rail bridge (behind it) is obviously on the same track level as the line hidden by the Halt.  Given that the platform on the west side (closest the camera) ends by sloping down to the top of the stairs leading down to the platform for Ramsgate trains, perhaps the far (east) platform also ends in a slope?

But wait!  Wasn't this a single track line at this point?  Was there a need for a platform on the east side (although the excellent diagram of the bridge girders suggests there was!  Could there have been platforms either side of the single track line, offering passengers a choice?

From memory, the line was mainly single track with very few passing points (like Clowes Wood) - employing some of the very first points employed on a passenger railway.
 

Barry Freeman
Shaftesbury
Dorset

Thanks, Barry. The line was single track in that locality and, as far as I know, Tankerton Halt had only one platform - on the west side. The cross section of the Teynham Hill bridge gives the impression that there may have been an "east side" platform as it had a ledge and a high barrier. I am not sure why it was built that way. 

My family photo can be misleading at first glance and I must admit that I was a bit confused at one time. However, the gentle ramp leading from the station to the steps is a separate structure from the Halt platform and it is located a few feet west of the platform (as shown on the map). Thus the steeper slope that you can see alongside my great grandmother's head is the end of the sole platform and not a second platform. I hope that makes sense.