Running through the heart of West Dorset is the route of the branch line that used to run between Maiden Newton and
Bridport. I have a fascination for this line and I cannot really explain why, unless it is
simply to do with the
beauty of the countryside and
nostalgia for a gentler age. Like so many disused railway lines, this one is at times clearly an old railway, complete with bridges, station platforms, and embankments. There are many places however where nature has softened mans industry to such an extend that the thought of a railway line ever being there seems quite fanciful.
On this hot sunny August day we turned our backs on the beach and headed instead for
Witherstone cutting, now a nature reserve but once an infamous length of the
Bridport railway. Infamous because of its very steep gradient that caused more than one set of locomotive wheels to slip. In fact, the very last steam train to run on this line, in January 1967, failed to make it up this gradient and had to be rescued by a diesel.
On the day of our walk, the air was full of the soft sounds of summer and there was a hot drowsy magic in the air. Around us flew many butterflies-a welcome site after such a poor year for them. I was delighted when I spotted a small heath. In the past I have been dismissive of these small brown butterflies but today it looked lovely.
These thistles were most striking and the bees loved them.
At the end of the walk we left the old trackbed and passed through on old gateway. The gate was gone but the cast iron posts remain. This was part of the old railway fence and is one of the few reminders of this rural branch line.
Running through the heart of West Dorset is the route of the branch line that used to run between Maiden Newton and Bridport. I have a fascination for this line and I cannot really explain why, unless it is simply to do with the beauty of the countryside and nostalgia for a gentler age. Like so many disused railway lines, this one is at times clearly an old railway, complete with bridges, station platforms, and embankments. There are many places however where nature has softened mans industry to such an extend that the thought of a railway line ever being there seems quite fanciful.
On this hot sunny August day we turned our backs on the beach and headed instead for Witherstone cutting, now a nature reserve but once an infamous length of the Bridport railway. Infamous because of its very steep gradient that caused more than one set of locomotive wheels to slip. In fact, the very last steam train to run on this line, in January 1967, failed to make it up this gradient and had to be rescued by a diesel.
On the day of our walk, the air was full of the soft sounds of summer and there was a hot drowsy magic in the air. Around us flew many butterflies-a welcome site after such a poor year for them. I was delighted when I spotted a small heath. In the past I have been dismissive of these small brown butterflies but today it looked lovely.
These thistles were most striking and the bees loved them.
At the end of the walk we left the old trackbed and passed through on old gateway. The gate was gone but the cast iron posts remain. This was part of the old railway fence and is one of the few reminders of this rural branch line.
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