August 2008

It's easy to take for granted the awesome endeavours of 19th Century railway pioneers which thread us through, round or over the nation's natural barriers. It was an age of speculative adventure, built on innovation, will power and elbow grease.

But many magnificent creations were abandoned during the industrial vandalism of the Fifties and Sixties. Forgotten Relics of an Enterprising Age celebrates some of them.

Editor's notes

During June, Philip Lindhurst kindly sent us his vast library of photographs, a great many of which capture parts of our former network. For the next few months, each of our updates will include a gallery of Philip's pictures, starting off with Braughing Station in Hertfordshire.

Calendar?

We are thinking about printing a Forgotten Relics calendar for 2009. Click on the mini calendar for more details and let us know what you think.
New this month
John O'Gaunt Viaduct
Despite its 14 arches rising to a height of around 60 feet, John O'Gaunt's impressive viaduct today looks rather sorry for itself.
Barnsdale Tunnel
Unusually, Barnsdale's 1,226-yard tunnel is still completely open at both ends as a result of intervention by locals.
as well as...
Two Tunnels project
After the debacle of Thermae Bath Spa, the city can redeem itself by transforming the old S&D trackbed into a spectacular cycle path.
Braughing Station
Following its closure, Braughing Station went into declined before the son and grandson of the last stationmaster transformed it.
Scotswood
bridge
This bridge is the fourth rail crossing of the Tyne at Scotswood. The first one succumbed to a locomotive's hot ashes.

You can reach pages about these relics by clicking on their name.

Across the site, new content is identified by a symbol whilst updated pages have a .
Main site areas
The site has stories about some of our more notable railway relics, with a hike through their history and reminiscences from those who worked there. You'll also find galleries showing dozens of bridges, viaducts, tunnels, earthworks, stations and junctions.
News stories
Recent online coverage of our disused network.
Bridges & viaducts
Great structures spanning a gap.
Tunnels & earthworks
Holes blasted through hills.
Stations & junctions
Destinations torn from the timetable.

All the site areas are available via links in the tab bar and right hand column.

We'll add more relics over the coming months. We hope you enjoy your visit and come back to see more Forgotten Relics soon.
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Forgotten Relics is part of the UK & Ireland Railway Webring. To visit other sites with related content, click on the links below.