The Teignmouth Sea Wall &
The Exe Estuary
Roger Salter
The Exe Estuary
Roger Salter
The 66151 and 66155 with the RHTT 350N 0850 WESTBURY-ST.BLAZEY which is possibly the first of the season here approaching Teignmouth Copyright Roger Salter
649S 0516 ABERTHAW TARMAC-MOORSWATER TARMAC PASSES EASTDON. Copyright Roger Salter
At Cogload today
Bill Elston
Bill Elston
A visit to Cogload today 7th October 2020 produced.
Hope they are of interest. Stay safe, Regards Bill.
Hope they are of interest. Stay safe, Regards Bill.
66151 and 66155 on the RHTT running from Westbury to St Blazey. 7th October 2020. Copyright Copyright Bill Elston.
A going away shot. 66151 and 66155 on the RHTT running from Westbury to St Blazey
158956 on the 1210 Taunton to Cardiff, 7th October 2020. Copyright Bill Elston.
802020 on 1A82, 09.13 Penzance – Paddington. 7th October 2020. Copyright Bill Elston.
66415 ON 6C73 Westbury to Fairwater Yard ballast working. 7th October 2020. Copyright Bill Elston.
Many thanks Bill - Take care, stay safe.
Cornwall War Hero
Harry Billinge names a train
Roger Winnen
Harry Billinge names a train
Roger Winnen
Cornwall War Hero Harry Billinge MBE LdH VE 1925. Today at Penzance Station the Great Western Railway had a train named after him with Harry doing the full honours of the unveiling ceremony. Its the GWR commemoration of 75 years since the end of the Second World War.
Harry living in St Austell was one of the first soldiers to land on Gold Beach in the early hours of 6th June 1944 D Day. He was a sapper attached to the 44th Royal Commandos, being one of only four to survive from his unit, then going onto fight in Caen and the Falaise pocket in Normandy. Harry received the MBE in the 2020 New Years Honours list for fund raising events in the St Austell area in aid of the Normandy Memorial Trust
Harry living in St Austell was one of the first soldiers to land on Gold Beach in the early hours of 6th June 1944 D Day. He was a sapper attached to the 44th Royal Commandos, being one of only four to survive from his unit, then going onto fight in Caen and the Falaise pocket in Normandy. Harry received the MBE in the 2020 New Years Honours list for fund raising events in the St Austell area in aid of the Normandy Memorial Trust
201007a 802006 Arrives at Platform 2 at Penzance with Harry Billinge age 95 onboard from St Austell.. Copyright Roger Winnen
201007b The Great Western Railway Ceremony at Penzance where Harry Billinge and his family are seen seated before the assembled crowd. Copyright Roger Winnen
201007d The power of the Press and Media interviews Harry who was not stuck for words praising his former colleagues lost during the war and since. Copyright Roger Winnen
201007e 802006 Harry Billinge MBE LdH VE 1925-2020 awaits departure from Penzance on the delayed 10.15 to London Paddington with Harry aboard. Copyright Roger Winnen
201007f The 10.15 Departs Penzance at 10.39 for London Paddington with Harry onboard. Copyright Roger Winnen
Congratulations to Roger for getting any pictures - he was four times ushered away from the platform - well done Roger.
The Rilo Train Working between Plymouth & Exeter
Roger Salter & Roger Winnen
Roger Salter & Roger Winnen
201006f 66846 is seen at Dawlish Warren on its run from Plymouth to Exeter Riverside.. Copyright Roger Salter
201006g 66846 Skirts the River Exe on its journey to Plymouth. Copyright Roger Salter
201006a 66846 Hurries through Newton Abbot with the 11.55 Rilo Train from Exeter Riverside. Copyright Roger Winnen
201006b 66846 Stands in the through road at Plymouth Station. Driver Alan Peters enters the cab. Copyright Roger Winnen
201006c In glorious sunshine at Plymouth Station 66846 runs into platform 4 to pick up the fugro crew.. Copyright Roger Winnen
201006d Our good friend Alan Peters looks out of the cab window at Plymouth Station. Many thanks for your contribution to our Cornwall Railway Society website. Copyright Roger Winnen
201006e On the Rilo Train last run of the day 66846 is seen heading for Plymouth through Totnes. Copyright Roger Winnen
Fishy Business 1895
Penzance
David Ward
Penzance
David Ward
I saw this on my wife's Face book just now from Cornish Exiles Beyond the Tamar. Interesting. Stay Safe, Take Care and Go Well
Regards, David Ward.
Regards, David Ward.
Many thanks David.
30 years on - exploration of the North Cornwall Line.
A return ticket to Port Isaac Road.
A very welcome reflection by Phil Grant.
A Return Ticket to Port Isaac Road!
The stations of the North Cornwall Railway
My interests are in railway architecture, namely the stations that the railway company served. Therefore, along with my quest for collecting railway tickets, the seeking out of lonely stations or wayside halts has been my railway interest for over 30 odd years.
30 years ago, I set out to discover and locate the stations of the North Cornwall Railway (NCR), the LSWR’s far flung railway outpost. Staying at the fantastic National Trust holiday location of Doyden House, this was a perfect opportunity for exploration! First on the list was the romantically named Port Isaac Road. Would we be able to find it? Situated some 4 miles from the village it served, surely no locals could have used it much? The quest began, on a hot July Sunday afternoon. It took quite a time to find Port Isaac Road! If you did not know what to look for, you’d easily miss it. However, situated on a lonely cross-country road near Pendoggett, a large and impressive stone railway over bridge gave the game away. Port Isaac Road had, after a lot of searching, been found!
There stood the large station master’s house, looming high on the embankment, looking more like the ‘Bates Motel’ from that famous early 1960s film Psycho, than an LSWR station. A winding weed ridden track led up to the completely deserted station. All was pretty much intact. Both the goods shed and station was intact, they having been well preserved after 1966. Port Isaac Road had become home to the local coal merchant, and thankfully it remained very much as a railway station. The only sign of dereliction was the smashed bedroom window, not caused by vandalism, but by the fury of the savage Atlantic gales! Port Isaac Road was constructed in a highly exposed location! The ticket office still contained the ticket window, and fireplaces. All that was missing were the Southern, later Western region poster boards, associated railway enamel signs and of course human life! The station master’s house was in reasonable condition. However, the parlour ceiling was coming down, evidence that the roof was now not watertight. Exploration over, and with the ringing of the Station Master’s doorbell in the air, it was time to find the other North Cornwall stations. However, the haunting atmosphere of Port Isaac Road has had a lasting impression on me!
Delabole was next, more urban in nature, and perhaps one of the best sited NCR stations, standing in the heart of its famous slate mining community. The station site was overgrown but with both platforms remaining, the station master’s house showed some signs of habitation. However, the booking hall was boarded up and hadn’t seen a coat of paint since the vengeful Western Region took control! A sad sight, and after a photograph it was time to move on, thinking that surely Delabole and its vast empty site would make a prime housing estate, and within a few years, the once fine station, would be no more!
Camelford station still stood and appeared to be as inconvenient to the town’s inhabitants as ever. It still retained part of its LSWR canopy. This was one of the few stations, in this part of North Cornwall, to warrant such a luxury. The station, in the summer of 1990, was still a local fertiliser firm’s storage base, and one presumes that it was the owner’s Jaguar, now using the canopy as some sort of wind break or car port.
Otterham station still retained its buildings, standing braving this wild windswept location. It was only the Atlantic Highway (A39) which showed a sign of life. Even in high summer the campsite, which had spread across the former station site, was empty. However, the station could still boast some of its original LSWR ‘garden seat’ benches, and how I wish I could have given one a new home!!!
Otterham station still retained its buildings, standing braving this wild windswept location. It was only the Atlantic Highway (A39) which showed a sign of life. Even in high summer the campsite, which had spread across the former station site, was empty. However, the station could still boast some of its original LSWR ‘garden seat’ benches, and how I wish I could have given one a new home!!!
Next, and perhaps the prettiest of all the line’s stations, comes Tresmeer, like all NCR stations, it was built to the standard LSWR design, but here, as at Egloskerry, brick was the preferred building material. The station again was built many miles from the place it purported to serve. However, it was ideally sited in the middle of the tiny hamlet of Splatt! Tresmeer station was beautifully maintained; even its 1970s extensions did not look too out of place! The station retained its SR concrete signposts, plus a host of other railwayana. All that was required was the track and a train!
Days later, it was time to find St. Kew Highway, another delightfully named NCR station. Sadly, the Atlantic Highway, which was the raison d’etre for the station’s location and community, has split the station from the sizable community. Again, like Port Isaac Road the station stands aloft, but the growth of conifers hid much of it from view!
Wadebridge was a splendidly restored station and the John Betjeman visitor centre is a super venue for the local community. Many of the elderly day visitors chatted about how they lamented the loss of their station and none were too keen to praise the Doctor and his mighty axe!
A trip along the Camel estuary must be today, as beautiful as it was when the Atlantic Coast Express would haul its coaches over the girder bridge at Little Petherick Creek. I can highly recommend a walk or cycle ride from Wadebridge to ‘Steinstow’, as Padstow has been dubbed! Here the final outpost of Waterloo control still stood marooned in a sea of day trippers’ cars. The impressive NCR station, sadly shorn of its canopy, is nevertheless a useful asset to the town council. Looming over the car filled site is the sombre Metropole Hotel. How many passengers left the station to make this their first port of call?
So, there was my summer 1990 odyssey of surveying and exploring the NCR stations. Surely by 2011, it was time to explore and revisit the line!
One station I never explored was Egloskerry, now a fantastic Bed and Breakfast, run by Moira and Rod, who hail from my home county of Hampshire. They provide visitors with an amazing B&B experience. Where else can one eat their Full English breakfast, just metres from where the mighty A.C.E. would thunder through!
Moira and Rod have created a haven for any railway enthusiast and their partners. The station has been lovingly restored and boasts a wealth of railway artefacts including an early BR parcels van, and the original platform sign and lamp! However, what interested me was the opportunity to explore the station master’s house. Again, built to an almost mirror image of Port Isaac Road, but like Tresmeer, built of brick. Certainly, any station master living in an NCR station lived in utter luxury! The rooms were generous and light. High moulded plaster ceilings were everywhere, with a generous parlour and living room, surrounding the scullery was a courtyard providing accommodation for the WC and coal/wash house.
It was time to explore and see what had happened to those NCR stations in the intervening years!
First stop was Tresmeer. Still in a delightful situation, with only a garage extension to the former porter’s lobby being the most significant change. The house is now rented out and there is evidence that the new occupants enjoy the delightful gardens, judging by the extensive garden furniture!
Otterham, is now in a sorrier state than in 1990. The campsite has been replaced by a permanent mobile home complex, while the former station lies hidden beside the ever busy ‘Atlantic Highway’ A39 road. Attempts at modernising the station abound the place, but it all seems rather haphazard.
Camelford, although transformed from my visit in 1990, is now home to a very interesting cycling museum. The canopy has been swallowed up by a rather ugly concrete extension. However, the station is well worth a visit, especially if one is in the area.
Delabole station remains in good condition, in fact in a much better state than in 1990. However, its surroundings have been completely engulfed by a modern housing development. At the time of my visit the former station was on the market for £230,000 and certainly offered generous accommodation to a family. The nearby slate quarry has an excellent museum and you can still marvel at the huge hole from were Delabole slate is quarried.
On to Port Isaac Road, and just as previously, it proved just as difficult to find! Approaching it from St Teeth direction, the station still sits in an exposed location, dominating the surrounding area. The local sheep and new born lambs were very interested in our visit, and seemed happy to share their home, as I snapped a few shots of what looks like a well restored station, painted in Southern cream and green! I had previously arranged with the new owners, to visit Port Isaac Road. I was very welcomed and explored the site for an hour. The former booking office area was being beautifully restored into living accommodation for one member of the family. The restored ticket office window was to have pride of place and a feature in the newly recreated bathroom! We gave our fond farewell to my favourite NCR station and travelled off to see what the station at St. Kew Highway now resembled and to meet a local catering celebrity!
Aunt Avice, spent, what sounded like an idyllic childhood, living in the station house at St. Kew Highway. Up to her arms in flour, whilst making another mouth watering selection of homemade Cornish pasties, she had us enthralled by her tales of how she spent many a happy hour watching the trains pass and wondering whether her mother’s best china, would one day be shaken off the living room dresser, as a freight train roared through!
Today Aunt Avice, lives in the converted goods shed, next to the station and she is sad to witness her former childhood home slip further into decay!
So, with our journey complete, what better way to finish a tour but buying one of Aunt Avice’s yummy pasties and a piece of homemade fruit cake!
So even if you are not interested in railways, who could resist sampling Aunt Avice’s tempting wares! You’ll find her shop at the St. Kew Highway garage on the A39. Do pay her and her friendly team a visit! You will not regret it!
Footnote: I was made very welcome at Port Isaac Road and I am very grateful for the time given to view what is now a PRIVATE home. The new owner is very appreciative that their home was once a PUBLIC railway station, but they and all the other owners do wish that people, wishing to view their home, made prior arrangements and did not trespass over their home and PRIVATE property.
A return ticket to Port Isaac Road.
A very welcome reflection by Phil Grant.
A Return Ticket to Port Isaac Road!
The stations of the North Cornwall Railway
My interests are in railway architecture, namely the stations that the railway company served. Therefore, along with my quest for collecting railway tickets, the seeking out of lonely stations or wayside halts has been my railway interest for over 30 odd years.
30 years ago, I set out to discover and locate the stations of the North Cornwall Railway (NCR), the LSWR’s far flung railway outpost. Staying at the fantastic National Trust holiday location of Doyden House, this was a perfect opportunity for exploration! First on the list was the romantically named Port Isaac Road. Would we be able to find it? Situated some 4 miles from the village it served, surely no locals could have used it much? The quest began, on a hot July Sunday afternoon. It took quite a time to find Port Isaac Road! If you did not know what to look for, you’d easily miss it. However, situated on a lonely cross-country road near Pendoggett, a large and impressive stone railway over bridge gave the game away. Port Isaac Road had, after a lot of searching, been found!
There stood the large station master’s house, looming high on the embankment, looking more like the ‘Bates Motel’ from that famous early 1960s film Psycho, than an LSWR station. A winding weed ridden track led up to the completely deserted station. All was pretty much intact. Both the goods shed and station was intact, they having been well preserved after 1966. Port Isaac Road had become home to the local coal merchant, and thankfully it remained very much as a railway station. The only sign of dereliction was the smashed bedroom window, not caused by vandalism, but by the fury of the savage Atlantic gales! Port Isaac Road was constructed in a highly exposed location! The ticket office still contained the ticket window, and fireplaces. All that was missing were the Southern, later Western region poster boards, associated railway enamel signs and of course human life! The station master’s house was in reasonable condition. However, the parlour ceiling was coming down, evidence that the roof was now not watertight. Exploration over, and with the ringing of the Station Master’s doorbell in the air, it was time to find the other North Cornwall stations. However, the haunting atmosphere of Port Isaac Road has had a lasting impression on me!
Delabole was next, more urban in nature, and perhaps one of the best sited NCR stations, standing in the heart of its famous slate mining community. The station site was overgrown but with both platforms remaining, the station master’s house showed some signs of habitation. However, the booking hall was boarded up and hadn’t seen a coat of paint since the vengeful Western Region took control! A sad sight, and after a photograph it was time to move on, thinking that surely Delabole and its vast empty site would make a prime housing estate, and within a few years, the once fine station, would be no more!
Camelford station still stood and appeared to be as inconvenient to the town’s inhabitants as ever. It still retained part of its LSWR canopy. This was one of the few stations, in this part of North Cornwall, to warrant such a luxury. The station, in the summer of 1990, was still a local fertiliser firm’s storage base, and one presumes that it was the owner’s Jaguar, now using the canopy as some sort of wind break or car port.
Otterham station still retained its buildings, standing braving this wild windswept location. It was only the Atlantic Highway (A39) which showed a sign of life. Even in high summer the campsite, which had spread across the former station site, was empty. However, the station could still boast some of its original LSWR ‘garden seat’ benches, and how I wish I could have given one a new home!!!
Otterham station still retained its buildings, standing braving this wild windswept location. It was only the Atlantic Highway (A39) which showed a sign of life. Even in high summer the campsite, which had spread across the former station site, was empty. However, the station could still boast some of its original LSWR ‘garden seat’ benches, and how I wish I could have given one a new home!!!
Next, and perhaps the prettiest of all the line’s stations, comes Tresmeer, like all NCR stations, it was built to the standard LSWR design, but here, as at Egloskerry, brick was the preferred building material. The station again was built many miles from the place it purported to serve. However, it was ideally sited in the middle of the tiny hamlet of Splatt! Tresmeer station was beautifully maintained; even its 1970s extensions did not look too out of place! The station retained its SR concrete signposts, plus a host of other railwayana. All that was required was the track and a train!
Days later, it was time to find St. Kew Highway, another delightfully named NCR station. Sadly, the Atlantic Highway, which was the raison d’etre for the station’s location and community, has split the station from the sizable community. Again, like Port Isaac Road the station stands aloft, but the growth of conifers hid much of it from view!
Wadebridge was a splendidly restored station and the John Betjeman visitor centre is a super venue for the local community. Many of the elderly day visitors chatted about how they lamented the loss of their station and none were too keen to praise the Doctor and his mighty axe!
A trip along the Camel estuary must be today, as beautiful as it was when the Atlantic Coast Express would haul its coaches over the girder bridge at Little Petherick Creek. I can highly recommend a walk or cycle ride from Wadebridge to ‘Steinstow’, as Padstow has been dubbed! Here the final outpost of Waterloo control still stood marooned in a sea of day trippers’ cars. The impressive NCR station, sadly shorn of its canopy, is nevertheless a useful asset to the town council. Looming over the car filled site is the sombre Metropole Hotel. How many passengers left the station to make this their first port of call?
So, there was my summer 1990 odyssey of surveying and exploring the NCR stations. Surely by 2011, it was time to explore and revisit the line!
One station I never explored was Egloskerry, now a fantastic Bed and Breakfast, run by Moira and Rod, who hail from my home county of Hampshire. They provide visitors with an amazing B&B experience. Where else can one eat their Full English breakfast, just metres from where the mighty A.C.E. would thunder through!
Moira and Rod have created a haven for any railway enthusiast and their partners. The station has been lovingly restored and boasts a wealth of railway artefacts including an early BR parcels van, and the original platform sign and lamp! However, what interested me was the opportunity to explore the station master’s house. Again, built to an almost mirror image of Port Isaac Road, but like Tresmeer, built of brick. Certainly, any station master living in an NCR station lived in utter luxury! The rooms were generous and light. High moulded plaster ceilings were everywhere, with a generous parlour and living room, surrounding the scullery was a courtyard providing accommodation for the WC and coal/wash house.
It was time to explore and see what had happened to those NCR stations in the intervening years!
First stop was Tresmeer. Still in a delightful situation, with only a garage extension to the former porter’s lobby being the most significant change. The house is now rented out and there is evidence that the new occupants enjoy the delightful gardens, judging by the extensive garden furniture!
Otterham, is now in a sorrier state than in 1990. The campsite has been replaced by a permanent mobile home complex, while the former station lies hidden beside the ever busy ‘Atlantic Highway’ A39 road. Attempts at modernising the station abound the place, but it all seems rather haphazard.
Camelford, although transformed from my visit in 1990, is now home to a very interesting cycling museum. The canopy has been swallowed up by a rather ugly concrete extension. However, the station is well worth a visit, especially if one is in the area.
Delabole station remains in good condition, in fact in a much better state than in 1990. However, its surroundings have been completely engulfed by a modern housing development. At the time of my visit the former station was on the market for £230,000 and certainly offered generous accommodation to a family. The nearby slate quarry has an excellent museum and you can still marvel at the huge hole from were Delabole slate is quarried.
On to Port Isaac Road, and just as previously, it proved just as difficult to find! Approaching it from St Teeth direction, the station still sits in an exposed location, dominating the surrounding area. The local sheep and new born lambs were very interested in our visit, and seemed happy to share their home, as I snapped a few shots of what looks like a well restored station, painted in Southern cream and green! I had previously arranged with the new owners, to visit Port Isaac Road. I was very welcomed and explored the site for an hour. The former booking office area was being beautifully restored into living accommodation for one member of the family. The restored ticket office window was to have pride of place and a feature in the newly recreated bathroom! We gave our fond farewell to my favourite NCR station and travelled off to see what the station at St. Kew Highway now resembled and to meet a local catering celebrity!
Aunt Avice, spent, what sounded like an idyllic childhood, living in the station house at St. Kew Highway. Up to her arms in flour, whilst making another mouth watering selection of homemade Cornish pasties, she had us enthralled by her tales of how she spent many a happy hour watching the trains pass and wondering whether her mother’s best china, would one day be shaken off the living room dresser, as a freight train roared through!
Today Aunt Avice, lives in the converted goods shed, next to the station and she is sad to witness her former childhood home slip further into decay!
So, with our journey complete, what better way to finish a tour but buying one of Aunt Avice’s yummy pasties and a piece of homemade fruit cake!
So even if you are not interested in railways, who could resist sampling Aunt Avice’s tempting wares! You’ll find her shop at the St. Kew Highway garage on the A39. Do pay her and her friendly team a visit! You will not regret it!
Footnote: I was made very welcome at Port Isaac Road and I am very grateful for the time given to view what is now a PRIVATE home. The new owner is very appreciative that their home was once a PUBLIC railway station, but they and all the other owners do wish that people, wishing to view their home, made prior arrangements and did not trespass over their home and PRIVATE property.
Tresmeer station, from the roadbridge at the Egloskerry end of the station. Copyright Andrew Triggs.
Tresmeer Up platform and station nameboard Copyright Andrew Triggs
Otterham - Copyright the late Sid Sponheimer
Camelford Copyright the late Sid Sponheimer
Camelford station complete with the National Cycle museum. Copyright Andrew Triggs
Delabole. The North Cornwall Farewell Railtour calls. 1st October 1966 Copyright Keith Jenkin
Delabole Quarry 3rd October 1964 Copyright the late Sid Sponheimer
Port Isaac Road with the sheep - a lovely rural study. Copyright Phil Grant.
Port Isaac Road - 8th July 1973 Copyright Roger Winnen.
Port Isaac Road Booking Window Copyright Phil Grant
A view through the window of the former booking hall - note the platform edge. Copyright Phil Grant.
St. Kew Highway 75025. 3rd October 1964 - Copyright the late Sid Sponheimer. If only one could be immersed in steam there nowadays!!
Many thanks Phil for your memories of your ventures tracing the North Cornwall line; One can still follow the route today but please remember that the stations are PRIVATE PROPERTY and you should not explore beyond the boundary fence without permission.