Threading through the South Downs

LAVANT

(Lavant 24.6.1976 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

(Lavant 15.5.1977. Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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Imagine a single track railway with impressive tile hung stations running through a National Park linking a cathedral city with a country town, using exclusively steam - over bridges and through tunnels cutting through the South Downs.

Not quite the Bluebell or Cuckoo lines - the line was the Chichester to Midhurst branch of the LBSCR. The line closed throughout to passengers as long ago (as did Chichester's other branch line) but kept going with freight traffic throughgout until 1951 when flooding led to an accident which effectively cut the line between Cocking and Midhurst. Most of the remainder of the line closed in 1953, apart from the two mile section to Lavant which remained open until 1970 for seasonal sugarbeet traffic. An even shorter section of the line opened as far as a gravel pit south of Lavant, this final section closing as late as 1991.

(Near Lavant 15.5.1977. Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

These are the basic facts about this line, but I had a much closer attachment to the route, as back in the late 60s and early 70s it was the closest disused line to where I lived in Littlehampton, and I regularly visited the line at Lavant, just catching it whilst the track was still down. The track ran through the station and tantalising beyond northwards to vanish in long grass with the South Downs as a backdrop. So a regular trip for me in that period was to catch the train from Littlehampton to Chichester, then walk until I could pick up the track south of Lavant.

The line beyond was a mystery to me and I never ventured beyond Lavant in those days. But a few years later I had a motorbike and followed the route northwards. I did get to photograph Cocking station, but Singleton was too scary to approach with it being a working vineyard (a rare thing even in Sussex back in pre-Global Warming days!)

(Cocking 24.6.1976 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

I had even been lucky enough to see the closed LBSCR station at Midhurst which marked the northern end of this route back in about 1970, shortly before it was demolished and a year before I started taking pictures. I even found the long abandoned LSWR in Midhurst on the same day which hadn't seen trains stop since 1925 (?) when all services began to use the more imposing LBSCR station.

(Midhurst LBSCR 1958. Source Google)

I haven't been back to this line for many years. The trackbed is now a cycleway and footpath and the station at Lavant has been converted into flats (it was a very big station for a small village!) Singleton is still a vineyard and Cocking is an impressive private house. You'd hardly know Midhurst ever had a station let alone two.

The future? Well Midhurst will need trains again one day, that's for sure. There were three branches to Midhurst, from Chichester, Pulborough and Petersfield. But the most useful line never actually got built - a direct route to London via Fernhurst and the Portsmouth Direct route ...

There have been schemes over the years to reopen at least part of the Midhurst network, albeit as a heritage line. One thing's for sure, no railway ever really dies, and they are all just waiting for their time to come.

A hot day near Selham 1977

(All 3.7.1977 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

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Until 1955 short passenger trains travelled on a wonderfully scenic branch line that ran from Pulborough to Petersfield, following the line of the South Downs. The line served a number of villages, together with the larger towns of Petworth and Midhurst. The section from Midhurst to Pulborough remained open for freight traffic until 1964, with the section from Petworth which also served Fittleworth lasting until 1966.

On our regular trips to see family in London we often crossed the line at Fittleworth. I can't re

mg any track down, it was probably buried under vegetation. But each time we crossed the station got a little more dilapidated!

Later, in the 70s, I managed to get a motorbike, and a regular trip up from Littlehampton, where I lived, was a visit to this line, either at Fittleworth, or further along, between Selham and Midhurst, where about a mile of trackbed was walkable. This was a particularly nice spot, set deep in the woods with plenty remaining from the railway.

This was the classic disused railway, with dilapidated stations and even the odd signal post or loading gauge. I assume everything today is pretty much the same, though the station buildings at Selham, Petworth and Fittleworth have now all been restored. Fittleworth and Selham are smart homes, whilst Petworth is now a hotel.

No doubt had this pre-Beeching closure not happened the line would be busy today with tourist and commuter travel. There are the very first stirrings of a revival of course, but it may be many more years before trains run again. So for at least a while longer the simple pleasure of walking along an old trackbed can still be enjoyed!

Selham station (from Wikipedia)

Selham railway station served the village of Selham in the county of West Sussex in England. The station was out in mostly open fields, although a public house was located nearby. The station was on the Pulborough to Midhurst which was originally part of the London Brighton and South Coast Railway. The station opened after the line (which opened in 1866) on 1 July 1872. The station was closed to passenger services in 1955, but freight was still carried up to May 1963, before the station was closed completely. The line through the station remained open for another year serving Midhurst. The station building is now a private home.

A feature on the two stations at Midhurst will follow at a later date!

singleton

Before opening.

The subway in 2002.

(Copyright Chris Bedford Dumpman Films)

How it is now.

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Nestling in a gap in the South Downs a few miles north of Chichester is one of the most fascinating closed stations of all.

Singleton's a small, fairly quiet village, but it holds a secret! A big closed station, now masquerading as a vineyard. 

If you're driving up from Chichester there's a clue as to why Singelton had such a big station Goodwood Race Course, which sits high on the Downs to the east of the village.

Singleton was on the Chichester to Midhurst line, opened in 1881. Traffic was always fairly sparse, but Singleton was different. It was designed as the station for Goodwood. It had four platforms connected by a subway, buffets, holding sidings for trains, a large goods shed and TWO signalboxes!  Whilst popular with King Edward VII the hoi polloi preferred Chichester station as the walk to Goodwood was easier!

Other stations on the line were far more basic with single platforms, but all sported elegant tile hung buildings in a similar style to those on the Bluebell and Cuckoo lines. Passenger trains finished in 1935, freight on this section continued to 1953 and the final section (south of Lavant) lost its trains in the late 1980s.

But the stations are still there (apart from Midhurst) although serving very different purposes these days. I never had the guts to sneak into Singleton and take pictures unfortunately, but Lavant was a regular haunt for me in the early 1970s. This was a fantastic line cutting as it did through the Downs. Hopefully it will return in the future.

Film of the route (plus loads of other great Sussex stuff!!)

More info (via Wikipedia) 

Singleton railway station served the village of Singleton in the county of West Sussex in England. The station was on the former line between Chichester and Midhurst. It was opened on 11 July 1881.
The station, designed by T. H. Myres, was built in a grand way by its owners the London Brighton and South Coast Railway, which included four platforms, with a subway linking them and the 'Country House' style station building, buffets, long sidings for awaiting trains, a large goods shed for dealing with freight, and two signal boxes to control the station. The main reason for this large building was to deal with visitors to the Goodwood Racecourse, but passengers preferred to use Chichester Station mostly due to the walk uphill to the course from Singleton. It was one of the most visited stations by the LBSCR Royal train as the prince of Wales (later Edward VII) used to 'weekend' with the James family at West Dean House. Little other traffic was ever found, and despite all of the grand hopes, passenger services were withdrawn on 6 July 1935. Freight services remained until these were withdrawn on 28 August 1953 by British Railways. The station is now in use by a vineyard owner.

Rails Around Chichester

(All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing, 15.8.2014)

We had a big family wedding last weekend, all centred around Chichester cathedral. I managed to wangle a quick trip to the station and took the photos above.

This whole area is where I grew up and many of my early photos were taken on the Coastway line between Brighton and Portsmouth. I often visited Chichester to walk up the old Midhurst line to Lavant and down the old Selsey Tramway to Hunston. I first visited Lavant in 1971, just a year after the regular sugar beet trains finished, but I do remember track at the station and beyond, where a buffer stop in the long grass marked the end of the Midhurst line. As the years passed the track was lifted as trains only ran as far as the gravel works near Brandy Hole Lane. Eventually even this short stub closed and the track was lifted - when I moved to Bosham around 2000 the line had gone. 

(Both Chichester station 21.8.1986 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Lavant 24.6.1976

Above both 15.5.1977 - top shot shows the end of the line by Brandy Hole Bridge. The lower picture shows Lavant, now trackless of course. I never got to photograph the track in situ here.

The other branch from Chichester was the Selsey Tramway, a Colonel Stephens' line, and often claimed to be the most ramshackle of them all, which is saying something! The top shot must be very near the line's opening, or possibly the opening day itself, when the line took delivery of  its lovely new carriages. The bottom shot is more typical, with one of the petrol railcars waiting for passengers. Both lines from Chichester closed to passengers in 1935. There are often rumblings in the city and Selsey for the tramway to be reopened, it would be a most useful (and cheap to run) line today. The line north to Midhurst would be a spectacular 'heritage' line, cutting as it does through the South Downs and serving the racecourse at Goodwood. It may well be that both lines reopen in the coming decades, and Chichester regains its status as a junction.

another world

 

Above 3 all copyright Rail Thing 15.5.1977

 

Freight days, winter 1958

 

 

Back in the sixties we often went from Littlehampton to London to visit relatives and for some reason Dad went via Fittleworth. Just before the village on the left hand side there was an intriguing closed railway station, and I think it's one of the things that first got me interested in railways.

 

I don't ever remember it with track in place even though it closed to freight as long as 1966. Perhaps it was hidden in the grass?

 

The bottom shot shows the station when the line was still open to freight as far as Midhurst. The station building had deteriorated in the 19 years since the top pictures were taken. The station has since been turned, inevitably, into a house.

 

There was a preservation scheme back in the early seventies but nothing came of it. This would have made a nice alternative to the Bluebell, the scenery is superb. Perhaps after the oil runs out the line will return? Certainly Petworth and Midhurst will need some sort of rail connection in the future, but there are two other former rail routes (to Petersfield and Chichester) and a prospective new one (via Fernhurst to Haslemere) that could also be built. Who knows, perhaps all four lines will reappear in time?

 

 



fittleworth

(All pics copyright 15.5.1977 Rail Thing/Steve Sainsbury)

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Back in the sixties this place always fascinated me. We used to go over it in the car on the way to London visiting relatives. Every time it looked more and more derelict. I even got involved with a preservation attempt for the route in the 70s.

It was the first station out from Pulborough on the Pulborough-Midhurst line, which closed to passengers in 1955, lingering on in part for freight until May 1966.

Back in the seventies it was possible to wander around the station and line but eventually it was sold and turned into a house. Of course in the future the line is almost certain to be restored as it serves the small towns of Petworth and Midhurst and would provide an excellent link to London.

At one time Midhurst had three routes, the others being the branch to Petersfield, on the London to Portsmouth main line, and the wonderful line through the Downs southwards to Chichester, which closed as long ago as 1935 to passengers. The only direction trains didn't travel in was northwards, and a line through Fernhurst to Liphook or Haslemere will provide a very useful commuter route in the future.

More info (from Gravelroots)

FITTLEWORTH RAILWAY STATION

Fittleworth railway station was on the LBSCR, London, Brighton and South Coast, line between Pulborough and Midhurst which opened in 1859.
For some 30 years there was no station at Fittleworth. After numerous complaints, a small station opened in September 1889.

After nearly 66 years of service it finally closed to passengers in February 1955. Freight traffic from Fittleworth continued until 1963 three years before the lines total closure in 1966. The small station building remained undeveloped for many years. However it was restored and converted into a private dwelling in 1987.
more on the local lines here

timeline - 
1859 line opened 
Sep. 1889 Station opened 
Feb.1955 Station closed to passengers 
May 1963 Station closed for freight 
1966 line closed