The GHOST Railways of England

I take a look at two former railways which were closed in 1960s and have remained so ever since. The first example is a section of the Varsity line between Bedford and Sandy, which the National Cycle Route 51 now occupies (I think I forgot to mention that in the video). The second line is part of the Bedford to Northampton branch, which is partly-occupied by Stevington Country Walk which I traverse.

Along the way I see plenty of reminders that each were working railways in the past. Bridges, huts, etc.

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You join me here today in Egypt a very different uh location uh in this today’s video and I know what you’re thinking you’ll thinking why have you come to Egypt to make this video on Lost Railways you know we’re all interested in uh UK ones well as I stand at the

Foot of one of the wonders of the world one of the Great Pyramids of Giza oh of course not it’s just um this Oasis beach pool in Bedford built in 199 too you know it’s not far off is it uh we just seen better days uh to say the

Least in fact you could mistake that as a high security prison anyway that’s not what I’m here to see today this just happens to stand right near the beginning of my route for today along one of the railway lines right then I’ve spent quite a lot of time looking at online satellite maps

And anyone who does the same you’ll be aware that sometimes you’ll be looking at one and you think you’re looking at a typical Railway line from above you’re following it down and trying to figure out which one it is and then on closer inspection it turns out it’s well it’s

Gone it’s not there it’s what you’re actually looking at is a former Railway line which has managed to retain most of its presence on aerial views through means of vegetation and scars on the landscape and all although bits and pieces here and there have been reclaimed by farmland or industrial

Purposes I think it’s safe to say that most old lines which are closed are still almost entirely traceable things like Google Earth and side by side Maps will confirm these for definite now in my last video I went and had a look at some abandoned roads or ghost roads as they’re affectionately

Known I received a few comments from people mentioning how they’re interested in Old Railway infrastructure too well so am I and it just so happens that there are a few examples once again local to where I’m from in bedf for cheer again that we can go and have a

Look at so I’ll try to make it to a few places today that will cover um a couple of different railway lines in the area we can look for structures relics anything that’s been left behind on these thin strips of land which would have once had trains hurtling down them

Most days for over a century until all of a sudden they were closed and have been ever since behind me you’ll be able to see one of the first abandoned relics that I’ve come across today let’s go and have a look as we say farewell to one of

The ancient wonders of the world oh hang on no no of course yeah well you join me here at the beginning of the first example of ghost Railway I’ll be taking a look at today and this is the Bedford to Sandy section of the old Varsity line which connected Oxford

And Cambridge VIA Rail services and did so for well over a 100 years from 1851 all the way up to 1968 when this bloke came along Dr Beach in and thought Nah Get rid of it get rid of this one get rid of this one now what

The the very handy vity line that connects Oxford and cambrid yes get it gone and that was that but of course only sections of the vity line ended up closing because you can still board a train at Bedford and travel down to Bletchley on a part of the line that

I crossed in my previous video the ghost roads of England that is part of the original vity line and is still in operation to this day but unfortunately the section I’m walking down right now Bedford to Sandy as well as continuing all the way up to Cambridge was axed and

I’ve already just made it to the second uh Bridge second relic of the day there’s the route of the Railway there but I bet if you went over this area here with a metal detector you would find some fantastic stuff 120 years worth of people throwing things

Out of carriage Windows coins all sorts I bet maybe that’s for a future video but for now let’s carry on a bit further of course other than Railway Bridges I’m hoping to find other traces of this lost Railway as I continue further down the original route I know there’s definitely

Going to be some bits and pieces lurking ready for me to discover I think I found my uh third possible Trace here let me just just turn you around fence posts this is just to the side of the railways embankment but yeah these must date certainly towards the

End of the railways life I’m expecting to find things such as sleepers on the side of the Railway maybe even rails themselves thought most of it got scrapped but they may have left some bits and pieces there we go that didn’t take long did it part of an old sleeper I’m

Guessing oh God no chance moving that but yeah there we have it then that will have been sitting on the side since the’ 60s well maybe slightly later if they didn’t pull up the the railway straight away but I can imagine most have been repurposed by now that’s

Quite a common thing repurposing Old Railway sleepers I’ve seen a lot being used for foot bridges on foot paths that go over streams and stuff there’s plenty of other uses for them just crossed a couple of bridges up there as we head further towards Willington where the first

Station on this line is or the remains of it anyway on the side here unmistakably Railway bricks dumped in a pile here I think the type of bricks they usually used are called Blue engineering bricks I believe these type of bricks here what their official name is and

There’s plenty of these type of bricks to be seen on Railways across the country there’s likely there’ll be entire viod ducts built with bricks like that some of which have been blown up definitely seen a few bits of footage of actual Victorian viu getting blown up it’s quite unbelievable but that they

They could just do that to such pieces of engineering Excellence it’s what they are isn’t it really especially as they were being built in the 1850s 60s stick a few bits of dynamite in without a care that one in particular what harm was that doing there plenty of abandoned ones that still

Stand just leave them alone might even be useful once again in the future recycle them I think we’re coming up to now what is labeled on the map as old coal train bridge and once again we can see plenty more engineering bricks used for this bridge which was possibly

Used for Farmers to get over the railway but yeah here it is looks like Jason’s uh claimed this bridge now for whatever reason you can imagine the trains let’s see what it’s like on on top I think I’ve been up there before looks fairly slippy so uh I I’ll meet you up

There maybe it’s easier taking that route oh as I’m greeted by an old sleeper moss covered sleeper unashamedly sticking out of the ground there come on in thank you very much hathorn tree okay well I have made it to the top of coold train bridge why it’s called that

I’m unsure obviously plenty of coal trains would have gone underneath this bridge but why has it taken the name of coold train bridge maybe you know um not sure obviously this metal gerder is um to prevent vehicles from traveling over this now but not too sure if it’s even possible

For any to get up here in the first place so could have been standing here in the 1800s witnessing steam trains pass underneath towards Bedford towards Sandy and onto Cambridge here we are this this is what’s left of the infrastructure of this Railway line 60 years after closure and this bridge is still

Standing still accessible just just about but um yeah how many more years will this bridge stand here maybe maybe it will be refurbished but I doubt it it’s got no real purpose anymore as so it’s a ghost of the day’s gun by rather than risk my life going back

Down there I can probably battle through these Thorns it’s not as bad as I um thought it was down here so I can probably well this has turned into a little bit of an adventure here so oh here we go it’s Gio wizard territory we you mind

Cool I wondered what the smell was I haven’t in fact soiled my pants uh that’s the sewage works over there so God for that what’s that Brick story then how did that get there let’s get back on the route of the varsity line what I will say here then is thanks

To anyone who’s watched my uh previous video videos um I definitely wasn’t expecting uh the ghost roads video to do quite as well as that in the first two weeks or so and definitely wasn’t expecting to get this many subscribers after just two videos so yeah massive thank you to anyone who has

Subscribed if you haven’t subscribe if you want if you enjoy these sort of videos I’ll try and make quite a lot more of them so there we go we’ve had a look at old whole train bridge that’s Relic number well floss count if you count all the little ones

Like individual um sleepers and stuff like that so yeah we’ve seen a few another major one to come though um which is Willington station that won’t be too long now Co W sprinted past me there he’s very eager to have a look at Willington station I as am

I in terms of bottles I’ve not seen any anywhere as near as old as the ones I was Finding on my last trip and look at that very modern I’m sure there are a lot more older ones that are buried underneath the soil just modern ones I’ve seen so far no milk

Bottles what absolute shock that is a42 one bypass is about to plow through the rout of this Old Railway so I’m going to have to cross over it using a very modern foot Bridge another person very eager to see the relics of this Railway not too long now mate interesting got a little

Uh one of these things that you turn and it tells you a bit about the history let’s see if it works select message all right I’ll turn you till the message plays till you decide to talk come on beond Centrue does it get any louder if you vigorously keep turning

It I mean it might have been a little bit better just a few 100 yards up there but yeah either turn the volume up ore me to the message place you can hear him fairly well some of the other voices at CT and the whole school was

People I think talking about the history of the it’s a Cardington hangers where numerous film sets are now uh built in one of those hangers and it used to be used for constructing airships in the early 20th century including the famous r101 which well met a very sudden

Demise bench at the end of its life there it’s made way for this shiny new one well look what this sign’s fastened onto more sleepers I think they ran out of old Sleepers at this point so they just used a mock one there sleepers looking a bit worse for wear there oh

Yeah just gone back into nature aren’t they being bits of tree in the first place right here we are then what are we coming up to now the train stops Bedford to Cambridge opened the 7th of July 1862 and it survived for 106 years before closing in

1968 all about it here I think in a a minute I’ll be seeing that Hut I’ll be seeing Willington station but not as it appears in this Photograph all I think I’ll be able to see is part of the overgrown platform and here is that old Hut mentioned on that information

Board it’s still used to this day as a local Hideout for teenagers another piece of History ticked off and then we’ve got the line continuing up the trains will be slowing down now from Bedford as they approach Willington station and I can see it now

No oh I think you’ll find it is this is All That Remains then of Willington railway station the platform’s completely overgrown now and wait for the next train not take a while so no I’ve never had a proper look at this I’ve walked by it a few times before but I’ve never had

A a proper closeup investigation certainly no longer resembles the these photographs of it as it was when this line was in operation see where the platform begins just down here and works its way up Nature has well and truly taken over this station I made it I made it

Up onto the platform it’s really hard to imagine that people would have waited here um the trains a Bedford Oxford Cambridge all these destinations complete layer of moss and dirt has developed over the years a bit like one of the ghost roads I went to in the last

Video and I would have been able to step out onto a carriage any objects lying around from when it was a station imagine if there was definitely been taken away by now wonder if the old Willington station sign still exists it probably does stuff like that would have surely been salvaged by

Enthusiasts yeah there really is not much left now although what if we got here oh just a just a modern bardi Breezer I think yeah oh well nowadays there really is not much to see other than the platform itself and foliage really probably bits of the demolished station in a heap

There which looks like a sleeper sticking out another one and what have we got there what is that a piece of pipe or something um at the top of a a jar H to do with the railway though I’m not sure got any ideas I’m sure all the old

Pieces of brick you can see though are indeed bits and pieces that have been demolished and left in a heap here for however many years so there we go old Willington station tick and no I am not the fifth Beetle just let my hair get a little bit

Long um or Jimmy Hill as someone mentioned in the comments but uh well now there are plans to reinstate The Varsity line which would once again link Oxford to Cambridge VIA Rail for the first time in 60 years as of filming this video the exact same month in fact

It’s been announced the relaying of the track between B and Bletchley has been completed on the seventh of March which was actually the exact day I uploaded the video before this one anyway the relaying of track between Bedford and Cambridge however well that’s going to

Be a lot more tricky and you just need to have a quick scan of the original route on side by side maps to see why here we have the former Sandy approach and you’ve got instances where the route goes entirely through someone’s house there or rather they’ve just built

Someone’s house right on The Flipping route wonder if the people living there actually realize they might not what now then well well a number of different ways to work around this were devised and Route e was finally selected which I think has been tweaked a little bit in the last

Few years but this would see an entirely new section of track bed constructed which would Loop north of Bedford towards tempsford where a new station would be built and it would completely bypass Sandy and then it heads to the new town of cambour and the route eventually joins up with an existing

Line in Cambridge and so for this to work it would require the controversial compulsory acquisition and then obviously demolition of up to 65 houses in Bedford so that an additional two tracks can be laid north of Bedford station so that would mean all of these houses along here are condemned as I said

Controversial just had a quick coffee in the Willington Danish Camp Cafe it’s now time for me to head to another Old Railway line I want to talk about but because this one is the other side of Bedford and I came out to this one a bit later than planned it will be

On a different day day that I visit that one but for you it will be well it’ll be right about now oh graceful cut there so it is a different day I’m now quite slightly Northwest of Bedford um on another line another disused Railway line I wanted to include

At least two in this video I’m now about to venture down down a strip of this former Railway line which linked Bedford and Northampton via oldy in a selection of little Villages now this line opened in June 1872 which was uh quite a few years after the Varity line the previous line

I looked at and this Railway like the previous one was a victim of the beaching Cuts in the’ 60s and it was 1962 in particular that this one met it end oh and here’s the first Landmark already now this is known as Skylock Cottage and it was constructed as the

Crossing keeper Cottage and it was built the same year as the railway and stood just to the side Co how long is it going to be how long will it be until this chimney comes down it’s looking very precarious now look at that then you can still see the old fireplaces in

Here once upon a time the railway Crossing keeper would have sat and stoked a fire there that was probably the bedroom and now look at the state of it just a shell I wonder who laid that brick in 1872 Josiah Walker I reckon imagine if I just got that bang

On I this side isn’t even attached whatsoever to this bit anymore this really has been left open to the elements for well for approximately 62 years I should think Great Piece of abandoned Railway history standing here for how much longer can’t see it clocking up another 62 years can you

I wonder who the crossing Keepers were over the years who was the first person and who was the last this Cottage would have had the best part of 90 years worth of residents workers Railway workers and uh now it’s a very sad site but good that it’s still exists in

Away the remnants you can even still see some of the Slate which would have been on the roof there’s a piece of it there’s other bits lying around too so there we go Skylock Cottage we’ve seen it and just down here I’ve actually noticed something quite quite interesting there is still one of

The crossing gates still here albeit sort of rotting away on the side of the path but yeah this this is unmistakably one of the crossing gates that the the keepers would have been opening and closing every day still sitting here on the side off the path right let’s move on

Then shall we let’s continue down the route a bit further oh no oh oh great flashbacks flashbacks to um the last video there oh oh oh oh that’s no that’s no good that’s not good I think it’s inevitable that I’m about to get absolutely caked in

Mud oh oh yeah do mind mate yeah come on that that’s enough it’s going well so far it’s quite a satisfying sound actually come on son come on I need I need a solar flare or something just so you can just quickly dry up all this so I can walk through it

Properly and I’ve St LED across another Hut to the side so let’s go and have a look be rude not to it’s quite similar to the other one I looked at earlier but just um a lot less graffiti just about get in here we are so what would this have been used

For there a shelter for people repairing the railway it’s got uh years worth of carvings on here well actually quite recent we got a got a 2016 well actually we’ve got a mixture we’ve got John who was here in 1978 uh we’ve got a 1996 dick 1988 wow all different area is

94 Ali B wherever you are Pat I find old carvings fascinating just imagining who they were and what they were doing at that time but anyway Let’s Make a Move got further to go excuse me okay and that was a Hut on the Old Bedford to Northampton Branch let’s continue

Though this section of the Old Line is now stevington Country Walk uh which has obviously been um turned into a footpath you can still see remains of the bridge which used to carry the railway over this road Road and further on towards Turvy and only but private yeah unfortunately I’m going to

Have to take a diversion down through the village of stevington and then back onto the route which is a bit annoying come on just just open up the RO just let us walk down there just make the whole line the country walk but oh well

Oh there we are what I was talking about earlier I’m now coming up to a spot where I can get back on the path of the old line in the form of another Old Railway Bridge coming up to it now this one is a mini Viaduct again you got the blue engineering

Bricks seen all over the country places like this and this one I’m going to walk entirely over here we go right in the middle then so you can imagine Once Upon a Time trains passing under this bridge and the smoke would Bellow up covering you in certain

Ash and carrying on down there towards Bedford they’ve even reused sleepers here as steps down to the track bed so let’s use them and unlike the last one this one is still in use I’ve Just Seen well a few minutes ago I saw someone riding a horse going across

It it’s good to see this one isn’t in quite as much of a state well nowhere near as much of a state as the the previous one it’s a better looking one really isn’t it anyway 1872 the next station if you carried on that way would be Turvy I think I might

Have time to go and see it I’s see one station on this line like we did with the Bedford to Cambridge one the Line is now become a narrow foot path because this is part of the estate uh for some reason they’ve claimed that a bit but okay well we’ll

Carry on then I’ll soon be at Turvy station but not before I pass under the third Bridge of the video the second of this line oh well this is getting silly now looks like the fun continues finally some luscious green grass to walk on not a

Swamp as I chase this duck okay it’s got away now the video almost comes to a close I’m approaching Turvy station end where Turvy station used to stand uh in front of me is the a428 there’s a quick example of a ghost Road making a little cameo in this video

Here we can see some old signage which says or used to say Railway Swan and that’s because this building here used to be the railway Swan Public House which um is now a private residence down the aptly named Station Road some very nice Victorian Villas we have Turvy

Station and the original building still stands today that’s good to see this would be the first stop on the Bedford to Northampton branch in quite a nice setting really I always like to see it when old station buildings have been repurposed and survive in this day and age there’s far

Too many that were demolished right all that talking has made me a bit thirsty got