The story of the Ross-on-Wye to Monmouth Branch Railway Line - 1873-1963

The Ross-on-Wye to Monmouth Branch Railway Line
Depicted at the time of its opening in 1873 as "A journey through some of the finest countryside in the land" The Ross to Monmouth branch line was also a tail of engineering triumph and of local industrial and social development.
Stunning aerial views of Ross, The Wye Valley, River Wye, Tintern Abbey, Goodrich Castle and Symonds Yat.
(c) Borderline Films 2000

[@tominnis8353]

In spite of the poor picture quality in places this is a fascinating and we'll constructed documentary piece. Thank you. The line did indeed run through some beautiful countryside.

[@glyngriffin8260]

Thanks. Most enjoyable. I was born and lived in Ross, lived in Symonds Yat, had a girlfriend in Monmouth. I also worked in Monmouth and at the Lydbrook site mentioned.

[@markevans7269]

Its hart 💔 breaking watching this video knowing its all gone must of been amazing travelling on the trains all that lovely countryside 👍

[@greylocks3272]

Thank you for posting this oh so nostalgic film. Being born in the late 40's I just missed so much in terms of the wonderful railway system as it once existed. Another world..... sadly gone.

[@revol148]

Surely the Monmouth to Chepstow line must have been one of the most scenic train routes in the UK? I was born in the mid 1970's so walking the overgrown track bed is the nearest I will ever get to experiencing what it must have been like !

[@mervynsands3501]

Yes I too have walked the trackbed in every part possible back in Jan/Feb 2003/2004. You can get a feel for the place and imagine what a wonderful part of the UK it was to travel by train all thoughs years ago.

[@glyngriffin8260]

Ross on Wye to Chepstow.....beautiful.

[@greatbritishentertainmentl5636]

Very interesting collection of this much loved and missed line.

[@lennylaa1686]

@ 37-20 very honest assessment....''we did not pick up any passengers all the way down and all the way back, none at all''. Train crews and station staff would have seen with their own eyes that railway branch lines had become obsolete as there were so few passengers. Most branch lines should never have been built in the first place, there was little or no demand. More and more people using buses in the 30's and cars in the 50's sounded the death knell for railways. These newer travel systems were quicker and more direct.

[@revol148]

@GregAVFC 69/70 Jones my Dad traveled on the Kerne bridge to Monmouth stretch of the line and said by 1957 the only people on the morning trains were school children.Railway fans seem to overlook the fact that people went straight to cars at the first available opportunity having no love for the unheated, unreliable, filthy relatively expensive steam alternative.

[@delbyoung]

Remember travelling the line as a child from Ross to Lydbrook quite regularly to meet my dad from work at the cable works. A lovely line. Shame that they couldn't salvage it. I think that a group tried but failed, thanks to BR. They had to maintain the bridges and tunnels etc.

[@saltspringrailway3683]

Closed 60 yrs ago this month. Let's hope it is not too long before part or all is rebuilt. In '77 my wife and I walked along a track bed next to the river near Beddgellert in Wales. We had no idea that in our lifetime it would all be restored.

[@suwhit]

I remember seeing the track bed being taken up near the Leys bend stretch - sad

[@peter921396]

3rd Gloucester (St Mary De Lode) scouts went to Symond's Yat by train from Gloucester to camp for a week back in 1955 or 56!

[@trevorfennell4676]

peter921396 ---and the 2nd Enfield Senior Scouts took the train to Symonds Yat in about 1959. Magnificent !

[@FireballXL55]

It would be nice to ba able to have access to the original celluloid.Some of this is from VHS which is really not a good medium.

[@RichardASK]

"The 12 1/2 miles of scenic track between Ross and Monmouth were ripped up". How much money would a scenic track, like that make, as a heritage Railway nowadays(once Covid-19 has gone, of course)?

[@lengthmuldoon]

Annoying no footage of the Kerne bridge crossing and subsequent run along the river to the tunnel. It was an adventure just trying to walk it.

[@ianstuartconstable]

Unfortunately, the place indicated on the map @ 04:15 as 'Monmouth' is Chepstow

[@luckyjohn19]

There's a Wye River in Tasmania. ~

[@sanjeevpereira6765]

Great vedio... are there still persons trying to revive the railway route?

[@mickhayoz]

Puffing Billy in the Dandenong Ranges of Melbourne is a very successful tourist attraction brought back to life after many years, similar to the line that went through Tintern. Look up on You Tube. Michael Hayward.

[@3NUNS]

Background music is from Elgar's Cello Concerto !

[@3NUNS]

Whoops ! One just has to wait for the credits !

[@Nai61a]

David White: At the beginning - and occasionally elsewhere - the splendid overture "Froissart" which is not played as often as it should be, in my view. For me, memories of Hereford and Worcester Youth Orchestra in the late 1970s.

[@jimhalfpenny19]

That's my Dad on the left 👍

[@CHEEKYlad_lol]

Should the south wales metro be successful, we are decades away from this line reopening. See you in 2065 👍🙂

[@angelsone-five7912]

When you look at the billions of pounds being wasted on HS2 where is the profitability in that?