Why are there NO Railways Here.

Welcome to this weeks offering. This week we look at the various crossings through history of Salisbury Plain. From abandoned Railways to ancient trackways and toll/turnpike roads.
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Special thanks:
www.hiddenwilt...
Credits:
Credits: Music: Storyblocks
Sound Effects: Epidemicsound and Storyblocks
Additional Footage: Storyblocks - artgrid.io
Maps: OS Maps Crown Copyright 2023 - Media License.
Maps: Google Maps.
Maps: National Library of Scotland
Maps: All other Maps credit below where applicable.
Filter: Snowman Digital and Beachfront B-Roll
Other Filters: Storyblocks
Other Credits:
IMber Bus Pic: Michael Meilton
Imber Bus Pic: Maurice Pullin
Imber Church Pics: Scott Wylie
Imber Houses: Chris Talbot
Imber Church two: Trish Steel
Main Sources:
Paul Clifton: All Railway History ( / paulcliftonbbc )
www.hiddenwilt...
imberbus.org/
www.british-hi...

[@phillwainewright4221]

Nine Mile River - only four and a half miles long. So good, they measured it twice.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

At least they didn't size shame it, like they did at Six Mile Bottom.

[@pluggedinpete]

the way we do things in the shire, probably got drunk before the end and went and measured it again ;-)

[@smallsleepyrascalcat]

Well it is 4,5 miles upstream and 4,5 miles downstream. The poor guy doing the survey hat to walk the distance twice. 🤣

[@LKBRICKS1993]

Great video. Very interesting to watch.

[@basilpunton5702]

Just a simple name for travellers, it being the 9 mile point of journey.

[@liquidsonly]

The single upside to these MOD areas is that they have some of the greatest wildlife diversity left in the UK. No pesticides or herbicides have used on these areas since 1940. Not that there many then anyway. They are are a useful data point against which to compare the diversity of the the UK and the difference is striking.

[@pwhitewick]

And of course... the preservation of the pre history

[@antonioveritas]

I don't think they've used any pesticides or herbicides at Chernobyl since 1986 either! 😂

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

There are Lady’s Slipper Orchids at Porton Down for the same reason

[@chrisg1234fly]

Same as dartmoor. When I trained there, part of the training is to leave no trace that you were ever there. Its the same with military ranges too, many rare birds, animals and wildlife.

[@davegillman6296]

And another good thing is that you live in a country that has a well trained military.

[@abstractdragon5453]

Hi Paul! I am so happy you have slowed down your production, the videos are better. I very much enjoy being the armchair historian, keep up the great work!

[@terryengland1880]

Lived in Wiltshire for number of years I know the area well , part way along the A360 between Shrewton and Salisbury lies what looks like a a farm house , out the back there stands what looks for all intents looks like a railway water tower which it is! There used to be a number of light Railway's that served the military on Salisbury Plain

[@wendarampton1888]

I moved to Bulford in 1975 and at that time on a Sunday you could drive from the bustard north, but not anymore 😢

[@Peter0wen]

Hi Paul Your drive across Salisbury Plain reminded me of the time I tried to avoid traffic near stone henge. I had assumed that my sat nav would eventually find a route through but as I drove further and further off the main road I became more and more nervous. The Sat nav kept telling me to make a U turn but I was determined not to turn around. There were remains of what looked like a war zone village with military signs prohibiting entry. Eventually I came to a road block. Heavy looking and overgrown concrete blocks barbed wire and a dilapidated gate with a threatening looking sign blocked the way forward. I had to return by the same road whilst feeling stupid and still a little nervous and eventually join the endless queue on the infamous A303.

[@pwhitewick]

Oooops

[@dave_h_8742]

I went cross country from stonehenge (behind it i think) going past beware of tanks crossing signs & through a village of 1930's type houses with kids playing and normal life have no idea what way I went but got back to Liverpool eventually 😂

[@AndyJarman]

At Averton Gifford in Devon I followed Google maps, aiming to drive to Burgh Island. I was amazed to find Google maps directed me to drive onto the river bed of the Avon River! There is a road (Tidal Road) where you are expected to drive along looking up at the underside of yachts and commercial boats for nearly a mile - when the tide returns the sea these vessels float and the road is submerged. All the while I was thinking of all those stupid people I had read about following Maps so pedantically that they end up abandoning their cars on tidal mudflats. Well, now it was my turn. How it is established that the road/river bed is safe to drive on at the moment you enter it I'll never know! maps.app.goo.gl/v4uDELfM2gL9YpWa9

[@crackajacka87]

I live in the small town of Devizes just north of Salisbury plain and we used to have a railway running through our town and you can still trace where the old line was which left the line at Holt and rejoined the line near the small village of Stert just outside of Devizes. The line even went through the castle walls here and you can still see where it ran through and is now a gun range. From what I recall, it was closed because it wasn't used much and so was closed by 1966. My guess as to why no railway line ever went through Salisbury plain is because there's no one there, it's just mostly feilds on a very big hill with the two main roads being the only things cutting through it and Imber was literally a small village in the middle of nowhere at the time. The area has been void of human settlement as it's just a big old hill so there's no point making a railway through, better to go around and go through as many towns as possible to make the route more cost effective.

[@zippy5131]

RAF Stonehenge, brilliant..... Is that by any chance RAF Boscombe Down.... Stayed there so many times when working at RAF Chilmark. Now thats a place where railways ended and narrow gauge started. Especialy the underground bomb dump, which is now part of the quarry. History is awsome.

[@markdolman3823]

Stonehenge was a separate aerodrome, when heading west on the A303 just after the stones you had the hangers on the right and the domestic buildings on the left, it was demolished above ground between the wars.

[@zippy5131]

Ah! as soon as you mentioned Aerodrome, WW 1. Yes they did a lot of that back then. Good gen cheers. @@markdolman3823

[@TimGrose]

Great video. Have done an Imber bus day and have ran following the old line as much as possible from Grateley and that Newton Tony car park to Tesco at Amesbury where the station there was. Must go and find these milestones.

[@meme4one]

The lack of people and infrastructure plus the occasional blown up tank is why I love being on Salisbury plain

[@beakytzw]

Ditto, my last posting was Tidworth, My ex and my daughter still live there and I visit often just to walk the plain. Tidworth once had its own goods yard and Station.

[@meme4one]

@@beakytzw I was there briefly at 1 mech brigade and live not too far away now too 👍

[@beakytzw]

@@meme4one I am in Trowbridge. So still not too far away. I spent my gardening leave at a unit under Comd of 1 Mech.

[@grenfellroad8394]

When I was a kid we lived in Ludgershall, my Dad was posted to the RAOC vehicle depot there, and I loved riding out on my bike onto the plains. Down the tank tracks was always a great day out exploring.

[@streuthmonkey1]

I cannot think of it without it bringing to mind the mass theft that the government used WW2 as an excuse to carry out. Salisbury Plain is one of many places which were effectively stolen from the people and never returned.

[@littlekeithy]

I am pretty sure you can see what is a railway cut just a few hundred yards south of Larkhill. I came across it while walking from Durrington Walls/Woodhenge over to Stonehenge and always wondered what happened to the railway line. I used to get the coach from Somerset to London in the last decade and sometimes went over Salisbury Plain to avoid bad traffic at Stonehenge. On a winter afternoon it could be quite eerie travelling over it under a red sky still full of bird life.

[@wessexdruid7598]

It could be a military line. The army had their own rails and trains, for moving troops and ammunition. There is still a tiny bit left, at Ludgershall, but most of it has long gone.

[@christophernoble6810]

The plain is high ground and would have been avoided by the railways, plus there is very little habitation due to the lack of water on chalk downs. Railways tend to keep to the valleys where it is flatter. In terms of antiquity the same really applies, apart from the railway element obviously.

[@Ulfcytel]

In some ways the opposite applied in antiquity. The light chalk soils of the plain were not so heavily wooded and hard to till as the clay river valleys, until better farming technology was introduced in the early Middle Ages. Hence more attractive for Neolithic and Bronze Age dwellers.

[@crackajacka87]

Yep, why build a railway where no one really lived as it was just a huge hill with feilds covering it... Better to go around and visit the smaller towns around it and get extra fares from doing so.

[@IanDDalton]

Great video, in my local area as well, another reason for the evacuation in Imber was a military plane crash that happened on Salisbury Plane killing several civilians, I believe it was in 1943. When I was at school in the 80's we put on a play about the evacuation, and even had descendants of original families who took part.

[@dcarbs2979]

I think it's Imber that had it's last ever funeral recently. Due to it's war history, only those former residents at the time were allowed to be buried there. The last person died in 2022 and there is now no one to hand the village back to.

[@Martin_Adams184]

Thank you for this good analysis - very well presented. Originally, on your "This Road Just Vanished! Why?" video, I wrote a quite long comment about the "Shrewton Station" marked on the map. But this video raises the very points I was making -- that it was never built and was not the only case of an OS map showing an unbuilt railway. Such an interesting area. In the late '60s and the early '70s I cycled along many of the tracks you mention. (I lived in Lyndhurst.) Thank you!

[@herbrand47]

The training area of Imber was also used later by the Ministry of Defence to train troops operating in Northern Ireland during the IRA crisis. In Northern Ireland, the British army faced a different sort of warfare, which was novel to most of the soldiers. At Imber, soldiers were trained in patrolling a residential area and manoeuvring in case of an ambush or a sniper attack. The residents of Imber did not resist the military’s orders to move, primarily because they thought they were doing a service for their country at war. Initially, they thought that after the war they were going to come back, but they were never given permission to return.

[@emaartamor]

Great video. Was my first time visiting Imber a few weeks ago for Imberbus Day, great fun, though like you say, sad how the village was abandoned and never lived in again. Also visited Tyneham last week, so sad again, and more interesting and atmospheric.

[@paullinnitt5450]

I once mountain biked across Salisbury plain. We stopped near a wood and a whole load of soldiers just appeared. All camouflaged. Surreal moment.

[@wessexdruid7598]

Brigades can just disappear... That's what they're trained for.

[@tomlee812]

The amount of research and craft you put into these videos is amazing and very much appreciated. Thank you very much for another enthralling episode.

[@nendwr]

If you know what you're looking for, the Slow Coach Road is indeed there as a turnpike in the VCH of Wiltshire, albeit in an absurdly disguised form that rather draws attention to the bits they weren't allowed to publish in 1959: There was also an Act for a separate trust for one of the roads through Trowbridge, from Tinhead Hill in Edington to Trowbridge and from Trowbridge to Limpley Stoke and Midford (Som.) (18). The part from Trowbridge northwards was taken over by the main Trowbridge trust in 1767-8. No renewal seems to exist for the Tinhead portion, and presumably it was allowed to lapse, although, strangely, it appears in the 1882 list of disturnpiked roads, (fn. 33) as though it had been disturnpiked in Victorian times with the rest. The entrance to Trowbridge by this route would have been by the long green lane from Ashton Common.

[@pwhitewick]

Ah brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

[@bryansmith1920]

Paul @ 7:40ish Good call on NOT tacking a modern car down a Tank Track, I was REME 1977-1986, I was out on exercise North Germany, We were tasked with our Batt 4ton Recovery vehicle to a 3/4ton LR, on arrival we found the LR up to its belly in a flooded tank track trench, We busted our 7ton SWL winch, had to call 7th Armd out, Trust me if the Brit Army uses it Nobody else wants it, Run away fast😂😂😂

[@ainttelling1851]

😮i

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Imber was a few weeks ago, I’m yet to do it and say every year I’m going. It’s only about half hours drive to the buses for me as well. A great little bit of History, I wonder if things may have been different without the wars

[@jesperlykkeberg7438]

Well. There´s the Reading-Taunton railway line with stations at Pewsey.and Westbury. There´s also the South Western railway line with stations at Andover and Salisbury. The reason there´s no railway station in Wells, Glastonbury and Cheddar has nothing to do with the Salisbury Plain.

[@davewest5776]

a few years ago the artillery nearly hit the railway when they overshot the impact zone and over the A342

[@marvinnappermarvo]

It's a shame that the villagers of Imber gave up their homes for the war effort being promised that they could later return but never did. Just another sad story just like Tyneham in Dorset.

[@JamesSmith-qs4hx]

What a price to pay, last century we marched millions off to die in world wars, so that this century, millions can march in and take what they want.

[@Si-zy2lz]

Tottington and Stanford would be a couple more villages to add to this list. The area is now known as STANford Training Area or STANTA on the Suffolk/Norfolk border North of Thetford.

[@c3pno]

@@JamesSmith-qs4hx good way of putting it👍

[@JamesAFCWFC]

@@JamesSmith-qs4hxcry more

[@bob_the_bomb4508]

@@JamesSmith-qs4hxmillions? I think you’ll struggle to find evidence for that 😊

[@roderickmain9697]

Back in the day (1960s) the company my dad worked for used to organise "car rallys". glorified "treasure hunts" but your navigation skills had to be top notch and each one had several stages and check points. The "scary" one was called "the nightmare rally" and happened at night. One of the points participants had to find was the number on a target tank in the middle of Salisbury plane at around 3am. Years later when I was starting on my software engineering journey there was a story that went around that the largest buyer of "underground trains" was not TfL, but in fact the military. It is said that there is a whole underground network under Salisbury plane connecting various military sites. I am disposed to take the story with a large bucket of salt but you may have been nearer a railway than you thought.

[@Alan_UK]

Back in the 60's I navigated for a chap doing these night time rallies. One scary occasion was a irate local trying to block the road with old oil drums! There was an underground narrow gauge railway network at East Dean between Salisbury and Romsey to store naval nuclear torpedoes (I think). It was connected to the main rail line running between those 2 towns.But East Dean is south of Salisbury Plane.

[@iankemp1131]

However even the Army doesn't have a million people to move around every day and to be honest they wouldn't need underground lines (vastly expensive in chalk) to do it. There were similar rumours for years of a strategic reserve of steam locos that had been stored invisibly after 1960s dieselisation, in case of oil becoming unavailable. More plausible, but now seems highly unlikely given lack of any evidence for 50+ years. A pity, because it was suggested that the selected locos included historically important classes like GWR Granges.

[@roderickmain9697]

@@iankemp1131 Wouldnt that be a find.?! I suspect all these rumours come about as Bath has a high number of "cave" systems where military supplies are kept. There was a BBC program about it years ago so they do actually exist. But for the rest, I'm guessing its food for conspiracy theorists.

[@paulshaddick8325]

I suggest you research "Dr. Beeching", he is the reason the railways didnt expand and many branch lines were closed and traffic went onto the roads instead.

[@MummaBear]

Yeah.... If you research he was compromised by big oil... Ford ect... Nothing changes huh

[@dukeofaaghisle7324]

I have a GWR enamelled tray on which is printed a map of their railway network, dated 1902. Interestingly, there is a proposed branch line from Wilton to Durrington on the south side of Salisbury Plain. I have not been able to find much information about this proposal. My guess is that they would have tunnelled east from Wilton GWR and then followed the Avon Valley to Durrington. Most likely nothing was ever built. I assume the GWR were hoping for some of the military traffic (that went to the LSWR at Bulford) rather than using it as part of a route to poach some traffic from Southampton.

[@douglasfleetney5031]

Hi Paul. I think it was water or the lack of that stopped the railways.Wiltshire, like Kent. being on chalk has very few rivers of note, in steam terms it's a 'dry' county. Wells are fine but the amount that steam machines use it starts to get expensive. If you look at the villages they had not grow substantially since the end of the Black Death. I think the Railways avoided the are because of the lack of water, people, freight and general usage. At best the LSWR proposal would, today, have no stops on the plain as there would just not be the money to be made. Look to the Seven and Thames Canal for the problems they had with water. Never forget, no water your loco goes bang. Also pumping water is very expensive, look to the way Boulton and Watt made their money in Cornwall. Other than Dungeness, Salisbury Plain is the only other candidate for Desert Status in the UK. Thank the Chalk..... Great video, as ever. I do like the new(ish) format.

[@wessexdruid7598]

The Avon cuts through the plain, north to south - on the route the Great Western was planning.

[@NigelCopy]

Thanks for the video. It's great to revisit some of my childhood haunts. (Originally from Andover)

[@gnomevoyeur]

From my understanding, large spaces that have small population ( Like the Sahara Strip in Africa, Thie Gobi in China/Mongolia, The Western USA and most of Australia) generally have little access to water. The Salisbury Plain seems to be a tiny microclimate in comparison and my knowledge is somewhat limited but I do know that the population of Old Sarum packed up and moved to Salisbury in search of water. Do you think water supply (as in enough to drink or float a barge rather than enough to bog your truck) is an important factor?

[@pwhitewick]

Very good point, this would tie in well with the geography

[@knrdvmmlbkkn]

​@@pwhitewick"I do know that the population of Old Sarum packed up and moved to Salisbury in search of water." Thank you for mentioning that word - Sarum. I had been looking for it.

[@graafisk]

I'm new to your channel, and I am absolutely loving the way you bring focus to unknown patches of British history and geography. I've both liked and subscribed 🙂 Keep up the great adventures!

[@1234j]

🎉❤ really interesting. Thank you. Great video, super information. Any chance of lingering longer with the graphics showing the various routes, thicker lines, more striking, contrasting colours? Did a few rewinds to absorb them.

[@pwhitewick]

Fair... but rewinds help my stats... 🤪

[@themoonraker]

Great video, nice to see these on my local area. It is said that Nine Mile River is named due to it's distance from Salisbury, but the nine miles would be where it meets the River Avon in Bulford. Where you were standing are the springs which is more like 12 miles from Salisbury. As a small local publisher I'm currently working with a local author on a book about Bulford Railway which covers some of the things you have talked about, very interesting indeed.

[@bill8784]

Fascinating. Really enjoyable episode. Cycled around as a child and exercised on Salisbury plain 40 years ago this summer including in and around Imber. Beautiful countryside.

[@pwhitewick]

Very cool!

[@davie941]

hello again Paul and Rebecca , great video as always , really well done and thank you both 😊😍

[@PaulTimlett]

Excellent work Paul. And thanks for the acknowledgment. Prior to the acquisition of Salisbury Plain by the military there were agricultural settlements here and there is evidence of old farms dotted all over. One particularly poignant journey to make is to follow what we call The Spine Road across what is now the Westdown and Larkhill Impact Areas, an area in part called Black Heath. As long as you stick to the track you can cross it when the red flags are down (increasingly rare days now). You can really sense the remoteness out there and it’s one of the few places in southern England where there is true peace and quiet. No intrusion from the sound of man. However the track is very rough and arduous, best traversed on foot although it makes for a long walk. Maybe it was that remoteness that restricted “development” to just a few farmsteads? Then of course the military moved in and ensured there will likely never be any development here, something us residents of the Plain value immensely.

[@pwhitewick]

I think that is the one route I wanted to take but as you imply, would need a lot of time. Perhaps another story for another day.

[@PaulTimlett]

@@pwhitewick It is drivable very slowly in an off-roader. That truck you had would do it. They “resurfaced” it with large stones but they never got round to crushing them so it’s like driving over small rocks for miles on end. Even on my mountain bike it’s purgatory.

[@pwhitewick]

@PaulTimlett I was actually thinking the big bike to be fair. I feel I miss too much in truck.

[@PaulTimlett]

@@pwhitewick It’s doable but last time I rode it I had to ride on the verge most of the time. Other times I had to get off and push. But yes you can definitely take in the silence without the sound of an engine.

[@RichWoods23]

"No intrusion from the sound of man." Excepting the occasional artillery barrage.

[@stevecotton5262]

You can usually visit Imber on Bank Holidays - well worth a visit.

[@felixthecat265]

Interesting... One of the reasons I was always told about the reasons for not reinstating Imber was the suspicion of consanguinity! The same issue seems to have been behind the evacuation of St Kilda! How true this is I have no way of knowing, however if this was an issue, I can see it would be a difficult one to solve! On a different tack, I thought there was a branch line up to the Fargo Ammunition Depot at Larkhill School of Gunnery at one time, though I can's see any evidence of one.

[@AnthonyTobyEllenor-pi4jq]

Evidence of consanguinuity is sometimes found by children born with five fingers or 6 toes. There is a remote village in Spain that regularly produced cretins due to consanguinuity.

[@smallsleepyrascalcat]

Great video once again. It's funny to learn that the old railway companies were, as we say here in Germany, each others wolf.

[@1258-Eckhart]

I think you'll find that that was Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Wiltshire: "Homo hominem lupus est".

[@brightstar586]

Thank you for another extremely interesting video!

[@dartmoorkid4797]

Amazing to hear Chitterne mentioned in a video. My maternal grandmother lived there for all the years I knew her so I remember it well. Can't imagine it having a railway station. But then again Beeching would probably have closed it.

[@crackajacka87]

The Beeching was in '66 and I doubt there was a railway then as I live in Devizes, just north of Salisbury Plain and our route was taken away for that reason and you can still see where the old line used to cross through on the maps... If Chitterne had a railway by '66 then we'd still see signs off it but there isn't any so looks like it was either removed before WWII or they never laid it down.

[@dartmoorkid4797]

@@crackajacka87 I suspect they never laid it down. What I intended to suggest was that had they ever built it Beeching would have closed it. Sorry for not making that clear.

[@hedleythorne]

Superb video. Salisbury Plain has always been a kind of enigma to me.

[@antonioveritas]

Script Paul Whitewick, Research Paul Whitewick, Filmography Paul Whitewick, Editing Paul Whitewick, Production Paul Whitewick. If the BBC did things like that they would save £1000s! 😂

[@louisesouthgate5231]

Soooo interesting! Thank you!

[@firesurfer]

On another channel, I came upon the coach pubs that were a big part of the sheep trade. There were coins(tokens) with the image of hanging sheep. Apparently the fleece trade was very important to pubs. As someone from the US, I find that fascinating.

[@stewartwestwood5534]

Quirky, interesting and entertaining. Brilliant. Thank you😊

[@shirleylynch7529]

Fascinating subject. Really interesting. Thank you again for all your research. You are so enthusiastic Paul. Most enjoyable and informative.

[@lindamccaughey6669]

Really enjoyed that thanks Paul…please take care

[@52memor]

I can tell m you somewhere which is even more shocking than the area you mentioned. Mitcham South London. Really long roads. I mean really long and the most horrifying bit NO PUBS. The houses were built on Church Land and the stipulation was NO PUBS Needless to say we never bought a house there.. Great vids Many thanks

[@markwalker2627]

Bournville in Birmingham has no pubs either. Cadbury brothers were Quakers and no pubs were allowed to be built and this is still observed today, but there is copious amounts of chocolate 😂

[@davefrench3608]

Another superb piece of work. The Imber story is so sad.

[@akkaax3509]

Nice interesting video. I found an old coin earlier this year while walking just east of the 9 mile river. Its dated 1694, and was just sat on the mud where it had been disturbed by the 4x4's.

[@philipbellew9645]

Those kerbside rails in Shrewton were put in to stop tanks in WW2 clipping the corners and the cottages when passing through the village. I believe the rails came from the Larkhill military railway after it was dismantled in the 1920s. It linked in at Amesbury (L+SWR) and ran from Ratfyn to Druids Lodge (where there is a water tower still standing) with an arm going off towards Shrewton. Keep up the exploring

[@newforestpixie5297]

Are you aware of the built but never used light railway which accompanied the power grid cables through the 3 metre bore south eastern Southampton Water tunnel from Fawley Power Stn to Workman’s Lane next to Solent Glamping ? It’s at least mentioned in the on line material which refers to the challenging construction of this tunnel in the early 1960s ? Whilst re developing the old power station site perhaps the opportunity exists to allow the route to become a cycle path linking the New Forest to Titchfield ! In 2005 my lad & I set off to Bishops Canning nr Avebury from Lymington armed with just a 1940s Bartholomew 1” Salisbury Plain map only to discover the orange coloured alternative but direct route across the plain was now protected by a chap in uniform at a crossing barrier whom laughed at the outdated map I produced as evidence of our innocence against prying the now MOD owned land….👍

[@roguetrooper9871]

I've been to Imber village, had an exercise there when I served, pre internet. It was interesting to look through its history online in later years.

[@AndyWoodger]

Excellent research and presentation.

[@gerryholland7274]

Paul. Did you notice the edges of the kerbs in Shrewron are lengths of Rial! Especially near British Legion down to the Bridge and Lock up. Weird!

[@pwhitewick]

Oh yes. They are in the video twice.

[@davidberlanny3308]

Well done, great to see those milestones. Good fun to be had going through those muddy tracks and pools. Better to do it with your own vehicle though. Last time I was there we had to tow an ex-military ambulance off with a broken clutch!! Have a great week!!

[@pwhitewick]

Ooooops

[@Sarge084]

My visits to Salisbury Plain weren't as enjoyable as yours appeared to be, I usually returned from there dirty, smelly, hungry and tired!

[@paulinehedges5088]

I did wonder why there was no railway across the Plain and now I know! Thank you for another informative and enjoyable video. Quick glimpse of Rebecca too! 😊

[@ludovica8221]

I have lived in Lymington my entire life and today/here/now is the first time I have heard of even a theoretical tunnel to IOW . Mind blown, especially if you knew how wrapped in local history my family has always been and how connected to the local museum and community centre

[@WC21UKProductionsLtd]

That was great Paul and Rebecca. I have always wondered what it looked like up there. Interesting insight into how much the wider landscape has been changed by industrial farming. Thanks - a great video.

[@TheManFrayBentos]

"I'm probably the only person here for miles in any direction." Apart from the squaddies in the bushes, yes.

[@herbrand47]

The people of Imber were shocked to learn that their village had been requisitioned under crown prerogative, which effectively allowed the War Office to evacuate the place without consultation or compensation2. Following the end of the war, the Imber villagers petitioned the government to allow them to return, but their requests were denied1.

[@JakeWitmer]

So much for western "civilization."

[@wessexdruid7598]

Most of the villagers were tenants - and, over a long period of time, the War Department had bought the land.

[@MrGreatplum]

Very interesting video. My understanding is that Salisbury plain is agriculturally pretty poor and so in more modern history, not many lived there (with some exceptions such as Imber.) therefore, unless you were building to try and annoy another rail company, there was little point in a railway there (except the LSWR finding a niche with the military.) There’s a similar patch of land north of Thetford, the Stanford battle area - I think 5 small villages were evacuated there too but there’s no railways over that patch either

[@pwhitewick]

Yup. Chalk lowlands.. although 200m above sea level, leave little for a good crop

[@hiddenwiltshire]

Always glad to see you in Wiltshire Paul, and thanks for the credit to the website. It's thanks to Steve Dewey that we have so much content about the old roads and rivers across the plain. Glyn.

[@martynbuzzing3327]

Great information. Love your indepth explanation. Thanks

[@robertwedd1111]

Fascinating - great video 👍

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

An intriguing account, well researched and filmed! That old railway bridge seems worth an explore. Is there any accessible trackbed?

[@chrish5319]

Really interesting again Paul. Every time there is something new in the production. I notice you mentioned the OS benchmark and I had been looking at these recently and noticed there were relatively few in central Wessex, i.e. the plain. This struck me as odd given the ordnance element and I was going to pose it as a question for the Wessex ways podcast. Thank you again for an enjoyable video.

[@grahamsimpson3186]

Another great video Paul.

[@johnspurgeon9083]

Paul found more or less continuous roads on the map albeit closed for public use. I find it fascinating how may rural roads just stop and go no further, because an airfield was built for wartime use. Best seen on one inch maps but still traceable on Landranger.

[@Sim0nTrains]

Very enjoyable video and presented awesome

[@Jimyjames73]

Strange but Lovely views - thanks for sharing 🙂🚂🚂🚂

[@StevenKeery]

Very interesting.

[@jacquesvandenberg1873]

Super interesting episode, thanks Paul & Rebecca 🎉

[@henkmeerdink2088]

Whilst the residents of Imber where not allowed back into their homes after the war, the church and graveyard remained consecrated, and remain to this day out of bounds to the militairy. People who were born in the village, held the right to be buried in the graveyard, and relatives are allowed to visit the graves year round, subject to any exercises taking place.

[@v88krb]

Paul, there was no commitment by the War Department to allow the villagers back to Imber. Come and see us at the church next time we are open in December and talk to our historians and view our papers.

[@windleshamwanderer3728]

Very interesting, as usual.

[@southerncomfortuk]

Another large area featuring no railways is the South Hams in Devon. Situated on the south-eastern side of the A38 between Torbay and Plymouth, not a train track in sight.

[@andrewhotston983]

The railways to Kingsbridge and Yeampton in the South Hams were closed years ago.

[@wessexdruid7598]

You can thank Dr Beeching for that.

[@leonardjackman354]

How interesting great video in a lovely part of the country.

[@bruceknights8330]

There's a Ruston LSSH and wagonson a bit of track at Copehill. Almost a railway 😅

[@wessexdruid7598]

I think they were put there for training. But the army did have narrow gauge lines on and near the plain. In WW1, temporary railways were common.

[@williams9100-mdsf]

Always enjoy your videos. I used to live nearby, and drove every morning through Ludgershall. I noticed a large railway yard as you come off the edge of Salisbury Plain. ??

[@pwhitewick]

Yup that's the end of the line down to Andover. Still used for MOD sporadically. Was part of the line to Swindon and onwards.

[@davewest5776]

I remember riding the train from Collingbourne ducis to ludgershall when I was a kid there was the possibility of going from Salisbury to Swindon

[@Flymochairman1]

Nice one Paul. Glad there were no Red Flags! Always great to find such pieces of the past like that and the tragic end to the community at Imber must still resonate today. Certainly not an area I'd ever reach. Hello to Rebecca too. Keep safe and see you again. Cheers!

[@syncrosimon]

Now that I live on Spey side in Scotland I look back at Salisbury Plain as one of the few places that I miss, used to explore the area on adventure motorbikes and loved the lack of people.

[@a11csc]

sad for the residents of imber but mod will always win,great vid though

[@radicalcartoons2766]

Same thing happened to the village of Charlton, North of Bristol. Requisitioned to build the military airfield at Filton. Last time I remember it being used for that purpose was the 1986 bombing of Libya. We allowed the US to use it as a staging post. Filton was still maintaining F1-11s, into the 80s.

[@richardsawyer5428]

Salisbury Plain is a fascinating place. Hugely important for wildlife such as skylarks, stone curlews and of course, Great Bustards. The military do their best to protect what's there, hence the white markers that cordon off burial mounds. It's worth being up there at the height of summer. It's a tonic for the soul.

[@Richardincancale]

“I’ve been Paul…” and you still are!

[@juliannowell8086]

Hi Paul an Rebecca, please tell us more about Stonehenge Airport you mentioned in this video.

[@pwhitewick]

I'll save that for a future video.

[@PeterWasted]

@@pwhitewick That should be fun. You could include Airmen's Cross too as it's fairly closely located and only a few years earlier. If you wanted to tell more of a story about British military aviation, Netheravon and Middle Wallop aren't too far...

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@PeterWasted The monument from Airman's Corner has been moved into the Stonehenge museum, I believe? As a relative local, I refuse to pay the exorbitant entrance fee.

[@PeterWasted]

@@wessexdruid7598 Ah - News to me but I guess not really a surprise. If there's any way to monopolise the area EH are likely doing it.

[@davewest5776]

You missed the Oxford/ Salisbury coach Road that ran between Collingbourne ducis and ludgershall running to the north of sidbury Hill a Hill fort north of tidworth

[@pwhitewick]

Any milestones left?

[@davewest5776]

You might find some on the back road from Hungerford past wexford to the shears Inn at Collingbourne crossing the A346 continuing on the other side of road as a track to a dairy on the a342 going across the river to the A338 by the military cemetery then the bottom of sidbury Hill

[@whiteleyadam]

The relatively lack of train connectivity to Salisbury is one for the reasons of its terminal decline - not just in train lines little to close to London but not too far to justify a direct service but in roads stuck between the M4/A303 to its north and the A38 coastal roads - I remember when a bypass was proposed but the viability report found that most ppl within 14 miles of Salisbury where in fact ppl going to Salisbury

[@caminojohn3240]

Let me see I got the gist of your video. Originally there was some north / south coach lines that connected various towns / cities. There was no real resources to exploit in terms of minerals or timber. Mostly local farming. Then when railroad mania happened, two competing railroad lines were blocking each other from placing a line thru the area. Ultimately, the war department started buying up land, railroads drifted into the past, and the landscape was saved from development.

[@fredMplanenut]

As with Tyneham, residents were not given a choice as it was "war effort". Very interesting video, well done. Love that snippet with the Isld of Wight connection.

[@worldtraveler930]

I would love to turn you loose here in Texas and let you explore all the roads that are no longer roads rails that are no longer rails and cattle trails that are not quite yet forgotten!!! 🤠👍

[@jaycrandell147]

How damn interesting. Cheers!

[@polyrhythmia]

Open spaces in the UK, especially England. Who would have thunk it? Really like the scenery, though I'll never see it for myself.

[@1maico1]

There are lots of large open spaces in England which are sparsely populated. Exmoor, Dartmoor etc.

[@Blade_Daddy]

Fascinating!

[@frankdoss6313]

I find myself enjoying your videos. Subscribing. Your voice and presentation reminds me of Tony Robbins, in a most positive way.

[@pwhitewick]

Wow, thank you!

[@pavelow235]

I'm American, but I really like your channel content, thanks for making ironing clothes time easier!

[@pwhitewick]

Glad you like them!

[@grahamkearnon6682]

100 years ago the most prominent tree would have been huge old Elm trees with the Oaks fighting for space, unfortunately the disease destroyed the Elms and, the Oaks took over, my point being the landscape would have looked very different.