Wiltshire's Lost Railway - An Abandoned Branch Line

[@chriswilkin2112]

A minute in and Rebecca is showing off her baps, what a start, 😆. Seriously though, thanks for another great video guys.

[@johntaylor6845]

As a resident of Calne I often cycle/walk this route, it proved useful late one night when as usual the bus service left before the London train arrived. The suspension bridge over the A4 road is known as The Millennium Bridge being installed for the year 2000, I attended the formal opening by Adam Hart-Davis, known for the TV series Local Heroes & What the Romans Did for Us.

[@smiffy1947]

For many years during the life of the branch, Black Dog Halt was the private station for the Marquis of Lansdowne as the railway was built across his estate, Bowood. Therefore only two stations were shown on the timetable from Chippenham: Stanley Bridge Halt, and Calne. It was said that the train guard used to be ready to stop passengers for Calne from getting off if the train happened to stop at Black Dog. This was a particular problem during World War 2 with the many RAF servicemen going to the RAF stations at Compton Bassett and Yatesbury. By the way, the very noisy road is the A4, which until the advent of the M4 was the main road from London to Bath and Bristol. The day before the M4 finally opened Harris staff stood by the factory in Calne handing out free bacon and sausages to passing motorists!

[@garywerrett1243]

Black dog halt was a requested stop it started as a goods stop and later on they put another platform in for passengers

[@smiffy1947]

@@garywerrett1243 All true, but if you wished to use Black Dog you had to buy a ticket to the next stop along the line - Calne if coming from Chippenham and Stanley Bridge Halt if going towards Chippenham. Black Dog Halt didn’t appear on the timetable until 1952.

[@platformten5958]

Hi LoddonLad. I wonder if there are any of those bacon or sausage handouts still in existence. Might be worth having a look on ebay. Paul.

[@smiffy1947]

@@platformten5958 After 52 years I don’t really fancy any......😊

[@platformten5958]

@LoddonLad. No, but they could be worth something as collector's items. 😀 Paul.

[@Mikes666]

8:12 I remember that bridge being craned in. I delivered the lifting ropes to the crane.And I’m going to Calne in the morning!

[@littlepete1981]

The millennium bridge 🌉

[@malcolmsmith6615]

Well, I recognised Chippenham car park within the first 3 seconds! Sad or what! Right, the old GWR “bridge rail” was also used on standard gauge track after broad gauge was abandoned and a very short standard gauge section existed in situ until recently (or is it still there) in one of those disused platforms you spotted at Chippenham (the platform face nearest the main line). Right, the two disused platforms were part of the goods yard and were never used for passenger trains. They were purely for loading/ unloading goods. The one nearest the main line was known as the fish dock. Incidentally, the other platform at Black Dog was indeed a goods platform, and the road crossing at Black Dog used to comprise a very narrow and very low bridge, totally unsuitable for the road traffic even back in the mid-60s. It was the scene of several fatal road accidents and was promptly removed soon after the line closed. On a side, I used to practice rock climbing up the abutments of Black Bridge (the main bridge over the Avon). Chippenham - the arrival platform for trains terminating from Calne was the Down Main platform (still very much in existence in the main station but with no track in place), and the departure platform for trains heading back towards Calne was at the east end between the current platforms 1 and 2, but was filled-in in 1976. Every train had to shunt from the arrival platform to the departure one! So there you have it, my brain-dump to help fill in some extra info! Many many thanks, my old stomping ground and a station and line I know so well!

[@pwhitewick]

❤️.... love a Malcolm Brain dump

[@malcolmsmith6615]

@@pwhitewick Thank you, appreciated!

[@stepheneyles2198]

I started working in Westinghouse in 1983 and crossed the station footbridge every morning on the way to work. One morning I was looking bored and waiting for a train to pass when a policeman came and asked "Not thinking of doing anything bad, are we?". You don't get that sort of police presence these days, I'm sure!

[@Sim0nTrains]

Really enjoyed some of the old bridges on this branch line. found it madness that they built the line without any engine sheds etc but really do love Bacon! Great Video Paul and Rebecca.

[@racertwo]

Loving your black boots !

[@rodgermoss8975]

Were they Paul's ?

[@lyncheeseman]

Loved the video, hubby and I cycled from Chippenham to Calne a lot of times. The bridge over the main road looked different as did the new housing development . That use to be scrub type land , which had ponies roaming . The path then lead to a bridge over the river then into the town. You videos are full of information. Thank you.

[@marksmith334]

Nice surprise to see Rebecca’s warm baps in the winter, hopefully more to come as the weather warms up.

[@adrianlee2910]

Lovely film, once again. My late father grew up in Calne during WW2. He was evacuated from London with his brother and lived there with relatives from his mother's side of the family. After leaving school, he briefly worked in Harris's factory until called-up for National Service. The experience made him determined never to work in a factory again. True to his word, after leaving the RAF, he went to drama school and became an actor. Personally, not having a car, I have never actually visited the place, but I may still have some relatives from my grandmother's family living there for all I know? Anyway, again, thanks for all your efforts.

[@RichardFelstead1949]

What was your father's name and would we know him?

[@18robsmith]

You should have had some chips as well since you were starting at Chip 'n Ham

[@paulbennett7021]

And some ham.

[@kieranbeecroft8414]

YAY, an EDS! I love these more than any other videos you two do

[@donsharpe5786]

Interesting. I went for a job at Harris's in the mid 70s as a microbiologist. I didn't get the job. In about 1960, I drove the train from outside of Calne to just before the mainline at Chippenham. Chippenham had its own engine shed because they covered the Calne branch because there were often Siphons brought into Chippenham for onward disptch, The shed also supplied locos for the line to Westbury as well as freight working along the main line. Surprisingly there were occasional through trains, which ran from Calne to Bristol and Weston Super Mare.

[@stepheneyles2198]

The bridge at 7:58, passing over the A4, is on my 'I want to walk over that' list! Drive that road often on the way to visit mum, never knew it was the route of a disused railway! Also noticed the 'spare' platform and ramp at Chippenham but never knew what it was used for. Thanks for enlightening us!

[@jonathanfrankel6787]

I live in Calne and regularly cycle down the old railway line. Thanks for doing this.

[@TheBioniXman]

And I thought that Gillingham, Dorset had the huge bacon factory that was next to the station. The bacon factory is now gone, but there is still a pie maker next to the station car park, and the station is still there and in use.

[@ianmccarthy2733]

Still think a little holiday up here on the Wirral is in order guys west kirby to hooton now called the Wirral way worth a walk from start to finish , plenty of memorabilia ,stations ,old bridges and beautiful views looking over to north wales across the Dee

[@littlepete1981]

Surely one day I'll see you walking around this beautiful area... been watching your videos for over a year now every Sunday without fail .

[@philipashane]

Super fun, thanks guys! Really lovely place. I woulda loved to ride the Bacon Train!🎉

[@brianaveriss7972]

Enjoyed the walk guys, thank you.

[@timeflysintheshop]

The old bridges were the highlight of the video. Beautiful scenery and finding the old gate posts made from track was cool too! Thank you guys for a lovely walk on your "rails to trails" video! Cheers! 👍😁👍

[@martinmarsola6477]

Thank you Rebecca and Paul for the picturesque walking tour today. Very well planned out and filmed. See you both on the next! Cheers mates! ❤❤😊😊

[@bullettube9863]

Black Dog Halt? I bet there is an interesting story behind that name! In America a lot of dairy farms that the railroad passed through had small loading platforms where the local daily would pick up their milk. Thus a milk train would become synonymous with a slow train that stopped often.

[@LordClunk]

3:36 I used to practise/teach SRT off of Blackbridge. And as my parents live in Calne, and I lived in Chippenham (Right at the end of the old line) I used to cycle that path regularly to go see them.

[@thehermit407]

Current EDS completion estimate: 10/03/2078. That's 9 months added to the estimate following EDS 50, the "The Abandoned Railway to Nowhere. The Lambourn Valley." video. Our totals now match at 480. ;-)

[@DavidCollison]

Visiting this was one of your rasher decisions...

[@davidpryle3935]

You must admit though, their video brought home the bacon 🥓

[@John-L-1961]

I did have a little chuckle when you commented on how noisy the small road was as you crossed over the wobbly foot bridge at Black dog, that small road is the A4 a main trunk road.

[@dukeofaaghisle7324]

Great video - thank you Rebecca and Paul. It’s a lovely cycle track. I did the length of it (several times!) in September ‘21 while waiting for some work on my car. Plenty of old railway relics to see along the way including some fine old bridges, railway fence posts and a capstone engraved with ‘Reconstructed 1920’ from the viaduct over the Avon at Chippenham. Adjacent to the line between the River Avon and Hardings Lane is an intriguing concrete slab at the edge of a field - I couldn’t work out what it might have been, but it was almost certainly connected with the railway. Worth seeing at Chippenham Station is the site office used by Brunel during the building of the original Great Western Railway. A little way down from the Calne terminus, the canal basin and Patford Street are also worth a look. In between, you can enjoy the tranquil beauty of the bucolic Marden valley. Go in late September and there’s plenty of blackberries between Stanley Halt and Chippenham. Finally, the wobbly bridge over the noisy A4 is less wobbly if you’re on a bike!

[@paulbennett7021]

I like the canted footbridge arch & the design of the closure of the gate immediately afterwards

[@MrRawMonkey]

In the old photo of Stanley Bridge Halt they have added an E to the station sign making it Halte

[@pixelpeter3883]

Fancy boots Rebecca! :-)

[@mkendallpk4321]

Paul, waffle on! It adds to your channel. I enjoy every moment.

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Waffles and bacon. Sounds like a culinary delight.

[@devonbikefilms]

Brilliant, when I was a kid growing up in Chippenham, the bridge was already gone and we used the abutment as a climbing wall. Happy days😂

[@handyandy6050]

Lovely boots, Rebecca!

[@Mitch-Hendren]

Really enjoyed that . And at the end, ok it was houses but as part of the station . Not the whole thing or the track bed disappearing a mile before it . Which is typical .

[@shirleylynch7529]

Great walk, explore and footage. Very interesting, beaut bridge. Most enjoyable as always. Thank you.

[@darrellbenge9235]

There is a 10k trail run from Calne each year using the old railway called the SMARTT smasher. Its a lovely route.

[@damedavidfrith55]

Thanks for another cracking trip and tried 2 keep a straight face at Rebaccas babs but failed 😂

[@lindamccaughey6669]

Awesome video thanks guys. What a beautiful area that was. Thanks for taking me along. Please take care

[@johnlloyd2414]

I remember as a boy in the early 60s getting a green Diesel Multiple Unit from Chippenham to Stanley Bridge Halt and walking back with my parents. I also played on Black Bridge over the river Avon before the bridge was demolished.

[@andrewlamb8055]

Ah! Always great to see your baps !!!! Another excellent journey you guys… 👍

[@davidrumming4734]

Brilliant…this is very close to me. The little main road under that modern bridge is actually the main A4… At the calne end, yes those houses are very recent…prior to that a small trading estate was on the site of the station. Line closed mid 60s I think. Pls also see Devizes…like calne, used to have a railway and has plans to again (station will be on a different site tho). …and Marlborough, not far away had its own branch line…. Down in Dorset, Blandford had a station….one arch over the river Stour is still in place. Very pretty location. All now have gone. Imagine how the branch lines could help today with traffic congestion…assuming the ticket prices were affordable. To my generation and younger it’s odd hearing from older people how they were able to hop on a local train much like we do with buses today or just to make a short journey by train. It’s totally alien now.

[@littlepete1981]

Paul and Rebecca have already done most if not all of this area of Wiltshire both canal and railway lines .. look through their channel . Its excellent watching. Also calne and devizes museum both have channels there's quite alot of material if you search for local things

[@railwaychristina3192]

Thank you!❤

[@paulwhitehouse3690]

I lived in Chippenham for the first 25 years of my life, travelled back and forth to London once or twice a year (folks were evacuated during WWII) I always recall the public announcements (in a somewhat distorted Wiltshire accent) linking destinations to respective platforms, but the "Over the bridge for Calne" was the one that locked into my mind. Even after fifty years it is easily recalled. Wonderful memories guys. The lovely Bath stone building at Chippenham station was the main offices of I K Brunel when the Box tunnel was being built. What is now (may also have changed) the College further along from the station was the boys high school, we knew all the Kings, Castles and Halls on that GWR line.😊

[@richardeljay]

Excellent stuff. I do remember Harris pork pies before became Bowyers.

[@djburland]

Brilliant walk and information

[@liquidsonly]

How on earth did nerd like you meet such a wonderful lady. Asking for a friend. :)

[@CourtAboveTheCut]

Those bacon baps should have come from Jollys Irish cafe, it’s amazing. Btw you walked within a few hundred metres of my house we walk our dog down there daily. The first bridge over the river was just abutments as a kid, we used to climb it in outdoor pursuits at secondary school.

[@Alan_Watkin]

28k to build a railway, what would that cost now, i all was think its crazy how far inflation has gone when i hear the cost of old projects... good show guys many thanks

[@davie941]

hey again Paul and Rebecca , cool video as always , well done and thank you both 😊

[@RossMaynardProcessExcellence]

Outrageous boots! Paul's weekend wear I'm guessing.

[@robinjones6999]

I could look at books of old station photos all day long

[@bostonrailfan2427]

i guess the biggest part of the trip was finding that level crossing and its direct connection to the cause of the sale to GWR

[@nacantremember]

Used to climb the wall of black bridge as kid while up the river mucking about in it by the air raid shelter

[@raphaelnikolaus0486]

That was cracking!

[@garywerrett1243]

It was good to see you in my neck of the woods I’ve walked that so many times and I remember the old platform that was in calne the site used to be kam circuits before it was a housing estate

[@WillowT3]

I checked on an old map and that cab stand was a platform, but I think for goods. Two tracks came off the main tracks through the station and ended there at an angle. You can see that on old Ordnance Maps. As per usual great video!

[@eze8970]

TY.🙏🙏

[@lesleyhawes6895]

The footbridge at Black Dog was only built about 35 years ago, when I moved to the area round the you had to get down the road, take your life in your hands, cross the road, and climb up the other side, and carry on to Calne.

[@lesleyhawes6895]

Not a reply, just an addition, of course Harris's factory was open then, in Calne, and the whole place tended to smell of it, lovely if you liked bacon, but I guess it would have scared off any Vegans, had they been alive then!

[@billwinward9324]

It was installed in 2000 as a millennium project.

[@Chicken_12345]

great place, i used to cycle that route weekly and didnt know a thing about its history. thanks :D

[@oneteaminbristolbcfc]

Thanks for this ❤

[@michaelmiller641]

Yes I did enjoy that video Paul and Rebecca

[@WanderingwithWatto]

Another fantastic video guys. Full of great info as always. We are not too far from there in Gloucester so might venture down there for a nice wander. ATB. 👍🏻🚶🏻‍♂️🚶‍♀️

[@2009numan]

lovely pair of baps rebecca LOL

[@harriergr7728]

I’m surprised that YT didn’t sensor your baps.

[@sprint955st]

Check out the Flitch Way which is a pedestrian track on a disused railway from Braintree, Essex to Bishop’s Stortford. Why? Because the ‘flitch’ is the term give to a side of bacon which was awarded to married couples who didn’t argue for a year, at the Dunmow Trials.

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Interesting. My surname was the original spelling.

[@michaelcampin1464]

Glad its Sunday.nice to see you again this dull and very windy weekend in the North East. Try Greetham in Co. Durham the old home of digestive biscuits.

[@paulbennett7021]

Do you mean Greatham near Hartlepool? Darlo lad asking.

[@michaelcampin1464]

@@paulbennett7021 yes sorry m8.

[@R.C.A.F.V.R.]

Hi guys well done when we built the broad gauge at Didcot we got our supply of track from these farmers who used the track on the rail line you did today 1946-1957 it was used by the local RAF stations Compton basset was one and their were two more that my dad did his national service at and he caught the train to Calne as for Harris they use to get a delivery of sausages most were on the turn he recalled but hey Thks a gain did you cover the Luckett line in Devon or the two competitive lines at Tavistock where the north her is called Beeching follie

[@TheSpitfiregoggles]

Chris Leigh, who was the last editor of Model Railway Constructor magazine (it ceased publication in 1987) built a model of Black Dog Halt, he published a lot of research and photos in the magazine during its last year or so, worth a look for anyone interested in the line. Family connections...my Uncle used to be a sales rep for Harris's so we often got freebies and my Sister and Brother-in-law now live in Calne. Hoping to explore the branch line at soem point when we visit, many thanks for the video!

[@belindabrown.neekeen2970]

There is a long lost branch that went from swindon to Highworth vi's straton. I did walk a small bit and l found lots of station edging bricks with a checker plate effect on the top. We'll with a proper look by you guys. 😉

[@pwhitewick]

Hey Belinda. Already cover here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omqtpaiPgNuGrNk

[@barrythedieselelectricstea5217]

excellent video of the Wiltshire branch line does the land that black dog halt station once owned by anyone also i can't believe 6000 stations have closed what a waste that some could be used today

[@stepheny6321]

You can see old broad gauge line used as fence posts at 6:20

[@RichardFelstead1949]

Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Australia.

[@TrainDriverRob]

Excellent as usual, one of my regular stops, Chippenham, former home of Goldiggers, but that’s another story 😅 Have you covered the Dauntsey to Malmesbury line? I’d be interested in the area around Little Somerford Viaduct where it crossed the Badminton line.

[@Jimyjames73]

Hiya @ 1:46 yes I did wonder why it kept on spluttering - I've only just click on the Setting button cog thing & switch to HD (Only b/c of Sam's Trains has up-graded his video) & I notice that watching u 2 were was a much sharper image!!! 😉🤔🚂🚂🚂

[@littlepete1981]

Hello from calne and devizes x excellent video once again 👏 👌

[@graemebrand4740]

A railway line that brought home the bacon.

[@gaugeonesteam]

Did you see the piece on the local news tonight about the restoration of "Horsebridge Station" on the Sprat & Winkle line?

[@elliottjames8020]

I grew up in west Wiltshire. Calne was nicknamed "Pig Island" because of the meat processing in the town. The main factory was taken down about 45 years ago. I used to dominate the town centre.

[@rogercook6360]

Thanks for your very informative walks, this one was of particular interest as Wiltshire is my home county, for this reason I would ask if at some point you could do the old Devizes line also in Wiltshire.... Oh and perhaps Rebecca could ware the other pair of shoes featured for this one LOL !

[@pwhitewick]

There you go.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHLddmSAecR5j8U

[@rogercook6360]

@@pwhitewick Thanks Paul and Rebecca. I'm currently in Thailand on a break so I'll enjoy watching this as I'm sure like the rest of your videos it will remind me of home.

[@robinoconnor1203]

I have cycled along the line a couple of times, its under 20 miles from my current home. I only found out recently, my Mother went by train from West Yorkshire to Calne, using the branch line in 1940, to attend a wedding in Calne, quite a journey. The small road you crossed is the A4, hard to believe it was a major trunk road prior to the M4 being built.

[@davidrumming4734]

Did you know, in calne town centre….The strand, the river goes under the road..exit on the opposite side. I have always wondered what it looks like under there.

[@leeclift4666]

It's great when you find a bit of old broad gauge track.Thank you for posting 👍👍.Does anyone know where l could get a bit of broad gauge track cheers

[@Omegaman1969]

The Devizes branch line from Holt in Wiltshire is where the royal carriage would pull in for Charles to meet Camilla. Phillip was reported to have met some ladies there as well.

[@lordbungle6235]

Wonderful bit of history, plus Rebecca's Feet and baps plus making bacon 🤣 can't wait for the next 6000+ episodes. 😁 The pair of you really are a delight on a dank Sunday evening.

[@ThatCoalSoul]

* dark *

[@lordbungle6235]

@@ThatCoalSoul almost but not quite.

[@ThatCoalSoul]

@@lordbungle6235 Well played.

[@simonbradshaw3708]

Thank you for another interesting story of railway mania, it's probably unusual that the investors got all of their money back? I look forward to seeing your next video which might be about a canal?

[@EandEFC]

Good to see the line again, it has not changed still my favorite name Black Dog Halt!

[@mikebirkett010]

Nice one guys, keep it up.

[@wurlitzer895]

Love the GWR 'waiting room' at Stanley Bridge Halt(e)!! And the spelling of 'halte'...was that a common feature on the GWR?

[@davidmarkwatts]

My Dad travelled from Chippenham to Calne by that railway every day for his last couple of years at school.

[@davidking9707]

I have explored part of that line. My mother and my sister live in Chippenham.

[@tomlee812]

Enjoyed this one.

[@manmeetsinghmahajan6183]

Amazing.

[@williaml8474]

Nice!

[@gaffysmenk]

So Rebecca wore the walking shoes and Paul wore the dominatrix boots.. Nice..

[@bryansmith1920]

If I remember one of my Dad's jokes as we went out for our Sunday drive was oh look the most popular name for a town in Britain Stone Chippings

[@mechan2535]

loved the video as always, just a random thing ive never heard a bacon roll called a bap haha. im from scotland we call them rolls up here not baps.

[@mickd6942]

Nice baps ooh er mrs , another cracking video

[@hainanbob6144]

I love your waffle! Also love to see 'real' bacon, yummy! Nice to hear 'coinkydinky' again too.

[@dilwyn1]

Very interesting documentary. Seeing all the other comments, I want to say "You made a pig of that" LOL! but you didn't and the information was very enlightening

[@ronrussell-sancti]

Thanks for this! Can you show us about the tracks that went through Marlborough?

[@pwhitewick]

We've done a few in the past on the MSWJR. I think there is a snippet here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWrQlWurba18j5o