Hawkhurst branch line

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Hawkhurst branch line
Overview
LocaleKent, England
Dates of operation1892–1961
SuccessorAbandoned
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Length11 miles 24 chains (11.30 mi; 18.19 km)
The Hawkhurst branch in relation to other railway lines in Kent

The Hawkhurst branch line was a short

Medway Valley lines, a distance of 11 miles 24 chains (11.30 mi; 18.19 km
).

The line was promoted by the Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway (C&PWR), which was

Beeching Report
was published.

Origins

Hawkhurst Branch Line
Legend
Medway Valley line
to Strood
 Paddock Wood
SEML
0 mi
0 km
Queen Street
Willow Lane LC
Old Hay LC
Churn Lane LC
Churn Siding
2 mi 60 ch
4.43 km
Yew Tree Green Road
Swigs Hole
Horsmonden Tunnel (
86 yd
79 m
)
Back Lane
 Horsmonden
4 mi 20 ch
6.84 km
Station Road
Brick Kiln Lane
Smallbridge Road LC
River Teise
 Goudhurst
6 mi 25 ch
10.16 km
A262
LC
to Finchcocks
Kilndown Road
B2079 Bedgebury Road
Pattenden Siding
7 mi 20 ch
11.67 km
Smugley Farm LC
Cranbrook & Tenterden Light Railway
to Tenterden Town
(not built)
 Cranbrook
9 mi 70 ch
15.89 km
Badgers Oak Tunnel (
186 yd
170 m
)
Park Lane
Slip Mill Road
 Hawkhurst
11 mi 24 ch
18.19 km
Proposed line
to Rye
(not built)
Distances are from Paddock Wood, which is
34 miles 64 chains (56.01 km) from Charing Cross

Background

The construction between 1842 and 1853 of the

South Eastern Railway (SER) - preferred to wait for local enterprise funding.[3]

Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway Act 1877
Act of Parliament
40 & 41 Vict. c. clx
Dates
Royal assent2 August 1877
Text of statute as originally enacted

A variety of abortive schemes were proposed, including one in 1864 by the nominally independent Weald of Kent Railway from

Overend Gurney crisis.[4] Another independent company, the locally promoted Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway, revived the scheme in 1877 promoted it until its opening in October 1892.[5] The company was incorporated on 2 August 1877.[6]

Construction

The Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway obtained authorisation for a

Acts of Parliament in 1882 and 1892 which authorised a "cut-price" route between Goudhurst and Hawkhurst.[8]

Financial problems meant that construction was further delayed between 1884 and 1890, by which time the SER had taken over the

Holman Fred Stephens as resident engineer. The contract for the construction was awarded to J.T. Firbank who had overseen the building of the Metropolitan's line between Aylesbury and Quainton Road. Work began in the spring of 1890, and the first section between Paddock Wood and Hope Mill was opened on 1 October 1892. The remainder of the line to Hawkhurst followed a year later.[10] The four stations were built by Mancktelow Bros, Horsmonden.[11]

Route of the line

Signal box at left and level crossing
gates bottom left.

At

cutting, the line reached the 86-yard (79 m) Horsmonden Tunnel which was situated on the summit level at the end of a 1-mile (1.6 km) climb at 1 in 66 and carried the B2162 road over the line.[14]

Cranbrook (9 miles 70 chains (9.88 mi; 15.89 km)[15]) was the line's third station and reached following a climb up the valley through woodland.[22] There was a single platform on the down side, with a passing loop opposite it. Four sidings were on the down side of the line, but on the Goudhurst side of the station.[23] Heading towards its southern terminus at Hawkhurst (11 miles 24 chains (11.30 mi; 18.19 km)[15]), the branch climbed again at 1 in 85 up to the 178-yard (163 m) Badger's Oak Tunnel, the line's summit, before dropping at 1 in 80.[24] To save costs, the station was situated at Gills Green, around 1+1⁄4 miles (2.01 km) from Hawkhurst village.[9] Hawkhurst station was 46+1⁄4 miles (74.43 km) from Charing Cross.[25] The single platform was on the down side of the line, with a passing loop opposite, which also gave access to the two road engine shed. The five sidings were located on the down side of the station.[26]

Proposed extensions

Various abortive proposals were made to extend the line, whose dead-end nature deprived it of much of its usefulness.

Dungeness via Headcorn, Tenterden and Appledore.[29] The final proposal began with a junction at Cranbrook station, before running to Appledore via Sissinghurst, Biddenden, Tenterden and Reading Street.[30] None of these schemes came to fruition due to a lack of impetus on the part of the SER[31] and the merger of operations of the SER with the rival London, Chatham and Dover Railway.[32] The buffer stops at Hawkhurst were nevertheless positioned so as to allow the extension of the line without the need for alterations to the existing layout.[33]

Holman Fred Stephens, the Hawkhurst line's resident engineer, later became the chief engineer in the construction of the Rother Valley Railway (RVR), later known as the Kent and East Sussex Railway) which opened in 1900 from Robertsbridge as far as Rolvenden (then known as "Tenterden").[34] In 1899, Stephens obtained a light railway order authorising the Cranbrook and Tenterden Light Railway, which would run from Cranbrook station through a 40-foot (12 m) tunnel under Hartley Road[35] for a distance of 9+1⁄2 miles (15.29 km) to join the RVR at a triangular junction just beyond Rolvenden where it would join the proposed extension of the RVR to Headcorn.[36] Due to the increase in the use of motor transport,[37] apart from the section between Rolvenden and Tenterden Town,[38] the line was never built although it continued to appear in Kent and East Sussex Railway reports until 1937.[39]

Operations

Official opening

Southern Railway

Following a satisfactory inspection carried out by

Board of Trade on 3 September 1892, the line between Paddock Wood and Hope Mill, for Goudhurst and Lamberhurst was opened to passenger and goods traffic nine days later. The first service drawn by Cudworth E1 class 2-4-0 No. 112 left Hope Mill at 08:25 and free travel was offered throughout the day.[40] The official opening took place on 1 October 1892, and services were extended to Hawkhurst on 4 September 1893. The line was worked by the SER (soon to become the SECR) which formally absorbed the Cranbrook and Paddock Wood Railway on 29 January 1900.[10]

Shortly before the entire line was opened the residents of Cranbrook, regretful that the village was not directly served, approached the SER with a proposal to construct a 2-mile (3.22 km) "light line" between Hartley and Cranbrook at an estimated cost of £10,000,[Note 4] which they offered to guarantee themselves. The scheme never came to fruition.[41]

Traffic

Passengers

Goudhurst station from Station Road in the early 1900s

Passenger traffic was always light on the branch, and the addition of

First World War, Kirtley R and R1 class 0-4-4Ts were introduced. These provided the mainstay of services until they were withdrawn in the 1950s and replaced by Wainwright H class 0-4-4s.[45] In 1922, the timetable showed six down trains and seven up trains daily except Sundays.[47] The maximum speed allowed on the line was 30 miles per hour (48 km/h), with a restriction of 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) at Smugley Farm occupation crossing, which was between Pattenden Siding and Cranbrook station.[15]

1921 timetable
Week Days Only.[48][49]
Tonbridge Jn (dep) 8:17 10:55 1:30 4:03 5:45 7:10 Hawkhurst (dep) 7:49 9:05 11:44 3:39 4:57 6:01 6:44
Paddock Wood (arr) 8:26 11:03 1:39 4:12 5:54 7:17
Cranbrook
 7:54 9:10 11:40 3:44 5:02 6:08 6:49
Paddock Wood (dep) 8:30 11:08 1:50 4:30 6:12 7:46 Goudhurst 8:01 9:17 11:58 3:51 5:09 6:13 6:56
Horsmonden 8:39 11:17 1:59 4:39 6:07 7:41 Horsmonden 8:06 9:22 12:04 3:56 5:14 6:30 7:11
Goudhurst 8:43 11:21 2:03 4:40 6:12 7:46 Paddock Wood (arr) 8:14 9:32 12:14 4:06 5:24 6:30 7:11
Cranbrook
 8:52 11:30 2:12 4:52 6:20 7:51 Paddock Wood (dep) 8:21 9:43 12:16 4:31 5:30 6:33 7:22
Hawkhurst (arr) 8:57 11:35 2:17 4:57 6:30 8:00 Tonbridge Jn (arr) 8:40 9:53 12:25 4:40 5:39 6:42 7:31
A platform ticket issued at Hawkhurst on 7 June 1961, five days before the closure of the line

By 1925, the frequency had increased to eight with the introduction of

Cammell steam railbus was trialled on the line for a month.[50] Two extra services had been added by 1928 and an extra Saturday afternoon Paddock Wood working was added in 1930.[43] By 1938 the timetable had taken on its final form of seven up and six down services plus the Saturday afternoon working; by special regulation, the push-pull services were guardless except for the first train of the day.[46]

On 6 July 1950,

National Sanatorium at Benenden. The five-coach Royal Train was pulled by a Maunsell E1 class 4-4-0 No. 31067, Her Majesty using a Pullman car named Malaga, which was flanked by two corridor composites; there was a corridor third brake at each end of the train.[39][51] Malaga was one of six twelve-wheel first-class kitchen cars which had been built in 1920–1;[52] and following an extensive refit in late 1949, was occasionally used in the Royal Train. It was withdrawn in 1961, and is preserved close to Shepperton railway station.[53]

Goods

Hawkhurst Branch
goods sidings
Legend
Churn Siding, 1908
to Paddock Wood
Churn Lane LC
Milepost 37½
worked by
ground frame,
released by electric token
worked by
ground frame,
released by electric token
gate
brickworks
to Horsmonden
Pattenden Siding, 1961
to Goudhurst
 B2079 
worked by
ground frame,
released by electric token
to Cranbrook

Goods traffic was more substantial, with fruit, hops and timber being sent out and coal being received.

F W Woolworth. This was an important source of revenue for the line with one million pot plants a year being transported from Hawkhurst,[27] bringing in around £1,000 per week.[Note 5] Up to four parcels and miscellaneous vans were loaded daily at Hawkhurst and attached to the last train to Tonbridge,[56] with further collections possibly being made at Horsmonden; special services were laid on in the busy period before Mothering Sunday.[57]

There were two sidings on the line which were available for public use. Churn Siding was located between Paddock Wood and Horsmonden stations. The siding was on the up side of the line. It was accessed by a facing connection in each direction. A siding at the Horsmonden end served a

fertiliser for hop gardens.[60]

Specials

During the early 1950s, well over 4,000 hop-pickers and some 23,000 visitors travelled in 56 "Hopper specials" – extra services laid on during the late August – early October hop season;

London Bridge and called at New Cross or New Cross Gate.[63] The farmers agreed between themselves when the picking would begin, and informed the railway who then set about the planning of the special trains.[62] A "Hop Control Centre" was set up at Paddock Wood to organise these services, ensuring that hoppers could alight at London Bridge and be taken directly to the nearest hop farm.[64] Since the hopping season generally coincided with the end of the holiday season, most serviceable trains were already in use elsewhere, so spare rolling stock would be brought out of storage and pressed into service for just three weeks; sometimes carriages had to be borrowed from other parts of the country. The carriages tended to be old or in poor condition, since the hoppers had a reputation for drunkenness and violence.[65] This traffic was however already in decline as rising living standards and paid holidays led to a decline in the hop-picker workforce, and many of those who remained chose to travel by car or van. By 1959 the Sunday service consisted of a single two-coach unit, with an evening working to London Bridge. As mechanical pickers gradually replaced the human workforce, hop-picking had become a memory by the time the branch closed in 1961.[66]

Special services were also laid on for the

utility vans were required at the end of each term. These were loaded at Hawkhurst and Cranbrook, attached to the daily up goods working and forwarded to Paddock Wood by parcels train.[54] The behaviour of pupils from both schools was described by one regular passenger as "hysterical", with the girls from Benenden being compared to those of the fictional St Trinian's.[68]

Accidents

On 18 February 1948 C Class locomotive 1225 was wrongly despatched into the north sidings at Goudhurst and derailed.[69]

Decline and closure

C class No. 592 (BR 31592)
O1 class No. 65 (BR 31065)
The Pullman carriage Theodora.
The two locomotives which hauled the final passenger train on the line (the special on 11 June 1961), shown after preservation. The Pullman carriage Theodora, then in green livery and numbered S7874, was part of the final passenger train. Seen here in 1980 at Tenterden Town before restoration.
Goudhurst up distant, 1964.

The inconvenient siting of stations and the decline in hop-picking in the area all contributed to diminishing returns on the line by the late 1950s. Apart from the 16:25 daily working from Paddock Wood which was well patronised by children, few trains carried more than a dozen passengers.

Tunbridge Wells over the indirect railway journey,[70] as shown by the fact that no more than 250 return tickets were sold from Hawkhurst in the final years of the line.[56] Only the line's expanding pot plant traffic justified its continuing existence.[56]

It was therefore no surprise when closure notices were posted in March 1961.

LSWR push-pull set No. 656 and a Maunsell corridor coach.[73] The same locomotive worked the last 17:00 train from Hawkhurst,[74] while every seat was taken by locals and railway enthusiasts.[70] The daughter of bandleader Jack Payne was on-hand to toast the final departure.[75]

The line's last public train ran the next day, hauled by

Class O1 0-6-0 No. 31065 piloting C class no. 31592.[76] This was part of a railtour organised by the Locomotive Club of Great Britain. Bearing the nameplate "The South Eastern Limited", the train travelled the line as part of its "Farewell to Steam" tour.[74] Later that day it also navigated the remaining section of the K&ESR from Robertsbridge to Tenterden - the northern section to Headcorn having closed in 1954.[77] Amongst the carriages that formed the train was S7874, a Pullman carriage built in 1926.[78] Both locomotives are preserved on the Bluebell Railway. Theodora is preserved on the Kent and East Sussex Railway
.

The track was lifted in 1964,

chairs attached and rails being loaded separately into goods wagons for removal.[80] The track lifting had been completed by October of that year.[79] The station sites were offered for sale in 1967. Electric services on the South Eastern Main Line through Paddock Wood commenced on 12 June 1961, the first day on which there was no service on the Hawkhurst branch.[81]

The Old Pull N' Push TV series

ITV in two six-part series The Old Pull 'n Push and Return of the old Pull 'n Push, shown in 1960–61. These were filmed on the Hawkhurst Line shortly before it closed.[82][83]

Present-day scene

Remains

The totem from Horsmonden

The platform bay at Paddock Wood from which most of the line's trains departed is now part of a car park, with the edge of the platform fenced off.[84] Parts of the line are still visible, such as the embankment through Swig's Hole valley and the approach to Horsmonden tunnel.[85] Some bridges still remain, although the plate girder bridge over Goudhurst Road, Horsmonden has been removed.[86]

Horsmonden station has been converted to a private garage trading as the "Old Station Garage", with the old stationmaster's house in use as a private dwelling.

turnery business. The main station building was demolished in the 1960s but the engine and goods sheds, stationmaster's house and signal box are still extant. The owner, a railway enthusiast, ensures that the signal box receives "a good coat of paint every other year".[93]

Proposed cycleway

In September 2008 representatives from Hawkhurst, Goudhurst, Horsmonden and Paddock Wood

Heritage Lottery Fund was to be made in the coming week, with the result of the application being known in September 2011.[98] In March 2013, it was reported that a decision from the Heritage Lottery Fund was still awaited.[99]

  • The bridge at Swig's Hole
    The bridge at Swig's Hole
  • Horsmonden station, January 2010
    Horsmonden station, January 2010
  • The trackbed between Pattenden Siding and Cranbrook station, March 2008
    The trackbed between Pattenden Siding and Cranbrook station, March 2008
  • The preserved signal box at Hawkhurst
    The preserved
    signal box
    at Hawkhurst
  • Badgers Oak Tunnel (North Entrance), June 2013
    Badgers Oak Tunnel (North Entrance), June 2013

Notes

  1. ^ £5.01 million in 2021.
  2. ^ £2.5 million in 2021.
  3. ^ £1,140,000 in 2021.
  4. ^ £1,180,000 in 2021.
  5. ^ £20,000 in 2021.

References

  1. ^ White 1992, pp. 65–66.
  2. ^ White 1987, pp. 19–20.
  3. ^ a b Harding 1998, p. 4.
  4. ^ White 1987, p. 66.
  5. ^ Oppitz 2003, p. 123.
  6. ^ Awdry 1990, p. 183.
  7. ^ Course 1974, p. 166.
  8. ^ White 1987, p. 21.
  9. ^ a b c Harding 1998, p. 5.
  10. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1989, p. 2.
  11. ^ Harding 1993, pp. 12–13.
  12. ^ Course 1974, p. 167.
  13. ^ Harding 1998, p. 15.
  14. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figures 19 and 20.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Sectional appendix 1960, pp. 35, 140.
  16. ^ "Horsmonden". The Signalling Record Society. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  17. ^ Harding 1998, p. 17.
  18. ^ Harding 1998, p. 9.
  19. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 47.
  20. ^ "Goudhurst". The Signalling Record Society. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  21. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 55.
  22. ^ White 1987, p. 24.
  23. ^ "Cranbrook". The Signalling Record Society. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  24. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 76.
  25. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 105.
  26. ^ "Hawkhurst". The Signalling Record Society. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  27. ^ a b White 1992, p. 66.
  28. ^ Hart 2000, p. 45.
  29. ^ Hart 2000, p. 19.
  30. ^ Hart 2009, p. 9.
  31. ^ Hart 2009, p. 10.
  32. ^ Hart 2000, p. 51.
  33. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 117.
  34. ^ Oppitz 2003, pp. 130–131.
  35. ^ Hart 2009, p. 105.
  36. ^ Garrett 1999, p. 9.
  37. ^ Hart 2009, p. 117.
  38. ^ "Opening up the Weald". Stephens Museum. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2011.
  39. ^ a b Harding 1998, p. 13.
  40. ^ Harding 1998, p. 6.
  41. ^ Harding 1998, p. 11.
  42. ^ a b c Course 1974, p. 168.
  43. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1989, p. 3.
  44. ^ Vallance 1955, p. 125.
  45. ^ a b Harding 1993, p. 13.
  46. ^ a b c d White 1987, p. 25.
  47. ^ St John Thomas 1985, p. 237.
  48. ^ Harding 1993, p. 24.
  49. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, above illustration 93.
  50. ^ Harding 1998, p. 19.
  51. ^ Morel 1983, p. 77.
  52. ^ Ford 2008, pp. 109, 168–9.
  53. ^ Ford 2008, pp. 119, 168.
  54. ^ a b White 1987, p. 28.
  55. ^ Harding 1998, p. 22.
  56. ^ a b c d e White 1960, p. 173.
  57. ^ White 1987, pp. 28–29.
  58. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figures 12, 14 and 15.
  59. ^ Hart 2000, p. 229.
  60. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, figures 53-55.
  61. ^ a b Oppitz 2003, p. 127.
  62. ^ a b Esau & Siviour 1993, p. 81.
  63. ^ White 1987, p. 26.
  64. ^ Harding 1998, p. 25.
  65. ^ Esau & Siviour 1993, pp. 81–82.
  66. ^ White 1987, p. 27.
  67. ^ Harding 1998, p. 23.
  68. ^ Barkowski, Jane (15 July 2011). "Closure of the old Hop Pickers' Line a sad day". Kent & Sussex Courier (Paddock Wood edition). p. 34.
  69. ^ Scott-Morgan 2008, p. 46.
  70. ^ a b c Harding 1998, p. 27.
  71. ^ White 1987, p. 29.
  72. ^ Hart 2000, p. 221.
  73. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 72.
  74. ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 74.
  75. ^ Harding 1998, p. 28.
  76. ^ Bradley 1985, p. 157.
  77. ^ Garrett 1999, p. 49.
  78. ^ Silcock, Geoff. "The Cinderellas of Arcadia". Heritage Railway (152, 6 July – 2 August 2011). Horncastle: Mortons Media Ltd: 68–73.
  79. ^ a b Tyson 2013, p. 34.
  80. ^ Scott-Morgan 2008, p. 7.
  81. ^ Mitchell & Smith 1989, Figure 7.
  82. ^ BFI Database. "The Old Pull 'n Push". Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
  83. ^ Jones, Scarlett (1 March 2013). "Revealed: Wombles are from the Weald". Kent and Sussex Courier (Tonbridge edition). p. 10. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013.
  84. ^ Morrison & Beer 1994, p. 101.
  85. ^ White 1987, p. 174.
  86. ^ Harding 1998, p. 30.
  87. ^ "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
  88. ^ Morrison & Beer 1994, p. 102.
  89. ^ White 1987, p. 30.
  90. ^ "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
  91. ^ "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
  92. ^ Morrison & Beer 1994, p. 104.
  93. ^ Oppitz 2003, p. 128.
  94. ^ Hawkhurst Parish Council (10 September 2008). "Full Council Minutes from 8 September 2008" (DOC). para. 7.2. Retrieved 9 January 2010.[permanent dead link]
  95. ^ Paddock Wood Town Council (18 May 2009). "Annual Meeting held on 18 May 2009". para. C10. Archived from the original (DOC) on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
  96. ^ Horsmonden Parish Council (6 October 2008). "Meeting held on 6 October 2008" (PDF). para. 8.5. Retrieved 9 January 2010. [dead link]
  97. ^ "Walkers try out old rail route". Kent and Sussex Courier (Paddock Wood edition). 17 June 2011. p. 5.
  98. ^ Bohringer, Madeline (15 July 2011). "Paddock Wood: Council news". Kent Messenger (Weald edition). p. 44.
  99. ^ "Plans for old Line". Kent & Sussex Courier (Tonbridge edition). 1 March 2013. p. 10.

Sources

Further reading

  • Scott-Morgan, John (1978). The Colonel Stephens Railways: A Pictorial Survey. Newton Abbot:
    ISBN 0-7153-7544-X
    .

External links

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