The Abandoned Railway to Nowhere. The Lambourn Valley  

Another fascinating video from Paul and Rebecca with a strange mystery near the end. My Daughter Amy (Pauls sister) and I used to be editors of the K and A magazine 'The Butty', and the letter refers to the walk in the Autumn 2011 Butty No. 196 , despite the trust often receiving letters regarding the walks, I still cannot remember receiving this one. I kept quite a few of the magazines but unfortunately I am missing No. 197 which is where the letter could have been published. So the mystery continues.!!

A few years ago I purchased a book on line from the USA. It was a copy of a book I had seen many times as a child on my Dads shelves. Imagine my surprise when opening the cover to find one of my Dads Library plates. It even still had one of the letters from the Author to my Dad in it. Another time I was in a second hand bookshop on the Isle of Man, I live in Kent, and finding a book I loaned a friend some ten years before it still had notes and my book mark in, naturally I bought it. Books seem to have a way of finding their owners. Good video, thanks for posting.

Paul, I wouldn't have described it as a "Railway to nowhere"! Lambourn had been a centre for racehorse stables long before the branch line was laid. Many owners and trainers lived in the village and the branch line was built to facilitate them and anybody else who wanted to get to Newbury from where they could catch trains to many destinations. There was also a lot of horsebox traffic to racecourses and horse sales across England.

The rail marked EV is called a bridge rail used on the broad gauge and probably rolled in Ebbw Vale, when the broad gauge was abandoned the GWR used them all over their system as straining posts for the lineside fencing there's lots around here still in use.

I love coincidences like that. I also have a coincidence involving your Dad.... I remember sometime ago you added a link to your Dad's RU-vid model railway channel a long time after I'd discovered the delights of your channel. I remember thinking 'he looks familiar' and then realising at the time, he lived a few doors behind us at Milborne Port and I'd stopped many a time to chat with him and admire his epic railway layout (I also hung all their internal doors!). Lovely people.

The line closed in the late 60's to passengers and general freight. But it remained open between Newbury and Welford for MOD freight. The special ran between Newbury and Welford.

The hefty post on a big lump of concrete may have been part of a tank barrier. The railway bridged one of the Stop Lines which ran along the River Kennet and then the K+A Canal. The barriers could be put on a bridge or railway embankment to make a gap wide enough for normal traffic by too narrow for a tank and heft enough to slow a tanle to make it an easy tegret. K+A has loads of features like that.

There was a branch off this branch that served RAF Welford and survived well after closure - from memory up to the early 80's. The branch/spur was visible from the M4 and was made redundant by the construction of the "works traffic only" slip road off the M4 Eastbound between Swindon and Newbury. The spur was a reverse off the branch, wasnt shown on OS maps (Cold War etc) and I have vague memories of seeing photos of an 08 - probably late 70's early 80's.

hi again Paul and Rebecca , another interesting video , lol that bird was not happy with the drone , well done and thank you guys 😊

I had another weird coincidence a couple of years ago. I bought a postcard of my home town from a dealer on EBAY. When it arrived, I found it had been sent to my grandmother by one of her friends!

You make me smile with your fascinating adventures. Thankyou xxx

What's amazing is how quickly the land recovers itself: photos from fifty-odd years ago of stations that look only just recently disused set over against landscapes without a trace.

Lovely red kite, brilliant 👏

Soapbox in a min. Firstly yet another quirky, informative and entertaining video. Thank you! Yet again you well illustrate the decisions by BR (et alia ) post Beeching (see references at end) to sell off, publicly owned land to their developer mates. This could have been a smashing cycle track and even a future light railway too. It would have been so easy to protect the routes and build alongside, but no the dishonesty, greed and corruption of the construction industry and their mates in local and national government (still around today) prevailed. Reference - 2 outstanding books which I am sure are on your bookshelves? Disconnected! and Holding the line by Richard Faulkner and Chris Austin.

Great video - this line has all the appearances of a light railway - stations in the middle of nowhere, stations made almost of shacks and small rolling stock. It’s a shame that nothing much is left but interesting to see the route.

Brilliant video and what you mention In the scrapbook is really bizarre, it mind blowing! Shame there much remaining of the old stations

That booklet with the letter to your father!?!?!?!?! I think it's one of those meant to be things. My life is full of them. Love your channel keep going both of you

Fascinating archaeological site at Lambourn - the 'Seven Barrows', a Bowl Barrow cemetery of the Bronze age. I love coincidences like the one you showed. My younger brother loved the 1979 movie 'The Black Hole'. He had the novelisation of it, which went to the charity shop ages ago. Last year, I fancied reading it again (I'm prone to bouts of nostalgia), searched the internet, and found a good condition one from a second hand bookshop in Scotland. On receiving it, a few days later, I opened it, only to find that it was my brother's old copy - he always wrote his name and age in his books. I won't say his name, but his age is put down as '9'. Oh, and you have a blatant scam bot in your comment section, by the way.

i booped the like button . have a wonderful Christmas Paul Rebecca and everyone who reads this .. all the best

Many years from now I suspect your children will come upon a reference pertaining to the efforts of you and Rebecca to shine a light on your country's past! I hope they will be as proud of you as you were when explaining your fathers efforts.

Nice video and one we know well. You walked passed our house in one village and showed our old house in Lambourn which where the old sidings were (which had a tie factory on it for some time in between the line closing and the houses being built about 8-9 years ago). There are a few other areas where you can walk on the old track bed. Its possible to walk from Newbury all the way to Lambourn and where you hit the A34 you can walk along a Fence line and then under it. Lovely walk but probably nicer in the summer!

I like this sort of thing discovering old abandoned railway

Great explore. Sorry about the breakdown. Still sad to think of those stations all gone now. We really appreciate people like yourselves keeping them alive . Imagine your fathers letter being in your book. Amazing. Thank you for this great vlog.

Cool. And a great mystery to solve with the book...!

Inspiring people around the world to learn about their local history and get out and walk. Thank you for the great videos!

I shall use the word “coinkadinky” from now on whenever at all possible - great story about the scrapbook and the letter.

Thank you again for your enjoyable videos love the humour that you two bounce off each other

Excellent video, right on my patch and lots of familiar sights. I watch all your vids, and if I had known you were coming I'd have interviewed you on the local radio.

Obviously temperatures and time were not on your side but there is so much more to be said about RAF Welford - we used the Valley railway weekly and apart from the tank engine there was the glorious GWR diesel railcar, ( 1 @ Didcot and 1 @ York ), way ahead of its time but a lovely noisy experience! Anyway, living as Kids in Chaddleworth we travelled on foot everywhere and were challenged one day by a military man as we looked through the chain link fence around the airfield! Our interest was piqued so we kept following the fence till surprise surprise, we came upon a railway coming up the hill from Welford in a beautiful curve but disappearing through locked high gates into the airfield! We knew 'goods' came up from Newbury to Welford at night on the railway which were then shunted back up the hill to the airfield. The locals who worked there said it was a storage base for nuclear weapons used by the USAF at Greenham Common, the other side of Newbury! Perhaps your new fangled car picked up some radioactivity?

When I as in Newbury had no idea about this. Love this channel for this reason

Great video Well done 👏

Great video. Try finding a set of books named "Firing Days", Footplate Days" and "Nostalgic Days" by ex-GWR fireman and later signalman Harold Gasson. He was based at Didcot shed and describes running trains on the Lambourn Branch (and lots of stories of runs on the the Didcot-Newbury-Winchester-Southampton line and all the others routes worked by Didcot crews). Lovely stories that remind me of my childhood days just as steam was ending. Keep up the great work.

If you saw the layby, on the main lambourn valley road in boxford, there is a wooden shelter there that came from the station

I lived on the AERE estate in Wantage, and my daad took me and my sister all over the Downs in the late 60's and early 70's. He was all part of the original Didcot Railway preservation group.

Paul, I will admit that I for one certainly don't mind historical waffling. Kudos on the new podcast as well!

That certainly was a strange coinky-dinky about the letter to your father, and I have booped the like button The special train that ran in 1973 is listed on the "Six Bells Junction" website. It made four trips between Newbury and Welford Park Ministry of Defence, travelling at 5 miles per hour on the branch due to the poor condition of the track. Just under 2,000 people bought tickets to ride on that train

Where we live backs on to the old line . You can walk it from Easton through to Great Shefford. The goods yard was where the village hall is in Great Shefford. It was a busy line in its day due to the racing industry in Lambourn. Great little video 😊

Always great to see your vids....great stories and a forgotten history.....stay warm and dry...

Wonderful video and loved the coincidence. Whenever someone says "I don't believe in coincidences!", I always immediately exclaim "Oh My God! Neither do I!!"

Very interesting thanks 👍 always enjoy watching.. merry Christmas guys

The drone shot of the red kite was quite something! Lovely video as ever

I was on the last DMU special that ran in 1973. My dad, a BR employee and Newbury resident, took me on it to Welford Park and back; sadly I don't recall much as I was only 4 years old :-(

Spooky-wooky, that's a really weirdly coincky-dinky. Cool video too, and I'm not talking about the weather. 👍

Great video, Paul and Rebecca, and a small world!

Built as a light railway under legislation,I should imagine. Amazing that it lasted for 62 years when there was so little habitation in the immediate area. Another enjoyable video. Keep up the good work.

Another gem of a video, boop is that your new word Paul? lovely to see Rebecca again

Heya after missing martin zero, I explored your channel😊.good job guys. Love you guys both of you. Riabuz utman from Pakiatan. Have good life with such refreshing videos about great architect,planners and builders from the past. Take care both of you

I started a company in the Woodspeen trading estate back in 2007 and Snake Lane was a daily (terrifying) commute 🤣. As a fan of disused railways I’d wander up to the Lambourn and Speen bit of the line at lunch

Another great video. I always like the old corrugated iron pagoda roof buildings. Have a Merry and Healthy Christmas.

Nice twist at the end!

brilliant video its amazing to see Newbury and the Speen moors walk and speen as i live in the area and ive walked the Speen Moors walk a few times and a bit of the Lamborn Valley way to Bagnor but its a shame theres not much left of the railway with being developents over the years but id would be amazing if that line was still open today and pos if that line would aby extend to Swindon as that link would be very handy but shame it wont happen anyway keep up the awesome work

Back-in my neck of the woods again

As always a great video! Hope you get down to Rugby soon!

Shame that there is not much left now but there wouldn't have been much left after the track was lifted. Just platforms that were made of earth with a concrete edge. A few bridges and no major earthworks either. A least you put together a video record of what was left in 2022.

I have an ex who used to make somehting out of nothing. Thankfully, this video is a far more enjoyable something out of nothing, in that there is practically nothing left. And the mystery of the letter. That's quite eerie for a coincidence.

Boop. Loved the family history coincidence as I also have a family connection to this area - my uncle and aunt live in Lambourn and my grandfather lived in East Garston in his later days.

Thank you for the tour today. Always a pleasure. Happy holidays to you! ❤❤😊😊

Nice watching this, with all the winter vibes, while I'm snug at home. Hope you guys have a great Christmas :)

When my late Mother in Law was a girl, the railway was at bottom of her rear garden, in Lambourn. She is actually in one of the photos in the book about the line, she travelled to Newbury and back daily. Great story about the line, a chap in the village had some problems and decided to commit suicide. In the early hours he lay with his head on the railway track, thinking the first train of the day would run him over. His plan failed as the trains had stopped running the previous day. He did get to go to hospital though, but only with Hypothermia.

At around 08:30 - that is probably a signal post turned over. Some lines used to make signal posts out of old rail

Graham Hancock spent the last few decades visiting ancient sites the world over, especially the Egyptian Pyramids. Only recently did he discover a photo of his grandfather sitting at the top of the biggest one, and an account of his visit. What happened with your Dad's letter reminded me of this. Dharma.

I was at Welford Park earlier this year, and it's pretty much in the same state as it was in Nick Catford's picture in 2006. Happy to send you my pictures.

Greetings from down under. Interesting vids from the old country.

Merry Xmas Paul and Rebecca from New Zealand. Love your videos .

Many of those branch-lines did play an important role in transporting farm-produce to markets, especially perishables, at a time when road-transport was very slow & roads were poorly surfaced!

Another fine video and great to see Rebecca again. Merry Christmas and looking forward to many lovely treks in the coming year!

absolutely fantastic video .....i love it ......🙂

Boopin' the button! *boop* An interesting ramble there, even the older pictures indicate how little-used the line was.

Loving Rebecca's antics...and faces...

They used to build horse boxes in Lambourn. I'm not into horses, just iron horses though. Good video as usual.

What a wonderful coinkydink. 🤣 Lovely video as always. A very happy Christmas and a happy, healthy 2023 to you both and all yours. Stan

Culm valley railway is a nice trail in Mid-Devon.

The heavy iron gate post you filmed are actually old broad guage railway lines that were used on the railway line to Bristol that were a bit of a failed Isambard Kingdom Brunel experiment The GWR had tons of them scrap and used them for every thing

I wonder how different all of this would have been if Diana was still around. Royal or not, your mum is a vital ingredient to your growing up process. She would have been the voice of reason and a good source of advice and guidance for her children growing up.

Thanks Guys for a informativen vid as always. All the best your Nr1 Fans from Hamburg.

Lovely video. I used to work in Newbury and was always fascinated with the local disused railways.

I remember first finding out about this line one day after wondering why Great Shefford had a Station Road.

In your travels you might find more bit of old broad gauge rail. There is some making a run of fencing near Cholsey. But... keep an eye out for the old boundary markers...

Lots of lovely cut edits, good music overlays, graphics are getting better too! The images look sharper too - did you get a new camera recently? Nice Kite/drone images and the coincidink thing was very odd!

You are a lot of fun, thanks

Always wondered about that route. The branch leaves the up line on an embankment. Closing the Didcot to Southampton meant congestion at Reading West caused by North South freight.

aw you guys are so cute together~

We in Kent have a railway going nowhere, it went from Paddock Wood to Granbrook and that's about it. I believe it closed in the 1960's

Amazing coincidence, some other great ones in comments, including another one involving your Dad. A long time ago my dad's Uncle wrote a book on epitaphs, a collection from round the world. A while ago I decided to see if I could track down a copy. I eventually found one in a book shop in Coventry called Uncle Phil's bookshop, my uncles name .... Phil!! Great video as always. Have a great Christmas Feliz Navidad and Boop from Spain!!

Another great video. We now live about 200 yards from the bridge over the Kennet and Avon and love the Speen Moors walk you mention. Us locals regard it as a perfect 2 mile loop through some of our favourite countryside. As a very young child in the 1980s we could walk part of the section of track from where it leaves the main line at Newbury up to the bridge. Some of the rail had been removed and just the sleepers and ballast were left towards the canal bridge. Before the last of the line was lifted I remember a steam loco making it to the top of Craven Road (the road I grew up on). It was a fantastic sight. Now all gone beneath a housing development . To be fair the line was an economic disaster almost from the day it began! Sorry for you car troubles.

Merry Christmas guys!

Was the official secrets act the reason you didn't mention the branch from Welford Park Station to RAF Welford? Ssome parts of the route can still be seen on Gmaps as can the layout of the armaments store buildings at RAF Welford

Great video 👍👍👍 there is a building still in the area, bus shelter next to the Bell at Boxford came from the platform 😊

God you two are funny ... Didn't seem all that long ago when Bec wore that beanie ... and had that crazy red hair 🧑‍🦰! Interesting video pity there's so little of the track and stations left now.

another great video guys

That was 2nd generation railway line - not broad gauge which is wider and flatter , i.e not top hat shape. However an interesting video with a great view of a preying bird (I daren't take a guess!) so thanks for sharing... and coinkydinky is a great new word! 👍

That is one hell of a coinkidinky!

I love your vids. Please keep up the good work. Merry Christmas have a good one.

there are quite a few bits of infrastructure remaining in hidden corners. and in the grounds of the bockhampton manor farm next to the remains of the level x-ing on the eastern edge of Lambourn is a lovely little bridge the line used to cross the river Lambourn. along with remains of fence posts etc. though it is surprising just how little there is overall considering how little time has passed since the line closed!

You looked at 'The Sydings'. a housing estate where Speen station used to be. But there were never any sidings at Speen....

I love all the cute and funny faces Rebecca makes duting the video

Don't get me started on RAF Welford......they used to/maybe still do...keep things there that....nobody wants you to know about......one of the best guarded places in the South other than that Atomic place up the road......Now there's a clue.

Booping the like button! 🖲🤛lol

Enjoyable! Incidentally, the GWR also used bridge rail on standard gauge lines. I saw some still in situ in a siding at Bristol in the late 70s and it was still carrying wagons! There was also some on the last few yards of track approaching a buffer stop in a siding at Chippenham (not sure if it is still visible - the siding is gone but the buffer stop and a bit of the rails was still there not that long ago). Interesting little video. I recon the big lump of concrete was for a signal post (or something similar). The hole left behind probably self-filled over the years. Nice one! 👍

My brother lives near there in Speen just as you leave Newbury towards Hungerford. In fact he lives near to Station Road which is where you were.