Rother Valley Railway

I like the choice of brick - the colour is random. It would look like a new house in a housing estate if all the bricks were the same.

 

Very impressive - a new landmark building for Robertsbridge and a great facility for the railway.

But it also somehow reminded me of this:

"I suppose you know what we mean by a station, it has a corrugated roofing; it is not a Clapham Junction"

(Col. Stephens, giving evidence at the 1905 public inquiry for the K&ESR’s, never built, Headcorn-Maidstone Extension.)

 

Yes, the brick choice is very good. Anyone know what it's called? I am planning a project it would look good on.

 

The architectural style of the new station building at Robertsbridge is designed to follow the same style as the Colonel's station building at Tenterden - including the 'corrugated iron' roof covering. The roof covering we used on the toilet block part of the building erected a few years ago, and now the rest of the building compiles with modern building regulation and looks much as what is on Tenterden building - but with what's around 8 inches of insulation bonded onto the underside of the steel covering. Here they are - delivered to Robertsbridge station yesterday! Mike

 

How far is ity from Robertsbridge to Bodiam?

 

3.1/2 mile

 

Have we established the (minus) datum for the buffer stops at Roberts bridge Junction yet Mike?
I'm not sure where the original zero was either the mainline junction or the KESR/ mainline boundary I guess. The replica 3 1/4 miles post is opposite Bodiam station building.
I remember finding the pre-preservation (br?) 2 1/2 mile post in the woods before Udiam Farm with Mark Younge during the rebuild. It was only the second one I've seen.

 

Paul. The 3.1/2 miles Robertsbridge to Bodiam station I quoted was simply the old general mileage description used by BR. The actual distance from the buffer stops at the new Robertsbridge station to the RVR land boundary short of Bodiam station is 5.399km (3.355 miles). The distance from there to Bodiam level crossing is another 265m so making the new Robertsbridge station buffers to the level crossing circa 3.519 miles (assuming my metres to miles conversion is correct!). Mike Hart

 

Or indeed (subject to correction) - 3 miles, 4 furlongs, 1 chain and about 2 rods (which I guess is the way they'd have measured it at the time of construction - using real chains too) - Mr H.
I think I still have one somewhere....
James

 

Ah, that warm, analogue sound you can only get from old measurements!

 

For anyone with an hour and a half to kill...

 

I'm fairly sure the pre-preservation concrete mileposts aren't BR - they're nothing like anything on the rest of the Southern Region. As a complete guess, I wonder if they date from the W H Austen period (1931-48)? Austen was responsible for the concrete lampposts at Tenterden Town, which don't look very "period" but are a genuine survival from the old company. Incidentally, there were some concrete mileposts put in during the early years after reopening which seemed to o have come out of the same mould as County Council public right of way markers of that era.

 

Thanks for the link. This is a long but extremely interesting video with loads of photos and plans with detailed explanations of how the level crossings, bridges etc will actually be constructed. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the RVR. I'm struck by the extraordinarily onerous (and expensive!)planning requirements which have to be sorted before construction can really get going. The wanton destruction of Austens Bridge just before RVR acquired the land was simply shocking - I guess I had better not say any more on a public forum!

 

I was actually surprised the speaker said as much about Austen's Bridge as he did ...

 

I think he let the cat out of the bag, saying out loud what many thought, , They say the track laying is the easy part, looking at the various hurdles that have to be jumped, Cleary, that's the case, There's a mountain of paperwork and permits to be done, even before a single sleeper can be laid,

 

He was quite forthright. But however you slice it, it was a shocking act.
I found the whole presentation excellent, clear, detailed and unflinching.
However one does get the distinct impression that the EA has become a sprawling, bloated entity, wielding beaurocratic muscle in almost random fashion, just because it "can".

 

You would think such an act of contempt and challenge against the due process of ownership handover would stir some keen action from the authorities to maintain faith in the ridiculous buereacracy of it all, what’s the point in following the bloated rules if those rules are not fiercely defended when not followed in such a destructive manner, reward the aggressor with no punishment but continue to load the innocent party with even more bureaucratic pork because it’s the easier thing to do, you see it with all the ‘nothing to see here’ mysterious fires on listed mills and protected civic amenities, normally right after a planning application is denied. Very little action is ever taken.

 

I doubt that’s the attitude of authorities. The act was one of criminal damage and or an environmental crime. I think though that railway might reasonably feel that “least said, soonest mended” applies.

 

At the end of the day, as much as it might stick in some people's throats The Railway has to act correctly and be a good neighbour even if your neighbour hates you, and wishes you gone, the railway has to be above it, The best answer to those who carried out the damage, has to be in getting on with repairing or replacing the damaged bridges and to carry on with the programme , and build the line, and afterwards, show the community that the inspectors decision was the right one and that The town, can live with the railway.

 

It seems a pity if no action was taken by the EA for dumping concrete debris in the river, undoubtedly an environmental breach.

However, in itself, the partial demolition of the bridge may have been no crime since it remained the landowners’ property until the moment RVR took possession of the land.