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Rails along the Rother
The Midhurst Lines
The Midhurst Lines Jeffery Grayer
Closed to passengers nearly 70 years ago now, the lines that served the charming Sussex market town of Midhurst are still fondly remembered. Never money spinners the first of the three routes to be closed, that from Chichester, was way back in 1935 to be followed twenty years later by the withdrawal of services to both Petersfield and Pulborough. With its stations not generally well sited for the limited population they served and vulnerable to bus competition traffic was never heavy although freight did continue for a number of years after passenger closure with the final trains operating on a small section of the route until 1991. Fortunately several photographers appreciated the scenic beauty of the area and recorded trains in the landscape during the 1950s. It is their work that is presented in this volume.
RAILS ALONG THE ROTHER
ISBN 978-1-913893-36-1
Images from the Transport Treasury Archive Compiled by Jeffery Grayer £13.50
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Rails along the Rother The Midhurst Lines
Images from the Transport Treasury Archive Compiled by Jeffery Grayer
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No doubt concerned about possible smuts affecting the laundry on the clothes line, repositioned since the previous image note, the tenant of the station observes the passing train headed by No. 30110 on 3 December 1951 which was a Monday the ‘traditional’ washing day. Unlike the other stations on the L&SWR branch the upper storey was tile hung in an effort to keep the weather at bay. R C Riley
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Opposite: Selham station’s faded nameboard is a sad reflection of the decrepit state of the infrastructure on this rural branch towards the end. Reported to be losing £38,000 p.a. at the time of closure this equates to a figure of over £1m at today’s prices. With all stations still staffed and three crew required to run each train, which usually consisted of just one or two coaches, together with paltry passenger numbers it was no wonder that the finances of the Midhurst line were so dire and that closure, well before the Beeching cuts of the 1960s, was inevitable. Roy Hobbs Top: On 14 April 1954 a service from Midhurst waits departure time at Selham with Class M7 No. 30050 at its head. There was precious little habitation in the vicinity of the station apart from the nearby public house uniquely named ‘The Three Moles’. This hostelry opened in 1872 as ‘The Railway Inn’ and was built to serve the station but after only six months the name was altered and to this day apparently remains the only pub in the world with this name. The odd name derives from the crest of the Mitford family, who remain owners of the pub, which depicts three moles. According to the pub’s website one mole comes from the location of the family estate in Molesden, Northumberland and a second relates to the fact that part of their estate bordered the River Mole. The origin of the third talpidae (Latin for mole) remains a mystery. Peter Hay Bottom: Captured on its return journey to Midhurst on the same day locomotive No. 30050 propels set No 737 away from Selham as the driver looks back at the photographer by the lineside from his compartment in the driving trailer. The train is passing the loading gauge at the exit from the small goods yard, these structures being a feature of most country goods yards to ensure that the breadth and height of goods stacked in wagons did not exceed the permitted clearance to which the railway line was constructed. This was particularly useful here as considerable quantities of chestnut fencing produced in the local wood yard of W. L. West and Sons were despatched in open wagons. Goods traffic ceased from Selham in May 1963. Peter Hay
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Top: Staying with the D1 theme, here we see No. 2220 upon arrival at Midhurst in 1935 signalled to proceed to Petersfield. Built at Brighton in 1886 as LBSCR No. 353 it was originally named Keymer and was to last in service until withdrawal in August 1946. No. 2220 would later be used to operate services on the Bisley branch, which in peacetime were run for just a week each July for the National Rifle Association's Annual Meeting. Norman Hamshere Bottom: On Saturday 1 December 1951, M7 No. 30049 is seen at Midhurst’s up platform with a service for Pulborough. Judging by the volume of smoke the fireman has probably just replenished the fire preparatory to departure. In spite of being an ex LB&SCR branch the primary passenger motive power on the line since nationalisation had been the L&SWR Drummond tanks. As the station boasted a subway the board crossing seen in the foreground was nominally restricted to railway staff only. The following day would see no trains for in 1951 the Sunday service, previously consisting of five westerly and four easterly departures, had been withdrawn. R C Riley
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Opposite: On 30 June 1950 passengers board the 5:02pm service to Petersfield which will leave from the bay platform at Midhurst propelled by M7 No. 30110. Any passengers from stations east of Midhurst who wished to continue on to Petersfield will have had a 32 minute wait here during the week extending to 62 minutes on a Saturday. Such lack of connections did nothing to encourage through rail travel. Roy Vincent
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This view, taken from a carriage of the 4.18pm service from Petersfield hauled by D1 Class 2252 on 30 June 1950, shows the former line to Chichester curving away to the right, by this time of course goods only, until the track was severed the following year by a culvert collapse. As this train was continuing on to Pulborough it was therefore signalled into the up platform at Midhurst. The overgrown sand quarry is evident in the right background. Roy Vincent
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Left: Viewed through the smashed window panes of the former East signalbox the miserable weather does nothing to lift the gloom pervading the deserted station in its death throes. Author Right: One last moment of fame for Midhurst was when it appeared in the feature film “Carlton-Browne of the F.O.” starring TerryThomas and Peter Sellers. On 17 July 1958 A1X No. 32640 was brought up to Midhurst from Brighton depot and was suitably disguised as an “Ruritanian” locomotive complete with a wooden cowcatcher and balloon casing around the chimney. Is was paired with an ex L&SWR 8-compartment brake coach. As the story revolved around the partition of a fictional island between two factions white lines were painted by a cricket pitch white lining machine over almost everything including cottages, railway track leading into a tunnel and even a cow! The locomotive was filmed exiting the tunnel with a white line down its smokebox which is here being applied from the cowcatcher upwards. Notice also the embellishments of oil lamps either side of the smokebox. Denis Cullum / Lens of Sutton
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I was just in time to photograph track removal by a farm crossing, with its cast iron warning notice still in position, near to Hardham Junction. This spot was located near to the Roman way station sited here and through which the railway blithely cut its way when constructed in the late 1850s. Author
Our final view, taken from Hardham Junction signalbox, really is the end of the line showing the trackbed of the branch in 1967 now devoid of virtually all rails. Just like the Roman way station, the Midhurst branch has passed into history. Denis Cullum / Lens of Sutton
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t
Rails along the Rother
The Midhurst Lines
The Midhurst Lines Jeffery Grayer
Closed to passengers nearly 70 years ago now, the lines that served the charming Sussex market town of Midhurst are still fondly remembered. Never money spinners the first of the three routes to be closed, that from Chichester, was way back in 1935 to be followed twenty years later by the withdrawal of services to both Petersfield and Pulborough. With its stations not generally well sited for the limited population they served and vulnerable to bus competition traffic was never heavy although freight did continue for a number of years after passenger closure with the final trains operating on a small section of the route until 1991. Fortunately several photographers appreciated the scenic beauty of the area and recorded trains in the landscape during the 1950s. It is their work that is presented in this volume.
RAILS ALONG THE ROTHER
ISBN 978-1-913893-36-1
Images from the Transport Treasury Archive Compiled by Jeffery Grayer £13.50
Midhurst cover V4.indd 1
07/09/2023 09:47:55