Everyone loves a lost railway. And in part of Devon, there is still plenty of evidence of some of the one magnificent train routes which were axed decades ago.
Dr Richard Beeching, in two reports, The Reshaping of British Railways (1963) and The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes (1965), identified that 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of railway line would be closed – totalling 55 per cent of stations and 30 per cent of route miles across Great Britain. Many of those were in Devon.
The Devon & Somerset Railway, or D&SR, once stretched from Taunton in Somerset to Barnstaple in Devon. It took in Norton Fitzwarren, Wiveliscombe, up to Dulverton, then South Molton and across to Barnstaple.
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It ran up until 1966, and despite its utility for the local communities it was considered a relatively unimportant line due to the vastly rural areas it served. Slowly the amount of passengers that used it dropped until it was no longer economically viable to keep the line running.
However, there is still plenty of evidence of where the trains used to roll along the tracks. The pillars of Castle Hill viaduct now carry cars along the A361 North Devon link road - and large swathes of flattened earth on the route are a big telltale sign that trains once ran along there.
Just outside the distinctive market town of Wiveliscombe and the outerlying village of Waterrow is another legacy of this old railway - five huge towers that once formed the Waterrow Viaduct at Venn Cross.
Although they are slowly being returned to nature within the woodland in which they stand, they are still incredibly impressive pieces of architecture in their own right; standing at 101 feet tall and once spanning 148m over the valley, carrying trains right over the River Tone. The line was built to the specifications of Isambard Kingdom Brunel's broad gauge, who is perhaps more well known for the Clifton Suspension Bridge or the Royal Albert Bridge that crosses the River Tamar.
They're simple enough to reach, it's a less than 10 minute drive to where you park. Here is where it may be a little tricky, as there is only enough space for perhaps two cars next to the footpath you will take, however, I've been a few times now and I have never seen another car there.
Standing by one of these towers really gives you a sense of perspective, and I can imagine the views would've been quite something back in the route's heyday. An extract from the Gazette in 1966 covered the route's final run:
"The Taunton to Barnstaple line must rank as one of the prettiest in the West Country. It runs through picturesque, thickly wooded scenery, and there are many impressive sights on the line."
Sadly, the tracks have been cleared, so little remains of the railway itself other than the huge pillars that once carried it. However, it is possible - with a little effort climbing uphill off the footpath - to get to the top of either one of the pillars on the valley slopes, as SomersetLive reports.
It takes a little scrambling, and over what I could only assume to be remains of ballast, the stones used to hold the wooden cross ties of the railway in place that we still see today. It is also well worth the short climb, as the view is quite unique, you also get the impression that these are somewhat forgotten about - which only adds to their allure.
The appreciation is really to be found in imagining what was once there. Whilst at the top you can spot brackets that still remain on top of the other towers, I'm no engineer, so I won't try to guess exactly what they were used for, but it's easy to imagine how impressive the whole structure would've once been.
I was very limited by how much I could move, and when you add the height into the situation they don't always throw up the best position for photos. That's one of the reasons why this is best explored in person, of course.
The walk itself is along a footpath so is easily traversed and found on all major maps. It's a beautiful one through dense woodland, and you get a great sight of the River Tone only a few miles from its source at Beverton Pond in the village of Huish Champflower.
More information on the site - including archive images - can be found here.
