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Lade | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Location | Romney Marsh, Folkestone & Hythe England |
| Platforms | ? |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | RHDR |
| Key dates | |
| 24 May 1928 | Opened |
| 30 June 1940 | Closed |
| 21 March 1947 | Reopened |
| 1977 | Closed |
| 1985 | Removed from timetables |
Lade railway station was a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England.
In common with most stations on the Dungeness line of the railway (as far as The Pilot Inn), Lade station opened for business on 24 May 1928. Despite having full station status, it was never intended to be a major station. It was not even provided with hard platform surfaces, and the only construction on site was a simple, but elegant, Greenly-style waiting shelter. This had a concrete base with wooden construction above. There were glass windows in the two ends, and an open front for access. The roof included simple decoration at the apex, and overhung the front of the shelter to form an awning-type cover for a few feet outside the main building, the overhang being supported by curved wooden supports attached to the front of the shelter.
The station was never staffed, and never intended to be staffed. It served a small collection of fishermen's cottages, and was soon reduced in status to a halt. Exactly when this happened is unclear, but photographic evidence from 1936 shows the front of the shelter with two small signs attached (one to each side of the open front entrance) each marked "Lade Halt" in capital letters.
Shortly after World War II the Dungeness line was reduced to single-track in preparation for its re-opening in 1947, and at the same time the station shelter at Lade was demolished. However, the halt remained a request stop on the reopened line.
In 1968 the ever reducing status of the neighbouring "The Pilot Inn railway station" brought the two halts together in popular thought. Despite their very different origins, "Pilot Halt" and "Lade Halt" (as they were now known) came to be considered a pair of slightly problematic stations with identical fortunes. This was given concrete reality in 1968 when the station shelter at The Pilot was replaced with a breeze-block construction shelter, and an identical building was also constructed at Lade. [1]
Just as at Pilot Halt, Lade Halt continued as a request stop on the railway until 1977, when it closed. Over the following years from 1978 to 1983 there was some activity at the station, with special trains calling there by arrangement; however, the installation of electronic track circuitry in connection with a nearby level crossing had rendered any general re-opening unlikely, as the track circuits have no way of knowing whether an approaching train intends to stop or not.
Lade Halt was shown in the railway's 1984 timetable, although no advertised trains stopped there. Since 1985 the station has been unmentioned in any official railway publication, other than those which are strictly historical. During the mid-1990s the second (1968) station shelter was demolished, leaving no remaining trace of the station.
The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (RH&DR) is a 15 in gauge light railway in Kent, England, operating steam and internal combustion locomotives. The 13+1⁄2-mile (21.7 km) line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St. Mary's Bay, New Romney and Romney Sands to Dungeness, close to the Dungeness nuclear power stations and Dungeness Lighthouse. The line is double track north of New Romney and single track south.
Lydd is a town and electoral ward in Kent, England, lying on Romney Marsh. It is one of the larger settlements on the marsh, and the most southerly town in Kent. Lydd reached the height of its prosperity during the 13th century, when it was a corporate member of the Cinque Ports, a "limb" of Romney. Actually located on Denge Marsh, Lydd was one of the first sandy islands to form as the bay evolved into what is now called Romney Marsh.
Dungeness is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet of Dungeness, and an ecological site at the same location. It lies within the civil parish of Lydd.
Dymchurch is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England. The village is located on the coast five miles (8 km) south-west of Hythe, and on the Romney Marsh.
Dymchurch railway station is on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England. It is five miles south of Hythe, and surrounded by flat countryside.
St. Mary's Bay railway station is a small station in St Mary's Bay, Kent, England, between the larger stations of New Romney and Dymchurch, on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
Burmarsh Road railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England. It is four miles south of Hythe.
Romney Sands Railway Station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England. It is located on the bleakest part of the Romney Marsh, a shingle peninsula.
New Romney railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in New Romney, Kent, England. It has always been the headquarters location of the railway.
Dungeness railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway on Romney Marsh in Kent.
Greatstone Dunes railway station was a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England.
Golden Sands Halt railway station was a private station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in St Mary's Bay, Kent, England. In the 1990s it was briefly renamed Reunion Halt.
The Pilot Inn railway station was a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England.
Prince of Wales Halt railway station was a short-lived station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England.
Botolphs Bridge Halt railway station was a little-used station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England.
The War Department halt was an informal railway station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England. Over the 15 years that the station was open, its location is believed to have moved several times. Details are scarce as this was a secret military installation, but the end of the War Department branch line moved as building work moved onto new stages. When the installation closed in 1945 the railway company took over the line for freight shipment of ballast. Again, the end point of the line changed several times as the exact location of extraction of ballast changed, until closure of the branch in 1951. The locations of the halt are now under water owing to subsequent commercial extractions and flooding of the ballast pits.
Dungeness was a railway station which served the Dungeness headland in Kent, England. Opened in 1883 by The Lydd Railway Company, it closed to passengers in 1937. Part of the line which served the station is converted to the main access road as a means of transporting atomic waste from nearby Dungeness nuclear power station.
Britannia Points Halt railway station was a short-lived conditional stop on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England, for about two years from the start of 1929 to approximately 1930.
Lydd Town was a railway station which served the town of Lydd in Kent, England. Opened on 7 December 1881 by The Lydd Railway Company. It closed to passengers in 1967 but the line through the station remained open for freight.
Greatstone-on-Sea Halt was a railway station which served the modern village of Greatstone-on-Sea in Kent, England. The station opened in 1937 and closed in 1967.
| Preceding station | Historical railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romney Sands Line and station open | RHDR | The Pilot Inn Line open, station closed | ||
Stations of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway | ||
|---|---|---|
| Open stations |  | |
| Closed stations | ||
| Proposed stations | ||