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.
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 square miles (260 km2). The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until the 18th century. Due to its location, geography and isolation, it was a smuggler's paradise between the 1600s and 1800s. The area has long been used for sheep pasture: Romney Marsh sheep are considered one of the most successful and important sheep breeds. Criss-crossed with numerous waterways, and with some areas lying below sea level, the Marsh has over time sustained a gradual level of reclamation, both through natural causes and by human intervention.
New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now more than a mile from the sea. A mooring ring can still be seen in front of the church. It is the headquarters of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
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.
The A259 is a road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent, and is the longest Zone 2 A road in Great Britain. The main part of the road connects Brighton, Peacehaven, Eastbourne, Hastings, Rye, and Folkestone.
Dymchurch Grand Redoubt is a fortification at Palmarsh on the coast of Kent in England, built during the Napoleonic War as part of a large defensive scheme to protect the country from an expected French invasion.
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.
Walderslade is a large suburb in Kent in Chatham split between the unitary authority of Medway and the boroughs of Maidstone and Tonbridge & Malling in South East England. It was, until 1998, fully part of Kent and is still ceremonially associated via the Lieutenancies Act. It encompasses almost all the ME5 postcode district.
Brookland is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe district of Kent, England, about 5 miles (8 km) west of New Romney. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 453, increasing to 479 at the 2011 Census. It is located on the A259 road in Romney Marsh and become popular with visitors heading to the Laughing Frog Teas Rooms.
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.
Chidham and Hambrook is a civil parish in the District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located approximately five miles (8 km) west of Chichester, south of the A27 road, near Bosham. Chidham is the ecclesiastical parish, with a slightly different boundary from that of the civil parish.
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.
West Hythe is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hythe, in the Folkestone and Hythe district, in Kent, England, near Palmarsh and a few miles west of the cinque port town of Hythe. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 566.
St Mary in the Marsh is a village and civil parish near New Romney in Kent, England, situated in the heart of Romney Marsh in one of its least densely populated areas, with most local amenities available 3 miles away in New Romney or St Mary's Bay at 2 miles. The village centre consists of about forty homes, a few scattered farms and The Star Inn, along with the church of St Mary the Virgin and the St Marys Hut, now closed. St Mary's Bay is also in the parish. A group of villagers have established a charity "St Mary in the Marsh Project Fund" with the aim of building a new community hub.
Burmarsh is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent, England. The village is located three miles (4.8 km) west of Hythe on the Romney Marsh. The Burmarsh Road connects the village to the once fully operating Burmarsh Road train station. The closest major settlement is Folkestone which is a minimum of 9.5 mile car journey.
Brookland Halt was a railway station which served the village of Brookland in Kent, England. The station opened in 1881 and closed in 1967.
Palmarsh is a community in Folkestone and Hythe district, in the County of Kent, England. In origin it was a hamlet on the edge of the Romney Marsh, but modern development to the west of Hythe in a corridor along the A259 coastal road, has led to the joining together of the ancient town and cinque port of Hythe and the rural hamlet of Palmarsh in a single conurbation.
