Warren Halt | |
---|---|
General information | |
Location | New Romney, Folkestone & Hythe England |
Platforms | 2 (reopened 2009 with 1) |
Other information | |
Status | Disused |
History | |
Pre-grouping | RHDR |
Key dates | |
16 July 1927 | Opened |
1928 | Closed to passengers |
1946 | Briefly re-opened |
1946 | Closed to passengers |
19 February 2009 | re-opened as Romney Warren Halt |
Romney Warren Halt railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England. It has also been known as Warren Halt and Warren Bridge Halt.
Opened on 16 July 1927, [1] this was one of three stations deliberately included in the timetable despite being sited far from a population centre, in the hope that their location near a bridge (Prince of Wales and Warren) or level crossing (Botolphs Bridge Road) would encourage traffic connecting from buses or other road transport. The experiment failed, in all three cases. Warren Halt closed later in the same year that it had opened (1927) and no longer appeared on timetables.
In the immediately post-war timetable of 1946, the halt was briefly re-opened. [2] The railway company had regained control from the War Office (the line had been a military railway from 1939 to 1945) and concentrated efforts on recovering custom on the main Hythe to New Romney section, of which Warren Halt was a part. However, the experiment with this little station was again deemed a failure, and it closed again at the end of 1946.
The site at Romney Warren is now home to the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre. During 2008, in connection with the provision of transport links to the Centre, it was announced that Warren Halt was due to re-open in February 2009. [3] In the Autumn of 2008 the railway's General Manager confirmed in newspaper reports that construction work had begun on the installation of platform facilities. [4] The Romney Marsh Visitor Centre and Country Park authorities also publicised the re-opening as helping to providing 'green tourism' (tourism that is environmentally friendly). [5] The actual re-opening ceremony took place on Monday 16 February; a special train (hauled by locomotive No 4) carried approximately 60 invited guests including local mayors, councillors, and Michael Howard (member of parliament for Shepway). [6]
Passenger services to the station began later the same week, on Thursday 19 February 2009, and have continued on selected days annually since that time, and also for pre-booked private parties.
The original station never had any buildings or surfaced platforms, and for many years there was nothing to mark the site as trains passed by at speed. During late 2008 a single surfaced and fenced platform was laid on the up line, this being the line on which the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre shuttle trains began operating between New Romney and Warren Halt in February 2009. The surfacing and fencing was completed in December 2008, with partial funding by the local County Council and District Council, and with signage added in January 2009. The extensive rabbit warren from which both the station and this local area of New Romney take their name, is still very much evident, and large numbers of rabbits may be viewed from the train when passing the location.
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.
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.
The Marshlink line is a railway line in South East England. It runs from Ashford, Kent via Romney Marsh, Rye and the Ore Tunnel to Hastings where it connects to the East Coastway line towards Eastbourne. Services are provided by Southern.
Hythe station is the northern terminus of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway. The station has curved platforms with an overall roof, loco release road, former engine shed, signalbox with 16 lever frame, and a turntable. In terms of passenger bookings Hythe is the busiest station on the 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.
Lade railway station was a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England.
Greatstone is a beach-side town, the third town up from the "point" of the Romney Marsh area of Kent. It is situated near the largest town there, New Romney in Kent, England. Although permission was given for a company to construct large numbers of homes and facilities in the 1920s, only a small number were actually built. There was widespread development in the 1960s and 1970s, however, leading to a sizable community. The church of St Peter's, built in the 1960s, is a daughter church of All Saints, Lydd, in which parish half of Greatstone is situated. It is in the civil parish of Lydd. There is a small group of shops at one end of the town, and the other end simply melds into Lydd-on-Sea. The local school is the Greatstone Primary School, from which most students either go on to The Marsh Academy, the Folkestone School for Girls or the Harvey Grammar School.
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.
Folkestone Warren Halt was a station on the South Eastern Main Line of the South Eastern Railway at the beach location known as "The Warren" in the east end of Folkestone, Kent, now within the East Cliff and Warren Country Park.
Romney Warren or Romney Marsh is a 10.9-hectare (27-acre) country park and Local Nature Reserve in New Romney in Kent. It is owned by Folkestone and Hythe District Council and managed by the Romney Warren Project, which is a partnership between Folkestone and Hythe District Council, Romney Warren Charitable Trust, Kent Wildlife Trust and Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership. It is part of the Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay Ramsar internationally important wetland site and Site of Special Scientific Interest.
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.
Preceding station | Heritage railways | Following station | ||
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St Mary's Bay | RHDR | New Romney |