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Eridge at last

In July 1985 BR closed the line between Tunbridge Wells and Eridge. It was the last major closure of a railway to passengers in the UK. In the current political climate it is unlikely for it to have happened today, but in 1985 the tide in favour of ‘greener’ transport had yet to turn. The ghost of Richard Beeching stalked the ramparts one last time and the ritual of closure notices and the ‘last rites’, a scenario played out countless times over the previous decades all over the country had one final airing. An action group set up to challenge the closure lost its case in the High Court but it developed into a post closure preservation group – the Tunbridge Wells and Eridge Railway Preservation Society. It was a worthy aspiration but a seemingly insurmountable problem was at the Eridge end of the line. Trains from Tunbridge Wells shared a mile of track with BR’s Uckfield line between Birchden Junction and Eridge. With no convenient junction with separate branch facilities few people thought the project could ultimately succeed.

The Key that unlocked the issue was the singling of the double track Uckfield line in 1990. By this time the preservation society was fighting a planning application for an industrial estate elsewhere on the line at Groombridge which would cover the entire station site and sever the trackbed. Ultimately the only concession to the railway was the retention of enough space for a single line around the edge of what became a housing development where the course of a lifted loop line could be relaid. This explains the odd deviation in use today and why the railway at Groombridge is divorced from the last remains of the original station and platform.

BR saw the lucrative resale value of land in Groombridge village and therefore would not permit any more than the most basic railway to remain. However BR
then made what in hindsight was an amazing offer – although whether they thought the preservation society would be able to overcome all the hurdles involved is a matter of conjecture. If the preservation society would accept just the single track around Groombridge station and put a deposit down on the rest of the line between Birchden and Tunbridge Wells, then the former down line from Birchden Junction into Eridge together with the associated island platform at Eridge plus all its buildings, track and the signalbox would be retained for heritage use. The basic layout at Eridge was two large island platforms, with the main Uckfield line serving the innermost faces with the outer faces latterly truncated as bays.

Two directions on four different lines

The platform buildings, dating from 1880, are beneath canopies stretching about half the length of the platforms which are linked by covered footbridge to the ticket office at road level on an overbridge. At its busiest, before the 1970s, trains departed in two directions heading for four different lines. It all required a big station with facilities where passengers could change, or trains themselves could be divided.

BR’s offer was eagerly accepted. The preservation society, now known as the Spa Valley Railway set up a small centre of operations at Eridge in 1990 before funding from the authorities in Tunbridge Wells prompted the reopening of the railway to be concentrated at that end of the line. In due course the Spa Valley opened from Tunbridge Wells in 1996 extending to Groombridge the following August. In 2005 limited services were extended to Birchden Junction, but the gate beyond Birchden on to Network Rail metals remained firmly shut. As a ‘one off’ in 1998 the Spa Valley’s class 12 No 15224 was permitted to run to Eridge to collect the last stock stabled there.

Finally after some of the most complex negotiations to have taken place in the heritage railway movement, 9 March this year saw a Spa Valley train return to Eridge for the first time in 13 years. The amount of work involved in this achievement cannot be underestimated. There has been invaluable input from a large number of companies within the railway industry. In particular Network Rail, Keltbray Rail & Invensys Rail have made significant contributions. Nowhere else does a heritage railway share a Network Rail double track infrastructure with a national rail Train Operating Company for such a significant length of line. It is a process that has taken skill, innovation and an inordinate amount of time and patience. The former down line has been brought up to NR specification and passenger carrying standards. Much of this was done by NR approved contractor Gramm Interlink in 2008. This has included replacing 100 yards of rail and the removal and plain lining of track at both Birchden and Eridge. Fishplates have been renewed along the entire length and rail ultrasonically tested and replaced where appropriate. Buffer stops have been erected at the end of the leased section beneath the A26 bridge at Eridge. The lease on the former down line was signed last December. A safe method of operation of Forge Farm crossing near Birchden has been developed and approved – both lines cross a little used access road here, but are now both bi-directional.

Work at Eridge has included the refurbishment and painting of the buildings and reglazing the canopy. A new Spa Valley ticket office has been established in a former store room, the original office at road level remains in use with Southern. Operating agreements with NR have been finalised together with a station access agreement with Southern. Eridge signal box has also been retained for heritage use, although as it is the other side of the single NR line running through the site it cannot take on an immediate operational role. It all sounds simple on paper – but in reality the task has been phenomenal.

Extending to its full potential

It was originally envisaged that the down bay platform would be utilised at Eridge, however modern safety requirements, including installation of a sand drag would have reduced the effective use of the platform to less than two coach lengths.

Accordingly the Spa Valley will now use the former down main platform. Away from the new section of line reopened, an integral part of the project is the conversion of the existing run round loop at Groombridge into a fully-signalled passing place. This is essential as a two-train service is needed to utilise the extended line to its full potential. The signalbox is already complete and the signals installed, although yet to be commissioned. The final phase of building new facilities on the platform – a canopy on the south end of the existing ticket office – has also been finished. To complete the scene some abandoned standard SR prefabricated permanent way huts have been bodily removed from Ramslye (outside Tunbridge Wells), relocated apposite the signalbox and protected by a sleeper built retaining wall. These huts were becoming an attraction to local youths and the relocation has both eliminated a lure to trespass and added to the ambiece of the scene at Groombridge station at the same time. A better environment for visitors has also been provided at the Tunbridge Wells West end of the line. Many years ago the last yards of rail were lifted from the rear of the 1891 built locomotive shed to create a circulating area.

Over the years this space had become cluttered and was a prime candidate for refurbishment. In a project known as ‘operation diamond’ a tented temporary ceiling suspended from the shed roof has been removed and replaced with a brand new rigid structure. The entire area has now been cleared, refurbished and a new floor laid. Steelwork is being put in place to create a mezzanine floor. Outside the shed a new canopy has been built in traditional style at the visitor entrance. The awning is edged with an authentic pre-grouping specification valance. The ambiece at Tunbridge Wells West is now greatly improved.

It has taken over a quarter of a century, but finally the Spa Valley has realised the aims of the Tunbridge Wells and Eridge Railway Preservation Society and has again linked the two places by rail. This amount of parallel running and infrastructure sharing of NR metals has never been attempted before and after so many years of effort it has finally come to fruition, thanks to the relentless dedication and patience of a small group of people here in a quiet corner of the Sussex countryside.