What‘s happening in your area?

WESTERN

Bratton Fleming: After the previous sale fell through, the Lynton & Barnstaple Line station appears to have been sold to Exmoor Associates, the company dedicated to acquiring as much of the former trackbed as it can for reopening. The appeal through the Crowdfunding website for a £ 25,500 down payment achieved its target at the end of July.

Exeter: An additional flood barrier has been installed at Cowley Bridge Junction as a precaution. While the metal structure will block the line to trains when it is slid out of its lineside cabin, it will at least reduce the level of flood damage. Some of the funding for the work came from the Environment Agency. Portway: The shortfall in the £ 3.5 million- plus cost of the new Severn Beach Line station between Avonmouth and Shirehampton has been met. Construction could start before the end of the year. Taplow: The new footbridge has been opened.

Templecombe: Extensive lineside repairs, after severe flooding at the end of last year, have presented the opportunity to renew 400 yards of track and remove two speed restrictions.

EASTERN

Ferryhill: Thanks to several readers for spotting the misplacement in RAIL 908 of the reference to the

proposed County Durham station to the Scotland section. There is, of course, also a Ferryhill in Aberdeen.

Haydon Bridge: The old stationmaster’s house on the Newcastle- Carlisle Line has been up for sale by auction, with a starting price of £ 220,000. It has been converted into a four- bedroomed home. ( E)

Hubbert’s Bridge: Previously unrecorded, the Boston- Grantham line station’s new Up platform has been open since June 1. The station is served by two trains a day, and just 1,262 passengers were recorded in 2018-19.

MIDLANDS

Bletchley: The latest stage in the removal of lifeexpired sections of the concrete flyover has required the closure of the main road in and out of the town until August 30. The old beams are being broken up on site.

Bromley Cross: The station is to receive a new

91- space car park.

Dudley: The new West Midlands Metro tram stop on the Brierley Hill extension will be known as Dudley Castle, instead of the less- inspiring Station Drive. Some of the 16 other halts may also get different names as the 2023 opening date approaches.

Wellingborough: The 1872 Midland Railway roundhouse, a surviving part of the old locomotive shed, could be given Grade 2 listing by the borough council to prevent its demolition without permission. It closed to steam in 1966 and was a warehouse before being purchased by a housing developer.

NORTH WEST

Darwen: A helicopter had to be hired to take materials to where the two ventilation shafts of Sough Tunnel are being repaired. The contractor was unable to reach them because road vehicles could not cross wet fields.

Kirkby: The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has offered £ 3.3 million towards building the new Headbolt Lane station, which will have a direct bus service and 500 park- and- ride spaces, and open in 2023. It is part of the longer-term strategy to take Merseyrail into Skelmersdale.

Workington: Work to strengthen sea defences was brought forward during the replacement of Parton bridge.

SOUTHERN

London Bridge: A new use is being sought for the redundant signal box, whose last functions were transferred to Three Bridges on July 24. It dates back to 1974, and when fully operational its nine panels used to control 51 route miles.

West Wickham: The 1882 footbridge at

Southeastern’s south London station has been strengthened and repaired.

ANGLIA

Brandon: The 1845 main station building has been given a last- minute reprieve, after the High Court stopped Great Anglia demolishing it to provide 100 new car parking spaces. Breckland District Council had already approved the site clearance, and campaign group SAVE Britain’s Heritage hopes that the empty rooms can now be renovated and put to good use.

Bury St Edmunds: The Cambridge- Ipswich line was closed briefly during the afternoon of August 7, after a fire broke out in the yard of the British Sugar factory.

LONDON

Camden: The planned reconstruction of the Northern Line Tube station in order to ease severe congestion, and which has been on the cards for at least two decades, has been dropped from Transport for London’s budget because of its current financial difficulties.

SCOTLAND

Barrhead: Construction of the new Barrhead South station on the Glasgow- Neilston line is programmed to start early next year.

Glasgow: A rare item of LNER- built motive power

that is still in regular use, the 1947 paddle steamer

Waverley, made its return to the River Clyde on August 7 following the replacement of its boiler and the installation of new electric systems. The work has cost £ 2.3 million.

Newhaven: An overnight stabling area will be installed at the northern end of the new Edinburgh Tramway extension, to enable morning services to start earlier. Newhaven’s tram stop will also be located further east than was first intended.

Slateford: The disused carriage sidings have been briefly revived, to park up redundant coaching stock prior to disposal.

WALES

Bangor: A small part of the station is being made available for community use. The Railway Heritage Trust is paying £ 31,500 towards the work.

Denbigh: Denbighshire Council would like to see the Vale of Clwyd Line linking Rhyl, St Asaph and Corwen reinstated, and is planning to hire a consultant to take the project forward. The route closed to passengers on April 30 1962.

Wrexham: Improvements planned for General station by Transport for Wales include upgrading the waiting room serving Platforms 2 and 3. The acquisition of buildings and land opposite the entrance will create space for a better bus interchange facility.

THE ‘SILLY SEASON’ FOR NEWS…

( Items from this column from 30, 20 and 10 years ago)

Corrour ( August 1990): Transport police searched in vain for an enthusiast who decided the most pleasant way to photograph trains on the West Highland Line was to set up a deckchair actually on the track ballast. He was narrowly missed by a Glasgow- Fort William DMU.

Appleby ( August 2000): The taxpayer has been saved hundreds of thousands of pounds by the decision of the Local Government Ombudsman not to carpet

Eden District Council for errors in granting planning permission for alterations to the station footbridge. There had been a complaint about the fitting of modern lamp brackets to the structure instead of old- style ones. Kidderminster ( August 2010): Traders were no sooner celebrating their victory in stopping the installation of traffic lights outside the proposed new station, when they heard the entire project had been put on hold by the Department for Transport.