Loddiswell Primrose Line Part 2

Loddiswell Primrose Line Part 2 Aug 15, 2010 22:15:54 GMT

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Post by Dave on Aug 15, 2010 22:15:54 GMT

Sunday 15th August 2010

I sure needed to get as far away from computers and forums as I possibly could today and just spend some time walking and chatting to the one person who knows more than anyone just what hassles and stress this forum brings to me at times my dear wife Carol.

If you have read this thread

www.torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?board=fansphoto&action=display&thread=5608

you would know we walked a part of the old Primrose line, our walk had started by the church in Loddiswell and out on lanes to a farm and then down fields until we came to the River Avon. We waked up the left hand side of the river away from Loddiswell until we came to a bridge that once carried the Primrose line over the river. We climbed up onto the bridge and back along the old track bed all the way to Loddiswell station; from there we made the long walk back to the village car park where he had left our car many hours before.

But when we were on that bridge we could see the line carried on and what we did not know was just how far you were able to walk along before you can to parts that I know are now privately owned and you are not allowed to walk on anymore.

When we did this walk in this thread
www.torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?board=fansphoto&action=display&thread=5706

We discovered another part of the Primrose line that went into the old Gara Bridge station, sadly this part was all private and just before the train would have gone into the station it went over a bridge built from brick and iron. Now I had read the Primrose Line crossed the River Avon ten times in total and I’m sure that first bridge we had walked over would have been the first bridge that crossed over the river and I was hoping today we might get a fair distance along the part of the line we were planning to walk on and find a few more bridges.

We headed for Loddiswell station that is not in the village itself and got lucky as you are not allowed to park on the land by the station but there is room for three cars on the left just before the station and we were able to park behind two cars that were already parked there.

We set off walking the other way from the station on the old line from the way we walked it last time and that time it was nice and dry to walk on but due to some heavy rain recently we found the walk up to the bridge very muddy in places. I found myself saying sorry to Carol but she just smiled and said it did not matter and the way I was feeling those words were music to my ears, bless this dear lady of mine.

We got to the bridge and I said to Carol what’s the betting we can only go a few more hundred yards further, but I would have lost my money if I had placed a bet on that as we walked a very long further section of the old Primrose Line.

It was clear that this part is not walked so much as it is over grown in places, one part we had to walk around 20 yards of the track bed as it has been completely taken over by high vegetation.

Then we could see another bridge and unlike the last one it does not look very bridge like from the top and the part you walk over, but we were able to get down to both sides of it and just like bridge number one it has a section built in the middle of the river creating two archways for the river to run under.

After walking a further good walk along the track we came to bridge number three only its not there anymore and all you can see of what’s left of it is the wall on the other side and the foundations of the pillar in the middle of the river. On our side you could not see any wall and Carol was convinced there had to be one we were as good as standing on and so I laid down on the ground with Carol holding onto my legs to prevent me falling down into the river and I lent over and I could feel there was a wall there as she suspected.

If anyone had got to this point and had not worked out the wall they could see on the other side was the remains of a bridge and the line carried on heading for Gara Bridge on that side, they could be forgiven for thinking they were still walking along the old line. It just feels like you are until you get 50 yards past the site of the dismantled bridge and the track starts climbing a very steep hill in the woods.

There is no way a stream train would have ever been able to make such a steep climb and when we got to the top of it we were greeted with a sign stuck on a tree saying it was private beyond this point. Carol noticed a much smaller sign on a tree on the left hand side saying public footpath with an arrow pointing down a very narrow and steep pathway that went back down to the rivers edge.

We took this path with great care and for a while were walking alongside the river and could see across the river at times the track bed until we starting losing the river and any sight of the of the old line. Sometime later the path swung around the right and we climbed over a style onto a very narrow lane and we then turned left and fist came across a very delightful cottage.

A hundred yards later we saw a wonderful road bridge and the shot I took from this bridge looking back toward the cottage was one of those shots you know are just going to look fabulous as it was such a picturesque place. We walked over the bridge and just over the other side a sign pointed the footpath continued on a pathway on the right and only a few yards later we came to bridge number four that took the train over the river again.

This bridge was much the same as the other three in construction having a pillar built in the middle of the river and what was strange about this bridge was it had a small tunnel on the land on one side of it. Now it was no higher than three feet at most and you would have had to crawl on your hands and knees to get through it so I don’t think it was build for us humans to use and I wonder if Barton might have an answer as to what its use would have been. I was alble to get onto the top of this bridge but it was very over grown and the end was blocked of with a metal sheet.

After getting some shots from both sides of the bridge we carried along the footpath but it was clear it was taking far to the left of the old track and we were unsure where it was heading. We got to a small stream with stepping stones in it to get across and then straight over a very high style that proved very uncomfortable for a man such as me who has very short legs.

We found ourselves in a field and a sign on the tree informed us there were cows, calves and a BEEF BULL in the field so to cross with care. There he was just 30 yards away and eyeing us both up and Carol wanted to walk on and old sacredly cats Dave said it was going to be along walk back and I think we have gone far enough now.

He went back over that very high style again and I told Carol there and then that promise I made to her for later in the night was now unlikely to happen. It sure was a good long walk back to Loddiswell station and on the way we discussed our day and all our findings and we are sure we never got as far as Gara Bridge but must have been very close to it and if we had not gone past it with out realising it, then I believe there are two more bridges from our bridge number four before Gara Bridge Station.

The reason I believe that to be the case is bridge number four took the train back onto the right-hand side of the river heading for Gara Bridge. A picture that can be seen of the brick and iron bridge on the second link I have put on this post shows the train crossing back to the right hand side of the river again and I think this bridge must be bridge number six and there must be one more (bridge number five) in between this one and the one I called bridge number four that must have taken the train back onto the left hand side of the river for a short distance.

If I’m right then there were six bridges that took the train over the River Avon between Lodiswell station and Gara Bridge station meaning the other four bridges were between Gara Bridge and South Brent.

When we did do the walk in link number two from the rings down to Gara Bridge it was clear there is nowhere you can park a car at Gara Bridge. It was also clear to see the old line leaving Gara Bridge for South Brent is on private land. Our next plan is to find out where we can park near Gara Bridge and as we saw a road leaving Gara Bridge that looks like it might follow the path of the river and hopefully the Primrose line, we will try and discover a few more bridges and hopefully find a part of the line we might be able to walk on.

Now very worn out from today’s walk and still wondering why the world has some right assholes in it but still thankful the TFF is blessed with such wonderful members, its time I thought about going to bed as I have to be up at 4.45am to face yet another 380 mile drive just to earn a crust of bread.