formofmassmarkettraveltot he coastin
theSixties,the countr yhas beenleftwiththe
legacy of what Ibelieve to be,squaremileby
square mile,the finest set of seaside heritage
railways anywhere in theworld.
Variety
Ibegan my love affair withseaside railways
as an infant,whenmyfamil ystayedat
Goodringtonnextto, andtravelled on,what
is today’smagnificent DartmouthSteam
Railway. Thebig difference betweentoday
andbackthenwas thefactthatBRgreen
dieselhydraulic Warships andDMUswere
themainstay of serviceonanincre asingly-
steamlessWesternRegion.
ThebeautyofBritain’s 2019 portfolioof
seasideheritagerailwaysist heir sheervariety.
TheNorth YorkshireMoors Railway, which
brokemuchnew ground byrunningregular
services overNetworkRail’sEsk Valley Line
into thedelig htful harb ourresortofWhitby,
is indeed astark contrast to Brighton’s
much shorter Volk’s Electric Railway, the
oldest survivingoperational heritage linein
theworld.
Today, heritagelines also se rveagreat
purposeintakingholidaymakers awayfrom
thebeach,ratherthansimplytoitasitthe days
of old. No tourismpromoter likestot alkabout
bad weathe r, especiallywhenBritain haslong
facedcompetitionfrom competitively -priced
Mediterranean breaks,but we cannot escape
that it is part of ourclimate.
Today, when theheavens open,jumponthe
nearest heritage railwayand savour thedelig hts
of achanginglandscape from theelevated
heightsofacarriage. Lineslikethe Ravenglass
&Eskdale Railway–which hasdeservedlyjust
wonLarge Visito rAttractionofthe Year at
CumbriaTourism’s Annual Awards –and the
Talyllyn,ValeofRheidol ,Ffestiniogand WelshHighland allowyou onsuch days to experience
amagical changing landscapefullofwaterfalls
andragingtorrentsbut in thedry,likenoother
formoftransport cando.
Many resortsstillhave theirseaside
miniaturerailways–astaplefeature in thedays
of steam.We canstillenjoy those‘oversize’
classicexamples like Ravenglass; Romney,
Hythe&Dymchurch; CleethorpesCoast;and
Fairbourne,where‘miniature’becomes true
narrow gauge.
Thisfeaturelooksat20linesonthe UK
mainland,which for many people canbe
accessedby daytrips or weekendbreaks. They
areall splendid ,but it would be wholly unfair,
indeed,impossible,tosingleout thebestofmy
pers onal preferen ces, because of themarked
differen cesincharacter,culture andstyle
on offerateach. As such,theyare liste din
alphabetical order.
RobinJones