The watercress line....update!
No, not the well known heritage railway in Hampshire!
This week's Saturday Timewatch features a follow-up to a post frpm a few years ago. The location are the wash ponds at Broadmayne, Dorset. With little vegetation growth in winter, you can see two metal rails, one at the bottom right partially out of the water and one underwater running diagonally across the photo. Not visible in this photo, two more lengths of rail were further out in midstream. So what are they?
I can find no reference to them online. However, knowing something of the history of the area, we believe it is the remains of an old watercress railway. Fortunately, a local gentleman to whom we have spoken before confirmed this to likely be correct.
His father, from whom he inherited the house by the wash ponds, moved in during 1986 by which time the watercress operation had ceased, probably in the late 70s. He told us the house previously belonged to the owners of the watercress company. However, they only visited from Hertfordshire during holidays leaving a local old lady living there as caretaker. At least part of the gentleman's current garage was the packing shed for the cress. The assumption is that the watercress was transported the few hundred yards from the cress beds to that shed along the rail line. He didn't know the means of propulsion. It may well have been manpower or perhaps horse-drawn. This remnant of track almost certainly followed a slightly different line to where it is occasionally visible today.
Could there possibly have been a small locomotive? It is impossible to say. However, at least one such railway existed around 12 miles away at Bere Regis. I'm not sure when it was built but I know it was still in partial use until recent times. Bedford & Jesty Ltd used an 18in gauge locomotive powered by an Austin 7 engine to haul watercress from Dodding's Farm watercress beds to the washing shed and dispatch building beside the Bere Water. A local confirmed that there were several branches along the beds and the distance down to the washing shed was almost one mile.
You can see two photos of the Dodding's Farm operation below.
The watercress line....update!
No, not the well known heritage railway in Hampshire!
This week's Saturday Timewatch features a follow-up to a post frpm a few years ago. The location are the wash ponds at Broadmayne, Dorset. With little vegetation growth in winter, you can see two metal rails, one at the bottom right partially out of the water and one underwater running diagonally across the photo. Not visible in this photo, two more lengths of rail were further out in midstream. So what are they?
I can find no reference to them online. However, knowing something of the history of the area, we believe it is the remains of an old watercress railway. Fortunately, a local gentleman to whom we have spoken before confirmed this to likely be correct.
His father, from whom he inherited the house by the wash ponds, moved in during 1986 by which time the watercress operation had ceased, probably in the late 70s. He told us the house previously belonged to the owners of the watercress company. However, they only visited from Hertfordshire during holidays leaving a local old lady living there as caretaker. At least part of the gentleman's current garage was the packing shed for the cress. The assumption is that the watercress was transported the few hundred yards from the cress beds to that shed along the rail line. He didn't know the means of propulsion. It may well have been manpower or perhaps horse-drawn. This remnant of track almost certainly followed a slightly different line to where it is occasionally visible today.
Could there possibly have been a small locomotive? It is impossible to say. However, at least one such railway existed around 12 miles away at Bere Regis. I'm not sure when it was built but I know it was still in partial use until recent times. Bedford & Jesty Ltd used an 18in gauge locomotive powered by an Austin 7 engine to haul watercress from Dodding's Farm watercress beds to the washing shed and dispatch building beside the Bere Water. A local confirmed that there were several branches along the beds and the distance down to the washing shed was almost one mile.
You can see two photos of the Dodding's Farm operation below.