 Hello, thank you for joining me. I'm at Wendover Railway station today This is Wendover on the old great central and metropolitan joint railway That's looking towards Alesbury and looking that way that's looking towards London Maribor And you can just see the track rising up to Dutchland summit So if they were to ever run a steam special through here probably make quite a lot of noise coming through here We're just walking under the modern footbridge which was added in 2013 it's got lift so it provides accessible access to the Down platform. Here's the original station building. So the station opened in 1892 now the old footbridge Is still there the noise you can hear that's the Wendover bypass on the other side of the fence Just have a look at the old footbridge It's still in situ, but they've taken out the steps It's a segregated bridge. So the other side of the bridge is the public footpath You can just see the bridge carries on over the bypass. So it's quite nice The old bridge is still there, but also that everyone can access the platform So effectively get the best of both worlds. So what we're going to do now We're going to leave Wendover railway station and we're going to go and explore a Former railway line which used to run from here to the RAF camp at Halton It wasn't a particularly long railway. It's only about one and three-quarter miles long But it would have run from just up here. This is where the Goods Yard would have been Inevitably it's now a car park. I'll just let you see. That's the other side of the bridge See what I mean? It's a segregated bridge. So the old station side is no longer used So it went to RAF Halton opened in 1917 closed in 1963 There was also a narrow gauge line up at Halton Which we will try and have a look at some of the track bed, but bearing in mind it will be in an RAF camp So it may not be possible to completely do the track bed of narrow gauge line But I certainly intend to show you where some of it was. So as we get to the end of the Platforms here somewhere around here would have been the platform where you could have got on the train for the People in the RAF and whoever else to travel on the passenger service that did once run up the branch to RAF Halton And as I said, there'd have been a Goods Yard here The line was mainly used to take coal to the boilers. That was its main Resondetra to supply coal to the boilers for the RAF camp but then they were later replaced with oil boilers and The oil was delivered by road tankers So that was like your first nail in the coffin of the railway the narrow gauge line bought and some wood down from the slopes of Wendover Woods and some of them were then Transported on standard gauge line to the main lines to be used as pit props for the trenches in France and various other just any where that would needed to go really so I'm going to carry on up here when I get to the point where the track bed curved away from the old great central Railway We'll follow it and through the suburbs of Wendover out towards RAF camp at Halton So and this is where we are still at this point parallel to the old great central main line So here we are just a couple of hundred yards further up the old great central main line towards Alesbury The line we're following would have run here things is an industrial estate behind the station over there That's Wendover Woods now it was from the foothills of Wendover Woods further along the hill That's where some of the timber that the narrow gauge railway Transported to the standard gauge row would have been now as we come along here is a public footpath It doesn't look much like one we get to these gates which are chained up with a padlock, but That's obviously just to stop anyone driving through because if you look here there's a public footpath sign and You can clearly see The footpath goes around here, so I'm not trespassing and this isn't RAF land was a dog barking at me in one of the houses down there So this is where the track bed starts to curve away from the great central main line So there's one more industrial unit there with a great central line over there the track bed now Curves off down here as the well I would say a public footpath sign shows us but it seems to be a sign with no No lettering on but there is another footpath one here on the side of this sign So now we are going on to the old railway track proper So as I said, I don't actually think this had a proper passenger service for anyone who wanted to use it It would have been purely for people traveling to and from the camp So I don't know how many track brushes ever got the chance, but I'm just gonna show you this here you can see now we've got about half of the Track bed on this side the fence you can see the embankment the houses being down there never been down here before So I'm kind of I've done a bit of looking at maps and for yep This is what I want to go to today So we're just gonna explore it as I go really and I have to walk through all bits of the track in the past But never been along this section So we're just gonna follow it really and I'm just gonna show you the highlights of this What I think is a fairly little known railway not so many people know about it and probably Because it wasn't you know part of the national rail network as a private line last time I did a railway a bit like this It was when I walked up to link for a hospital. She's putting a link on the screen now Although that wasn't military that was a hospital, but that had an electric tramway so this one wasn't electric it would have been steam from when it was built in 1917 but It was replaced with diesels fairly early on in about 1940 the diesels took over so we now get to here There's a little gate and we come out onto another path So I think the track bed probably goes off through that person's garden. This is an existing lane That way would take us up to let's go up here Well, we are deviating off the railway track there, but I've had a little idea be able to show you a couple of Things from what I think this is going to take us to We're walking up a slope now, which will take us over the great central track bed and the went over bypass But I'm thinking we might get quite a nice view over the Vale of Ellesbury So let's see what we find. I can already see in the distance. I can see Coom Hill I have done a video there because that's where that's the end of the South Bucks way Few years ago walked the length of the South Bucks way. So I really like doing long distance or medium long distance footpaths and So this is great central Railway if you look that way you can see when devastation in the distance and then this is It's a when dover body pass Now if you're wondering what that construction work over there is that is HS2 now. I'm not sure the exact route of HS2 and I don't want to get too Into it, but I believe it's possibly going to run Along here somewhere, and then they got Coom Hill In the distance and looking that way CD Vale of Ellesbury. So I just want to have one more look at the as I said Where the railway left the great central main line? So from let's go back to the railway bridge. This is the more modern road bridge. This is the more friendly railroad Perfect for watching trains if they had a bit more variety on this side So you can see that warehouse there the track would have curved off behind there off in that direction And we've really come to the end of Wendover. It's fields beyond here So I'm gonna go back down there now and follow the railway in that direction in the direction of RAF Halton I'm now back on the edge of residential Wendover. This isn't the old trackbed This is just a farm track, but it goes up a bit of a hump here and crosses the old trackbed So here the track would have crossed at a skewed angle So where we last saw the track bed it disappeared into someone's garden. Well over there There's some 1980s houses and I guess that's about when they were built and the embankment has been demolished But then it reappears here just for this short section so you can see it had gone that way So they've crossed this this track at a skewed angle now if you have a look here This is where I find what all railways get fascinating when you find something that remains look at this The old gatepost is still here So a gate would have hung across that and they could have closed the gate on this little lane To passing trains the track bed would have then carried on down there But it appears the embankment has been removed again So I'm gonna have to follow the footpath on down here and pick it up again now Just show you again over there. That's Coom Hill and the great central railway ran over there We're gonna go along here and when I get to the end of this lane by the field and should be able to There should be a footpath that heads in the direction of where the railway line used to go So it must have gone through those houses there Now yeah, I can see a gate over there So I'm gonna walk across this field now and try and find a railway track bed again So I walked through the field I came to a little footpath and then that took me out onto this track which goes to these allotments now The railway track bed is just on the other side of that fence I could sort of see glimpses in people's gardens where the track bed fairly obviously had run But I didn't want to put that on film because you know it is someone's garden But I could quite clearly observe it from from the the path now we get to here We crossed the old road, which would have gone to Ellesbury So they've been the main road before the bypass was built and if you have a look at this house here This is built right on the track bed So that would have been built after 1963 once the track had been taken up So as I said it run parallel to this track And then the railway line would have had a level crossing just here Which I'll show you in a moment crossing the road and then it had continued on up towards the RAF camp at Halton So so far it's been a bit fragmented what we can access, but I'm hoping beyond here We might be able to access more of the track bed. So this is the main road now This is where it gets quite interesting because It'll come across here and where those gate posts are there. They're possibly the original ones that Is where the railway line would have crossed the road. I'm just gonna cross the road myself on the pedestrian crossing And we're going to have a closer look so The railway line would have been there where those trees are and then it would have So I'm gonna go down that footpath. It would have gone down there So where this house here is if you look that's interesting. There's a post lying on the ground That's probably the original gate post and possibly these are two I actually remember as a child used to come up this way before the Bypass was built and this house here had proper level crossing gates wherever they were the original ones But they were painted with the red circle like they really were railway level crossing gates So yeah, the track would have run where that bungalow And that bungalow is now I'm gonna go down here And I'm hoping when I get up here a bit and we'll be able to get back on to the old track bed proper So I've come a couple hundred yards down this track and the railway track bed would be the other side of this fence over there Was the state of houses built in the late 90s called Castle Park Farm It was built by company called Banner Homes now when we get to here you just see a bit of the old track bed So I'm just gonna let this cyclist come off it and then I'm gonna carry on so Now it should be fairly easy to follow it most of the way And then it's the last bit we won't be able to do because it's in the RAF camp So we get to here you can see even one of the old fence posts that were defenced off the railway is still there and we just step up onto the old track bed and There's a sign. This is a permissive path the public footballs. We've just been it's called the personal path And it's maintained by the Wendover Society. So we're gonna now follow the old railway line up here I've now left the residential Areas of Wendover behind me and I followed the track bed out into the countryside It's quite exciting. What happens when we get just up here. We're just gonna go through these trees when we get to here I come to an opening and here we have The Wendover arm of the Grand Union Canal, which is like the railway also disused it was opened in 1799 and it closed in 1897 so it lasted 99 years and that's the railway the main line not the one we're following Opened in 1892 for five years Wendover had a railway and a working canal now. It's really just like a man-made river It's very clear. It flows off down there Further up it becomes completely disused but they are working on reopening it and the last mile or so is Navitable so perhaps one day. I don't know when but perhaps we could walk the whole of this canal because it really is quite fascinating But this was the only point as far as I'm where it actually crossed a railway line We're now going to go over this bridge here. It's called Oliver's Bridge. Obviously, this is not the bridge that they carried the railway and I believe the bridge that carried the railway was made out of sleep as it was put up very quickly and the railway Would have been built by German prisoners of war. So this would have been they've done it as quick as they can They needed the railway. There's some ducks and ducklings coming towards us And then if we look that way you can see down the canal looking towards Halton If you follow the canal that way you will go through Halton Village, which is really quite an attractive place now come off the end of the bridge and The railway line continues through the trees again if you look the old Concrete fence posts are still here, which is quite nice. Where are we going to come up too soon? was once part of Halton house. It was one of the Rothschild's houses But the land was bought from them because they needed it to create the the RAF camp during the First World War. So I'm going to carry on up here and Go as far as we can go before we actually get to where I won't be able to access it because it would be RAF camp So I've continued to follow the old railway along this section here. It's quite pleasant It's quite hot day today But it's nice and cool here in the trees and we've kind of come back up onto a bit of an embankment again You can see the old concrete posts there and There and there which would have once fenced the railway line off and one little embankment It's not so much an embankment on that side But again, you've got the same row of concrete posts and this is still a footpath at this point but the footpath effectively Runs out and so does where we can follow the railway, but there's a little bit more I can show you get to here look you've got footpath signs So take you off the railway that way off the railway that way as you can see There's a footpath the way we came back to Wendover But there's no footpath that way but it looks quite interesting because there's a sign here and you kind of go in someone's Obviously had a little fire here like it's a little campfire and Like a little little sort of swing It's like a an action man or something could swing off that and then we go through here And there's a dead hedge and then the track bed Effectively ends so what we shall do we'll go back to the footpath and so we could go that way That's the direction we want to go in But I'm gonna go this way so I can take you around the end of the track bit. Oh look at that. There's Even an old piece of rail there interestingly. That's a flat bottom rail I wouldn't have expected them to have used flat bottom rail, but then Why else would a piece of rail? It's quite long be here. So it must be off the old railway. So yes trains. It's still a bit of railway line here And right what happens here? Okay, we come out here That would take us to Wendover this Coom Hill over there Wendover woods runs all the way along there So the narrow gauge line would have run somewhere along the foothills of Wendover woods and I said it would have been used to bring timber and And then I've exchanged it taking it off on this one I'm gonna follow this path around here because this is the end of the track bed and from here the railway line would have curved off through the fields to Somewhere over there. So this this this is the end of the track bed now or not the end of the track bed the end of What we can see as the track bed the railway line would have swung off round there somewhere If you look on Google Earth, you can actually see it quite clearly a slight different color in the grass Where the railway would have been now that where those buildings over there That is where the standard gauge line ended and the narrow gauge line begun We're not gonna be able to get in there because it is the RAF camp which is understandable, but I've got an idea I'm gonna take you somewhere over there Where there's a church and the railway line would have passed near the church So that's probably the closest I'm gonna get to show you the narrow gauge track bed So it looks like I'm gonna continue across this path here And I'm gonna go up there Towards the RAF camp in Halton So here we are in RAF Halton. This is a public road. I'm on so I'm allowed to be here now The narrow gauge line I was saying about would have run Approximately just the other side of where those trees are where that fence is and headed up That way into Wendover Woods So that's all I can really show you of the track because like I said most of it is on the MOD land So, you know, I don't want to kind of just go walking in there they're filming but what I'll show you is This bit where I'm pretty sure it's all right to film Coming up to the St. George's RAF church in Halton now. It's a fairly modern church Well, I say modern, you know, I mean Not a really old church, but look at it. I really like it It's I really like this big concrete window lots of different stained glass inside I don't think we're going to be able to go inside it, but we can certainly go up closer and have a look And I just think that's really nice Sort of church. I do like this era of churches Always been fascinated by the sort of the 60s and 70s churches that have this kind of concrete You know, slightly brutalist style windows. They have a very nice thing about here All these all these roses. So I'm not going to walk any further Into the RAF camp because you know for fairly obvious reasons I'm going to leave the video here at St. George's church. So I hope you enjoyed this little walk along a slightly different disused Railway and a bit narrow gauge railway. Thank you very much for watching And if you're ever out this way, you know, you could get a train from London Mariband to Wendover and do this walk for yourself I'm now going to go a slightly different way just to make it a circular walk back to Wendover and Go home. So thank you very much for watching. Please do feel free to like subscribe comment. Thanks very much. Goodbye