 Hello, thanks for joining me. I haven't been to this station before. I haven't come here to get a train We're going to walk through the town centre. We're going to go and get a bus We're now at Haven bus station. Haven't been to this bus station before either We're catching a bus and we're going across the sea. You're pretty thinking is this video making any sense? Well, it's exactly what we're doing. We're getting a bus across the sea to Hailing Island And we're going to explore the railways that are there now and the railways of the past And I think this might be my bus. Hailing Railway. This is East Stoke station It's a two-foot narrow gauge railway which runs along the sea front for about a mile So I've just got to wait for the train to arrive. When I got off the bus, it was really raining quite hard I've had to sit in that shelter for 10 minutes, but it seems to stop raining. It's just still quite windy So I'm going to go and buy my ticket and enjoy a trip on the Hailing Railway It runs, well, you've got the housing station on that side And I'll show you as we go along, but you've got the coast on the other side And then once I've had to return to it, I'm going to walk along beside the railway So we can have a good look at the stations once we're off the train and maybe see a train go faster now It's time for a trip along the Hailing Coast There's Jack, the locomotive, which is about to run round the train Jack was built in 1988 by Alan Keith up at Ross on Y So it's a diesel locomotive, built to look like a steam engine So we're going to watch Jack run round, then we're going to enjoy the trip back It's a bit of an unusual backdrop to a station, rollercoaster But that shows we're at the Great British Seaside That's an narrow gauge railway of 2021 I'm going to go and walk along the trackbed now So we'll have a look at the stations on the way And then we're going to go and find the old Hailing station And we're going to walk along the old railway back to Havon The old railway in the distance And that way the ports are only crouching behind this wall Just to get out of the wind So if I stand up it might get windy But I'll just have to shout So yeah, ports are that way Isle of Wight over there This is East Stoke Corner Railway starts here I've walked beside the Hailing Island railway And we're just following the trackbed One thing I like about this line is See if I'm right Is anything good flat and is anything good straight As well, you'd have seen from the tracks on the train It's quite nice that it's not straight there Straight back flat railway They have had steam here in the past So if they were to have steam on here It would make quite a sight Climbing this gradient So as for this railway And the relation with the original Hailing Biddy The standard gauge line Which we are going to walk along We've just got to be aware of the trains So it was all around it Eventually at one point There was a tall, big, huge station So I'm quite proud to be here I'm not going to catch a train But I'm just going to sit down Away from the seafront Towards the old railway station At the other end of the avenue There was a brown tourist sign It's a station theatre So that provided fairly obvious clue So when we get to here In front of us is that station theatre So let's have a quick look at that in a moment Oh yeah, the station road So this is station road The main town centre That way we're going to cross Here as an interpretation board There So that is what the station would have once looked like We have the station theatre Have a look That good shed That has survived The rest of the station has been demolished But the good shed has survived They've extended around it And it's now the station theatre So that's really quite nice It's survived It's got a new use There's a few more pictures That's what we're going to go and find It's like that old bridge We get further up And we talk about the use of terriers on the line So I've now got a five mile walk Back to haven't So let's have one little look here There you go The station theatre Clearly see the old good shed So probably the buffer stop Where I'm standing Platform would have been along here The little terrier would have run round her train And worked back to haven't So the Hailing Billy trail begins Once we get further down there I'll tell you a bit more about this line How it came about And when it closed So here we are We're on the old Hailing Billy trackbed proper So this railway It was known as the Hailing Billy It was first authorised in 1860 And eventually opened to freight in 1865 And finally passengers in 1867 There was a few problems with the railway The contractor tried to cut a few corners And tried to save money And it all backfired on them They had problems with the track Not being up to standard Various problems But it did eventually open But a legacy of it Being built in that way Is the bridge which we're going to find later on Because there was a severe weight restriction On that bridge So we'll get on to that When we got there But we get there When the line opened though finally They actually The Hailing Railway Company Didn't have any trains So they got the contractors who built the line They then contracted them to run the railway For the first four years or so Eventually they got their own trains They ran as an independent company Until 1923 When it was finally absorbed into the Southern Railway And later on Southern Region of British Railways This line though Oh, it's interesting Look There appears to be a piece of old rail I wasn't expecting to see that So that was probably There's two actually Look There's two Now my guess is This Was probably the distant signal For Hailing Station Not 100% sure And that's purely my guess Because it's about where it would have been Away from the station So The railway It basically did very very well in the summer But hardly any passengers in the winter Because in the summer Hordes of holiday makers came And the trains ran full of the standing Nearly always with The little Brighton Terriers Which Nine of them survived now And probably the reason nine of them survived Is because of this line They were so old But they had to keep them in operation Because they were the only suitable loco To cross the bridge Which has said We're going to see the remains of that bridge So it is thankfully Thanks to this line Its legacy is So many Terriers survive But the problem was It basically made the money in the summer But not in the winter So it was recommended for closure in the beach And report And it finally closed in November 1963 So 1963 Would have been the last summer You could have come down to Hailing Island By train There's been various talks Of what to do with it There was talk of it becoming a preserved line That obviously hasn't happened I think there was one point Talk of a narrow gauge line But that hasn't happened As we've already seen There is now a narrow gauge railway On Hailing Island There's also been talk of it Becoming a tramway Some form of light rail I think I'm not going to start speculating Whether the line would ever reopen If it ever did That's probably It's most likely form But before we continue Along the old track bed Let's just Escape for a moment See some of the green fields Of Hailing And have a look at the views You can see A little bit of sea So that's the mainland over there That's ports down And then over there Is another island The strong island of Portsmouth Where you can see most of the towers So that's a video for another day Portsmouth We'll go and do that Have a look at the miniature railway Model villages Etc The old trike On centering Portsmouth That's all for another day I'm now going to continue Along the old railway And see what else we can find As I continue Norfolk along the old Hailing Billy line I've talked about how A lot of people have come on holiday On this line Well another big part This railway play Was in the Second World War A lot of the holiday camps and hotels Were used to house troops Because just over there Is Portsmouth A very well known naval city But just have a look at this For a potential invasion of England Pillbox has been built So I enjoy finding a pillbox I'm not going to climb over And go in But you can see it quite clearly Stick the camera over the fence And then there you go And then If you come out of the pillbox Come this way It wasn't quite so windy That's got to be a really nice place To just sit and you know Eat a sandwich or whatever Before continuing at all As I continue north I've now come to North Hailing The station that once stood here Or North Hailing Holt As it really was just a halt Imagine so Railway track Straight ahead in front of me And then there'd been a little platform Just there A little wooden platform With a wooden shelter Probably approached the station via this road Here is now just a car park Very very windy car park So I'm just shouting Out there Where to stop Or if you're on the train You might have told the guard That you wanted the train to stop You can see how far I've walked 3.6 kilometres from the railway station Hailing bridge 1.6 kilometres Restored signal That's going to be exciting 1.1 kilometres So got quite a lot of walking to do And then after that I've still got to keep walking Through the suburbs of Haven To do the whole Of the Hailing Billy line I've almost come to the end Of the railway On Hailing Island I've just come down here Off the track But it's on a small embankment There's that signal We set about Because up there The wind is so strong You can hardly Hear what I'm trying to say So I've come down here Just to get out of the wind We will of course Go up there And look at the signal And then We're going to go and see The remains Of the old railway bridge But while we're down here And out of the wind You can see the old Or the new Road bridge Which we're going to go to next Now The railway bridge is known For its weight restriction And that's why Terriers survived so long The road bridge Wasn't without its problems Either In 1956 They imposed a Weight restriction on it So all the goods Had to be bought to the island By train And bus passengers Were told To get out And walk across The bridge So But unfortunately That wasn't enough To save the railway Right, we're going to go off And look at this signal It's going to be really Really windy So I'm going to shout as much As I can Apologies in advance If you can't hear me There's the signal And walk over the road bridge And then we're going to Do the same thing On the other side To do as much to track As we possibly can do The only bit of the track That we physically cannot do Is The old bridge From Bankman has Over there Is the road bridge Which I've just walked across And there Is the remains of the railway bridge So I was going to do A bit half way across the bridge But it was just so windy I was going to show you The view across here So I've done I've taken some pictures So have a look at the view From there to there Now So you see what I mean Quite an impressive view Just You could not There's just no point It was even windier than it was Around there Where we've got to here Here's the section of Bankman Now the other side Is collapsed So The trains would have been Above my head Perceive behind Follow the track Then back towards Haven Preferably get there Before it starts raining again Well We're now properly back On the mainland Come inland a bit Walk along The old railway This Is the site Of Langston Station It's been just here somewhere Railway then went across The crossing And we're going to continue on Around Through the suburbs of Haven Back towards The junction Of Haven Station So a bit like at North Hailing Just a small station Nothing to see at all The railway would have gone Across the crossing Approximately here I'm going to cross the road now And continue on On the final leg Back towards Haven What did I say about Meeting the rain Well There's the bypass The haven't bypass There's lots of built Built bridge for the railway No tunnels on the line But we had the bypass bridge I could shelter there But I've got to get home So I'm just going to walk Through the rain now And on the final mile also Back to Haven And the junction with the main line As we near Journey's end That is the only bridge We've been under Unless you count the bypass But of course That's a new bridge That's the So far the only Original bridge On the railway It's taken on a completely different character Never getting away from water though I see earlier Now it's rain And a boggy sort of milestone Do you get that signs of old railways? They've become boggy They've raised a bit up To build a path I've just got to continue now Through the rain Which I really could have done With coming Just about an hour later But anyway That's what it is It's England You know You can't have a day At the English seaside About it raining So I'm going to continue back Towards The junction with the main line We have finally made it Just over there Is the main line Here we have What probably aren't original But level crossing Inspired style gates That's the signal box The junction with the main line Would have been just there So you can clearly see This was the level crossing once That way goes Down All the way to Hailing Island But before I close the video Let's just have a look At the signal box And just up there Is having railway stations In fact what we're going to do Let's go across the crossing Or go over the level crossing And then I'll come back over The lattice foot bridge So here is The level crossing The gates aren't flashing So we can cross So Haven't patient The signal box And there's the junction Line up to walk through that way West coast way That way Let's just go up here To get a view Of everything The junction All the junctions So that's A bit of a complex junction here And this I do like an old lattice foot bridge Which is Always good to see So Up here And look at that And the sun's starting to come out Haven't station So There'd have been a junction here The line over there To Hailing Island And there's another junction Up there There's a next station Warblington Holt I think that's how you say it So from On the bridge Above Haven't station Thank you very much For watching If you'd like to do this yourself Then you can get the train down To Haven't I'd suggest doing it the way I did Get the bus To Hailing Island Do the railway and walk back If you just want to do One or the other You can always walk And get the bus back Or you could Get the bus both ways And do the railway While you're there So thank you very much Please do feel free To like, subscribe and comment Thank you very much for watching Thank you very much To Hailing Island Railway For a great day Goodbye