Assignment Three. Spaces to places. (Abandoned).

Assignment Three. Spaces to places.(Abandoned)

My first thought for this assignment was to trace the route and remains of the defunct East Kent Light Railway that served the mines and mining communities of the area for about eighty years.  

I traced the route of the various branches using maps of the period, Google Earth, and books written about the mines and railways.  This seemed to be a subject that would lead to some interesting photographs.  Starting at Shepherds Well, where there is two miles of preserved track, I set off the find the track.  In stead of spaces to places it became an exercise in recording places to spaces as almost every trace of a railway has been expunged.

The halts and bridges have been removed, the track bed has been either ploughed out or built on.  The only remains are a number of embankments plus hedge and tree line.  

In other places closed lines became footpaths or cycle tracks with plenty of reference made to its former use. The Havant to Hayling Island line in Hampshire or the Cuckoo Line near Eastbourne are two fine examples of this.  Every attempt seems to have been made to erase the EKLR from the memory.  Even the Miners Walk that winds round East Kent through the various colliery sites avoids the old track route.

The exercise was interesting but ultimately fruitless.  Below are a few of the pictures that I took.

I have a fall back that I will be exploring over the next week or so.