Hayling Billy

Sunday March 1st 2020

Hayling Island, east of Portsmouth doesn’t have a railway but it used to have one. A four and a half mile long single track branch line ran from Havant on the mainland, to Langston Station on the north east corner of Langstone Harbour (the railway never used the ‘e’), across a wooden swing bridge onto Hayling Island then via North Hayling station down the western shore of the island to the terminus at Hayling Island station near the popular beaches on the island’s south coast. 

What became known as the “Hayling Billy” was opened by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) for goods on 19 January 1865, and for passengers on 16 July 1867. The delay for passenger operation being a result of problems with the quality of the line’s construction meaning the Board of Trade inspector initially refused to certify the line as fit to carry passengers. Because of the weight restriction on the bridge over Langstone Harbour it was worked, from late Victorian times to closure in 1963 by small LB&SCR A1/A1X Class locomotives.

Remains of the railway bridge 

Heavily used in the summer by holidaymakers visiting the beaches of Hayling Island in the winter the trains were mostly empty.Nevertheless the line was able to run at a small profit. By 1962 however the bridge across Langstone Harbour needed replacement and British Railways decided this was not a reasonable investment. The decision was taken to close the line and the last scheduled passenger train ran on the evening of 2 November 1963. With hindsight this was probably a poor decision. Anyone who has sat in the interminable summer traffic queues getting on and off the island over the single road bridge would probably consider that keeping the railway would have been worth the required investment. Too late now, the bridge was dismantled and the track lifted in spring 1966.

Restored signal post

So you can’t ride on a train on Hayling island but you can walk the route (the part on the island at least) so that’s what I did on a dry but very windy Sunday afternoon. The island section is now a combined footpath, bridleway and cycleway. It has recently become part of route 2 of the National Cycle Network and called the Hayling Billy Trail. Just after the road bridge on the right is a small, busy car park with a tight entrance which serves as the trail starting point. Fortunately there was one space left.

A path from the car park leads to the south end of the bridge to the mainland, the remains of which are visible looking back towards the site of Langston Station. Here also is a restored semaphore signal post reinforcing that this is a disused railway line. You then back-track and follow the course of the line south.

Site of North Hayling Station

You can as I did take the detour via the former oyster beds which returns to the trackbed at the site North Hayling Station, nothing of which is now apparent. Here there was a sign saying that the next section was currently unsuitable for cycles due to drainage problems and indeed there was a fair sized part of the track that was flooded but as everyone knows cyclists cannot read - or choose not to. Walkers could pick their way around the flood on the raised bank on the seaward side. 

The route hugs the water side so there are good views across Langstone Harbour to Southsea and Portsmouth with the Spinnaker Tower being clearly visible. This also means it’s exposed to the elements which today meant a strong southwesterly wind. There isn’t much obvious in the way of railway “remains” though. The trail ends in West Town about 750 metres from the sea front where Station Road runs into Sinah Lane. Hayling Island Station was demolished but the former goods shed survives as part of the Station Theatre and is quite clearly a bit of railway architecture.

Former goods shed, Hayling Island station

If I could have worked out if, when, and from where the buses ran I’d have ridden back but instead I walked under a darkening sky that shortly unloaded a squall of horizontal rain and hail. This eventually passed and I was treated to an impressive rainbow. Which ws a little compensation for still being rather damp when I got back to the car park. At least the nearby petrol station has a Costa - a proper one with a counter and attractive baristas rather than a self service machine. It also has cheap fuel which is against the usual trend of anything on an island being more expensive. I filled up with flat white and unleaded before heading home.

Here's a Flickr Album of photos from Hayling Island