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

Hinton Ampner

4th May 2019

Hinton Ampner
(National Trust)
Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, SO24 0LA
Adult £15.50 Child £7.75 Under 5s Free

Almost like acting my age I paid an afternoon visit to this interesting NT property - trying to make the most of my NT membership for another year - on a day when the weather didn't want to make up its mind what to do and therefore somewhere with indoor and outdoor interest was required.

The house itself is now mostly Neo-Georgian, rebuilt in the early 20th century by then owner Ralph (rhymes with waif) Dutton from an earlier Victorian house adapted from a Georgian house built on the site of a Tudor manor house. Clear? Go here for the full history from the NT.

It got rebuilt again in the early 1960s after Ralph unwisely left an open fire burning in the grate in the library while he went for a post-lunch walk in the woods and came home to find the house he'd spent 15 years rebuilding in his preferred Regency style well and truly ablaze.

It only took 3 years to fix it up again, at the same time replacing the burnt  bits he didn't like (mostly Victorian) with more-to-his-liking Regency style.

Wouldn't get away with that nowadays I shouldn't think, the powers that be would insist on restoration to previous state even if that meant it didn't get done at all.

For reasons of preventing damage by UV light the interior of the house like most NT properties is kept in a state of semi-gloom and I didn't actually take any photos inside. I can tell you it's very nice if you like Regency/Georgian interiors and that Ralph liked stone ornaments, particularly porphyry, and intricate stone-topped tables. There's an Adam ceiling in the dining room of course, as every good Georgian house should have. And a lot of china and "paintings, classical, for country houses".

Outside the house sits in extensive formal gardens within a larger estate. Adjacent to the house is the cafe, in a surviving Tudor building and the church stands a little way from the house.

I got an ice-cream from the young, posh* girl in the converted horse trailer between the house and church and found a seat in the garden on which to enjoy it. At which point the 10% chance of rain became 100%.

(* posh enough to mention to the previous customer that she likes to ride her horse on the estate tracks.)

It was only a brief shower after which I explored the rest of the gardens - several statues and lots of topiary - took lots of photos (see link at bottom of article) and then decided the crowd in the cafe had thinned enough to risk getting tea and cake. The risk for the solo visitor being that you get your tea and cake and when you turn around a load of OAPs have come in and nicked all the free tables.

Plenty of free seats this time though. Decent cuppa too and they give you a pot of hot water to top up the teapot ✔

Earlier while walking through the garden I noticed that the sundial was about 40 minutes slow.

Checking my watch instead showed I had about an hour and a half left before closing time, plenty of time to follow one of the way-marked walks through the countryside of the surrounding estate.

I decided a couple of easy miles would do and picked the Stewkeley walk which according to the NT leaflet and map would allow me to "Enjoy a short stroll around our estate and see how well Hinton Ampner fits into the surrounding landscape". And the showers looked like they were done for now.

Turn right through the small gate just past the church and follow the red markers. Simples.

They weren't taking any chances of you losing the path across the pasture certainly.

If the worst happened the red markers gave an emergency phone number to call and a location number so that they could come and find you.

The walk headed south from the house in an anti-clockwise loop (although if you wanted to be daring you could do it backwards, the markers work both ways).

As promised you could see how the house fitted into the surrounding landscape, especially from the top of the hill opposite (only a gentle ascent).

Where the walk emerges onto a metalled country lane you could either turn left to follow the route or right to detour to explore the village of Kilmeston. I took the short detour.

I didn't explore far but the bit of Kilmeston I saw consisted of a manor house hidden behind a high wall, a red telephone kiosk which no longer contains a payphone, a bus stop, and an 18th century church which didn't look that old from the outside, set in a neat yard with wide gravelled paths and all the gravestones re-sited to form a low wall along one side of the churchyard. And some expensive houses.

I retraced my steps and followed the way-marked route along the lane with one ear open for speeding Range Rovers as the lane is narrow with few refuge spots. As it happens the only traffic I encountered was, unsurprisingly, a solitary MAMIL.

The walking route passes through an avenue of Beech trees and then turns off left onto an estate track back to the starting point near the house and church.

There's a bluebell wood to the right of the path shortly after where it leaves the road and this is the right time of year for Bluebells. There were some other walkers here who were quite excited about it. There again I'm spoilt by having a bluebell wood outside my back garden gate ☺
And back to Hinton Ampner, exiting through the gift shop (there's no other way out) without even the merest hint of temptation to buy anything and taking the shortest and most scenic route home avoiding any major roads or motorways. I remembered the way without the use of sat-nav, not bad since it's a couple of years at least since I last drove it.

I recommend Hinton Ampner for a pleasant afternoon, at least if the weather is on your side.

Lots more photographs in this Flickr Album.