A quick cache that can be done in ten minutes. Can get muddy and slippery after rain.
Part of the Devizes Branch Railway series started by Tek_kaz.
All the Devizes Branch Railway caches can be found here.
Tek-kaz invites others to add to this series and help him mark the route of this once proud little railway line. All he asks is that you place the words “Devizes Branch Railway” at the END of your cache description so that it can be found by the above link.
The cutting nearby used to carry the branch railway line that was built to serve Devizes. The line ran from Patney in the east to Holt in the west. There used to be a bridge to cross the cutting, but after it became unsafe it was replaced by the embankment that now carries the footpath.
The Flying Scotsman at Devizes Station
on the way from Paddington to Ilfracombe
October 19th 1963
Barbara used to travel by train from Manningford to Devizes, changing trains at Patney, to attend school and was featured in the local newspaper when the morning train was withdrawn.
Wiltshire Gazette and Herald, June 26th 1958
Barbara is on the right and her sister is behind her
Chris well remembers rushing out from the same school with a friend at the end of the day to get down to the station. There they were allowed to stand on the footplate of the shunting engine while it went about its business in the shunting yard. Aaah, happy days.
When the "Beeching Axe" fell in the 1960s, Devizes was one of the towns that suffered.
While Dr Richard Beeching was Chairman of the British Railways Board he initiated a study of traffic flows on all the railway lines in the country. This study took place during the week ending April 23rd 1962 and concluded that: only half of the 7,000 stations on the British Rail network carried 98% of the traffic; a quarter of all the traffic started at just 34 stations; and a third of the track was used by just 1% of the traffic.
The report, "The Reshaping of British Railways", of March 27th 1963, proposed that out of Britain's 18,000 miles of railway, some 6,000 miles of mostly rural branch and cross-country lines should be closed. Although Dr Beeching resigned in 1965 his reforms were carried out and his name is forever linked to the removal of over 2,000 stations and 67,000 jobs.
Devizes station closed in 1966 and none of the buildings remains. The station was cleared to make way for a car park and the busy goods yard was built on. The entrance to the tunnel under Devizes Castle, at the eastern end of the station, can still be seen from the car park. Most of the embankments and cuttings running into and through the town are still there.
Parking is available close to the start of the footpath leading to the cache. Please leave room for other vehicles to turn.
Unfortunately because of the uneven surface and the slope this cache is not suitable for wheelchairs or buggies.
You are looking for a small, plastic box containing a logbook, a pencil and some small goodies.
