UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2011
Details and further clues to the Bonus
Cache are included in the 'Batty Villa' listing, as some cachers
hadn't read this one when they got to the end of the trail. The
Bonus coords are listed on every 'Ghost' cache and you can peel off
and get the bonus from part way along the 'Ghost' trail. This
should allow cachers, if they wish, to link up with routes by POMZ
and Loopyhoop which run nearby.
The Bexhill West
Railway Line
On 1st June 1902, this 4
1/2 mile branch line, running between Crowhurst and Bexhill, was
opened. Despite it's size, it took a substantial investment to
built this double-tracked stretch, not least because of the 17-arch
viaduct built across the Combe Haven marshes. At the time, Bexhill
was seen as the holiday resort of the future so this line (which
reduced the journey time between Bexhill and London form 72 to 62
miles) was seen as an excellent investment. Sadly, neither Bexhill
nor this branch line ever quite reached their potential and the
competition - ie the London rail lines running through both
Hastings and Eastbourne - thrived at the expense of this little
line, especially when they were electrified in the 1930's and it
was not. When Beeching wielded his axe, this line was perhaps
inevitably doomed and the last train left Bexhill West station on
15th. June 1964.
If you want to know
more, go online: there are several excellent websites. The
railway's archives are held in Bexhill Museum - and there are some
excellent books - though interestingly, although there are many
that include lost / closed railway lines, this one very rarely gets
a mention - and if it does, it's very brief. The following youtube
clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iovjvFm9OKI) is wonderful 1967
amateur footage with many fascinating features - and when the
cameraman scans the horizon, the viaduct can been seen in the
distance.
THE BONUS CACHE
The bonus cache can be found at:
N50 A (B-D). A D
A, E000. D (C+D).A C C
A, B, C and D are written at the
top of the log rolls in the 7 caches on the rail track
trail.
NB: ALL the caches are
accessible from established paths and minimal scrambling is
required. Although some caches - including this one - may be off
the trail, none are far and if you find yourself scrambling up /
down embankments or through jungley undergrowth or doing anything
dangerous or uncomfortable - stop: you've gone wrong. However,
nettles and brambles abound. I've tried to avoid them, but they're
inevitable in a woodland cache.