Out Of Sight

Our town's railway history matches that of many rural towns today; it came, it declined, then it vanished. The latter under Dr Richard Beeching. 

In 1882 the direct line from London (via Oxted) opened. The first station had opened in 1855 when the line to Three Bridges was built. When that line was closed in 1966 the connecting spur from the new London line to the old line fell into disuse. The track was removed a couple of years later; its now a unofficial nature reserve.

Hidden behind a high abutment wall on the adjoining main road sits this rather impressive brick built retaining wall. There is no obvious need for it since the big house (Lingfield Lodge) was some considerable distance from the new cutting. One can only assume that the then land owner held out for a higher price for the land and the engineers calculated that it would be cheaper to buy less land and build this rather magnificent edifice instead.

So there it sits to this day, within yards of many passing vehicles and pedestrians completely unnoticed (unless you happen to have a camera and are always curious about what sits hidden out of sight!