Canterbury and Whitstable Railway
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, sometimes referred to colloquially as the Crab and Winkle Line, opened in 1830 between Canterbury and Whitstable in the county of Kent, England.
It vies with a number of other lines for the title of "First railway in Britain". From the beginning it was a public railway, intended for passengers, as well as freight. Indeed, the world's first season ticket was issued for use on the line in 1832, to take Canterbury passengers to the Whitstable beaches for the summer season. Unlike the public Liverpool and Manchester Railway which opened four months later, however, it used cable haulage by stationary stream engines over much of its length, using a steam locomotive for the level stretch..
Until the early nineteenth century Canterbury's line of supply had been along the River Stour which flows for seventy miles to Pegwell Bay, near Ramsgate on the eastern cost of Kent. This was continually silting up, and the cost of dredging such a length was prohibitive. Although turnpikes had been built, four or five carts were needed to carry the load of a single barge.
Whitstable, on the coast about seven miles due north, was, at that time, a small fishing village and port with a trade in iron pyrites from the Isle of Sheppey. The idea for the line came from William James who surveyed the route and produced plans for imrproving the harbour. The immediate problem was that the land between Whitstable and Canterbury rose to a height of three hundred feet. The only alternative would have been a much longer route through Sturry, Herne and Swalecliffe and a major cost, then as now, was the purchase of land and the right of way.
Accordingly the direct route was chosen with three steep gradients, two of them to be worked by ropes from stationary steam engines. Leaving Canterbury, there was a steep incline to the top of Tyler Hill, with an 828 yard tunnel, then a descent through Clowes Wood to Bogshole Brook. From there the final two miles were substantially level apart from a small incline down to Whitstable. The line received its Act of Paliament in 1825. In 1828, George Stephenson was the engineer, with the assistance of John Dixon and Joseph Locke. The line cost far more than predicted and the promoters returned to Parliament three more times to authorise the raising of funds.
The line finally opened in 1830, single throughout, with passing loops at Clowes Wood and the entrance to Tyler Hill tunnel. The track consisted of fifteen foot fish-bellied rails on wooden sleepers at three foot intervals, the more usual alternative of stone blocks (of Kentish Ragstone) being too expensive. Initially Stephenson had recommended the use of three stationary engines for the inclines, with horses for the level stretch. The promotors insisted on a locomotive and Invicta the nineteenth engine produced in Stephenson's factory was shipped to Whitstable by sea. Unfortunately the short gradient from Whitstable proved too much for it, and third stationary engine was installed in 1832.
The line was bedevilled by financial problems, and was facing bankcruptcy, when the South Eastern Railway which had received the Royal Assent in 1844 agreed to take it over, operating it in isolation from their own line. Invicta by now was virtually useless and horses were being used. When the South Eastern reached Canterbury, it decided to run it with its own locomotives throughout, after upgrading the track.
Under George Stephenson's influence the track had been built to standard gauge, but the loading gauge was small, the height of Tyler Hill Tunnel being only twelve feet (Indeed the smallness of Kent's tunnels have been problem even into British Rail days). Consequently the locomotives were modified with shorter chimneys and lowered boilers.
There was a further setback when the London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened in 1860 offering a competitive service from Whitstable into London. Nevertheless it was able to improve its position particularly in the latter half of the century. In 1923 it became part of the Southern Railway and like many other lines around the country it was suffering from competition from bus services. It still, however, carried coal, grain and roadstone, with munitions to the harbour during World War II. By 1948, when it became part of British Railways, Whitstable Harbour had fallen into disuse and what was left of the line's trade had disappeared. It closed in 1952, albeit with a short reprieve during the floods of 1953.
The line was almost immediately lifted and has almost completely disappeared apart from the tunnel portals, some embankments and various oddments. Invicta, however, has been preserved in Canterbury, though not in its original form, since various modifications were made around 1836 in an effort to improve its performance. The tunnel itself collapsed at the beginning of July 1974, damaging part of the University of Kent at Canterbury that had been built on the hill above. The resulting voids were filled over the next year, allegedly with fly-ash from Richborough power station.
In 1997, a charity, The Crab and Winkle Line Trust, was formed to reopen the route. In 1999, a footpath and cycleway was opened between Canterbury and Whitstable, running along approximately 40% of the original track. There are plans to allow public access to more of the line. Details can be found at www.crabandwinkle.org.
References
- Maxted, I., (1970) The Canterbury & Whitstable Railway, Oakwood Press.
- Ratcliffe, R.L., (1980) Canterbury & Whitstable Railway 1830-1980 Locomotive Club of Great Britain.
- Hart, B., The Canterbury and Whitstable RailwayISBN 0 906867975
- Page, M., In the Tracks of Railway History – A Walk along the line of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway ISBN 0 9515828 1 X