Guestbook

Westerham Branch Line - Chris, many thanks for your excellent DVD and customer service. My father and uncle walked the line in the 1940s, and there are some videos on YouTube of the line in use, Alan Snowdon's 1958 film perhaps being the best. Dunton Green station was one of my locations for train spotting in the late 1960s and early 1970s when my grandparents lived in Otford. I first explored the branch line more than 50 years ago. I cycled to the Brasted station site, the main building still standing and long before the M25 was built. I then walked towards Chevening Halt through the main cutting and it was just so peaceful. Westerham station site was also visited, with the Crown Hotel opposite. The platform was still in place along with the base of the signal box plus various signal wires and other bits and pieces. At Dunton Green, the main station building was still in use, the disused branch platform being accessed from the up platform through a covered passageway. The branch line track in the station vicinity and three goods sidings were still in place, and my brother and I would play on that track as we knew the Mr Burgess who worked in the ticket office. Dunton Green signal box was still standing, with its lever frame and illuminated panel, and it closed in 1973. It was only used after 1962 if, for example, access to the goods sidings was required. During the construction of the A21 bypass in the 1960s I remember seeing goods wagons in the sidings being used on that project on one occasion. I visited Dunton Green again in 2015, walking from the former A21 bridge in Dunton Green for about three quarters of a mile along the route, including crossing that stream. The signal post base shown in your film may have been part of the abandoned project to install colour light signals on at least part of the branchline. A post for such a signal was installed at the exit to the branch in 1961 alongside the signal on the main line (photo in Dunton Green Station Gallery 3 on the really informative Disused Stations website) and was then removed. The Brasted station site shown in your video was particularly interesting along with the shots of the surviving sections of the route. Overall, it brought back some great memories from more than 50 years ago. Best wishes, Steve