JBRW Repurposing the legacies of the Industrial Revolution
The almost poetically sad expression 'disused railway'—10,000 miles is a lot of disused—once conjured up visions of neglect and abandonment. Heritage railways and the repurposing of some former stretches of 'permanent way' (a poor choice of words) have halted a small but significant part the decline. Before the 'Canal Walks' series (May 2011), which we featured recently , there were six episodes of a 'Railway Walks' series (Oct-Nov 2008), both presented by Julia Bradbury. Neither series is available for online streaming via the BBC iPlayer, but check the linked pages for DVD availability via Amazon and the BBC Shop. We chanced upon a picture of Bradbury on the footplate of a heritage locomotive on the Ffestiniog railway—the fireman's side of a Double Fairlie for any trainspotters: the American English translation of 'railfan', 'rail buff' or 'train buff' fails to conjure up the anoraks and woolly bobble hats of the true pe...
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