The railway in Wateringbury: overview

Post date: May 04, 2017 4:16:55 PM

General background

Railways, drawn by horses, were developed in the 17th century in Britain to haul coal from mines to canals or rivers. Iron rails evolved in the 18th century.

The development of stationary steam engines arose out of the need to drain coal mines in England which, at this time, produced 80% of Europe's tonnage: Newcomen developed (1712) a low-pressure steam engine at Dudley that was very inefficient in energy usage but was able to compete against alternatives (water wheels or horse gigs). James Watt later in 18th century improved Newcomen's engine by using a separate condenser. Richard Trevick built the first high-pressure steam engine in 1800, which was much more fuel-efficient, but which still had a rocking motion making it good for mine drainage but ineffective as a smooth source of power to machinery, in contrast to a water wheel.Watt had developed a steam powered rotary engine producing power smoothly, which was installed in a cotton mill for the first time in 1785 but adoption was slow until in the 1845 when William McNaughton patented a new design operating under high pressure: water power (plus some wind) remained dominant stationary power source until then.

Steam boats were developed in France , US and Scotland at end of 18th century. Steam replaced sail in world's merchant marine during the 19th century with short journeys changing earlier than long; trade with France and Low Countries was by steamer by 1855; with US shift took place by late 1870s; with Asia by the 1880s. Britain supplied majority of world's marine ships, which burnt British coal.

Steam locomotives (i.e. on rails) developed before steam traction engines and were initially experimented with at various coal mines at the end of 18th/beginning of 19th century. The first full-scale working railway steam locomotive, called the 'Coalbrookdale Locomotive,' was built by Richard Trevithick and, on 21 February 1804, the world's first railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway from the Pen-y-darren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil, to Abercynon in South Wales. George Stephenson built Locomotion No. 1 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway, north-east England, which was the first public steam railway in the world. In 1829, his son Robert built in Newcastle Rocket which won the Rainhill Trials. This success led to the company emerging as the pre-eminent builder of steam locomotives used on railways in the UK, US and much of Europe.

British railways: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the first inter-city route, opened in 1830 making exclusive use of steam power for passenger and goods trains. All Britain's railways were built by private capital but the sponsors needed an Act of Parliament to get the right to acquire a right of way and this could take time and incur opposition. By 1840 some 1,500 miles of line were open; by 1850 there were 6,100 miles; by 1900 there were 18,700 miles. Much of the track was built by Irish navies. The railway system was operationally taken over by the government during WWI but was not nationalised until after WW2.

Kent railways: the first Kent railway was from Canterbury to Whitstable built in 1830, the same year as The Liverpool and Manchester Railway opened-but it was not technically or commercially successful. The London and Dover Railway (almost immediately renamed the South Eastern or SER) obtained its Act of Parliament in 1836; it ran from London (London Bridge) to Redhill, Tonbridge and Ashford by 1842; it extended to Dover by 1844, the same year as the branch from Paddock Wood via Wateringbury to Maidstone was built; in 1846 the line was extended from Ashford to Margate, Ramsgate and Deal. There had been strong opposition in Maidstone from Lord Marsham and the majority of the town council to a line through Maidstone when the idea was first proposed in 1836; within a decade there was growing recognition of the council's error ("we have taken a false step and we fear lost much of our trade"). Initially the SER borrowed £20,000 from the inhabitants of Maidstone but repaid when it got a better offer elsewhere. In 1874 Maidstone was linked by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway (LDCR) to Swanley and hence to London (Victoria). SER and LDCR feuded between themselves until 1899 when they merged. Kent services close to London were electrified early starting in the 1920s and by 1962 steam in Kent had been eliminated. Kent was relatively little affected by the Beeching (a former pupil of Maidstone Grammar School) closures of 1963.

Medway Valley Line: The Act of Parliament of 1843 for the line was initially opposed by Lord Gainsborough (of Barham Court, Teston). Built in 1844 (work started in January and line opened in September) from Paddock Wood (known as Maidstone Road) to Maidstone it was extended in 1856 to Strood. The surveyor of the line was Robert Stephenson, a fairly simple job given his credentials. The contractor was Edward Betts, who bought Preston Hall in 1848 and constructed the current house in 1857, arranging that his nearest station (Aylesford) to be in a similar grand Jacobean style. Initially built as a single track line at a probable cost of £190,000, but with space allowed for doubling, which took place in 1846 at a cost of £44000. Only in 1845 did the SER Board authorise the building of stations on the line. The line was not electrified until 1962.

The impact on Wateringbury

As in the country as a whole railways brought greater mobility of the population as a whole giving an opportunity for a wider range of people to see the world outside the village.

Environmental: with no cuttings or viaducts the environmental impact of the railway on Wateringbury was less than in other parts of Kent, although of course the noise impact from steam would have been greater than it is today.

Hopping: the railway facilitated Londoners coming to Kent for the hopping in September but with other implications as well: see first paragraph of Leney's Farm 1870 ; Hopping Sunday excursions (1914); Hopping (1914) farmers union; Hopping (1913):half an average crop and many other pages!

Trade: the goods shed (1850?) at Wateringbury indicates the importance of the railway for local trade to London of hops and fruit (seasonal). Matthias Lucas of Wateringbury Place had discussed implications of railways for the fresh fruit trade at the House of Commons at a very early date, 1839- see House of Commons Enquiry paragraph 1446. Beer was also carried (Beer stolen by railway employee (1868) from the nearby Leney and Jude Hanbury breweries; location next to railway and river transport would have been an important factor behind success of expansion of the two Wateringbury breweries.

Other transport. The railway eventually had an adverse impact on the Medway Navigation Company (MNC), who planned to operate their own trains to haul coal on the line, but were refused a license for the trains by the SER. Matthias Lucas had given favourable evidence on the MNC's handing of coal transport to a Parliamentary committee in 1836 (See Medway Navigation (1836)) but undoubtedly coal transport would be efficiently handled by rail. The MNC was a very litigiously aggressive and successful company owned by private shareholders of whom many were Tonbridge based. Set up in 1739, between 140 and 1747 it constructed a series of 14 locks on the Medway between Maidstone and Tonbridge turning an unnavigable river into a vibrant trading route. it paid a dividend every year except three from 1749 to 1868. It levied tolls on Medway traffic to pay for the maintenance of the navigation on the river but also undertook transport in its own barges of some products. It was eventually wound up in 1911.

Communications: See Telegraph at Post Office (1870). Also read the note on the standardisation of times because of the advent of the railway at bottom of Train Times (1859)

Commuting: the evolution of commuting to London from Wateringbury was made eventually made possible by the railway, although the timetable of 1859 (Train times 1859) shows it would have taken longer than today. Houses in Wateringbury start to be advertised indicating time/distance (on foot) from the railway station. But unlike other areas which experienced significant population growth from having a station on a railway line, the impact of the drift of rural population to the towns was the predominant force, with Wateringbury's population falling throughout the second half of the 19th century (see Wateringbury's Population)

Leisure: the railway enabled Wateringbury people to go to the coast (see Seaside Excursions 1866 ) or London (see London excursion (1859) and Crystal palace excursion (1870) for the day, or even to travel abroad (see Day trip to France (1863) and Excursion to Boulogne 1870). It also enabled people to come to Wateringbury for their leisure -see Trains to Wateringbury Regatta (1868) and Trains to Wateringbury Regatta (1870).

Employment: the railway was a more labour intensive business in the 19th century. Generally the railway provided high wages but for long hours. See the census data for Wateringbury based employees. In 1851 the Station Master at Wateringbury was Robert Tebay (born in Cumbria) living in the "railway station" with his wife and 2 daughters together with a live-in "house servant" (i.e. an indication of some social status); his wife's occupation is given as "Station Master's wife" but probably an indication of how proud he was of his job -the railways employed few women. There was also in 1851 a "railway porter", George Gammon living in Bow Road.

Literary association: see George Orwell in Wateringbury (1931).

Crime: like most lines it was built by railway "navvies" (short for navigators, a term used originally for the labourers on the construction of canals) which had an impact on crime locally but only for a short period of time; the village was used to the annual influx of hoppers from London and the crime they brought each year; see Brawl at King's Head ends in manslaughter (1844). Crime was also associated with the opportunities provided by the carriage of goods, particularly beer (see Beer stolen by railway employee (1868)), but nothing on the scale of the First Great Train Robbery in 1855 when SER lost £1 million of gold to theft when in transit from London to Paris.

Health and safety: the SER had a poor safety record. See Fatal Accident at Wateringbury Station (1868). See also Railway mishap (1898).