2009

SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: running the railway

taken 14 years ago, near to Bank, Hampshire, England

Warwickslade Cutting: running the railway
Warwickslade Cutting: running the railway
The digger gets to work filling the empty train.

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Warwickslade Cutting

Warwickslade Cutting was a long, straight drainage ditch dug around 1850. In 2009, The Forestry Commission decided to fill it in and replace it by a more natural, meandering stream. The Forestry Commission was carrying out the works as part of its "Final 4000" programme - a joint effort with Natural England, The Environment Agency and the National Park Authority - which aims to restore the last 4,000 hectares of SSSI in the New Forest that are deemed to be in an unfavourable condition.

The reason for the works was that Warwickslade Lawn SSSI was "in an unfavourable declining condition because the artificially deepened cutting meant that there was no seasonal inundation of the grassland and woodland habitats" (FC restoration plan).

Surprisingly, much of the course of the original, pre-1850s, stream could still be seen on the ground. The aim of the works was to reinstate the original stream as closely as possible, whilst filling in the Cutting. It was necessary to bring in 10,000 tonnes of hoggin to fill in the cutting, plus some clay to make plugs to ensure that water followed the desired course.

The contractors were Alaska Environmental Contracting ( LinkExternal link ). They used 8, 13 and 18 tonne hydraulic excavators, 10 tonne rubber tracked dumper trucks and an innovative light railway.

Other related sequences of pictures:-
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: a planned meander (start of sequence)
SU2606 : Warwickslade Cutting: original stream bed, Knightwood end (start of sequence)
SU2606 : Warwickslade Cutting: the new stream takes shape (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: original stream bed, Vinney Ridge part (start of sequence)
SU2606 : Warwickslade Cutting: filling it in, Knightwood end (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: filling it in, Vinney Ridge part (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: infilling of minor drain (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: laying the railway (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: running the railway (start of sequence)
SU2704 : Warwickslade Cutting: repositioned railway (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: refencing Poundhill Inclosure (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: flood plain (start of sequence)
SU2705 : Warwickslade Cutting: the end of the project
The above sequences have Previous/Next or Upstream/Downstream links that take you to a different place. They also have Earlier/Later links that take you to the same place at a different time.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Peter Facey and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Category: Railway
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SU2705, 192 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Peter Facey   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Wednesday, 14 October, 2009   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 14 October, 2009
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SU 2702 0552 [10m precision]
WGS84: 50:50.9144N 1:37.0536W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! SU 2702 0552
View Direction
East-northeast (about 67 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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