TQ9220 : The Sussex Border Path along the Rother goes under the Marsh Line
taken 14 years ago, near to Rye, East Sussex, England
The Sussex Border Path is a footpath route nearly 150 miles long around the inland boundary of the county of Sussex. The county owes its origins to the kingdom of the South Saxons and can claim to have one of the longest inland county boundaries from Emsworth to Rye. The route was devised in 1983 and is well signed along most of the route. Website Link
Map: Link
The Saxon Shore Way starts at Gravesend, Kent and traces the coast as it was in the Roman times as far as Hastings in East Sussex, 163 miles (262 km) in total. The Saxon Shore Way was originally opened in 1980, but has since been re-established, and in parts re-routed and extended. It follows the coastline of the South East as it was about 1500 years ago, long before the North Kent Marshes or the Romney Marsh came into existence. The Way takes its name, The Saxon Shore, from a line of fortifications built along the coastline as it was in the 3rd Century AD.
The River Rother runs for 35 miles from Rotherfield, East Sussex, entering Kent after Bodiam where it follows the county border to Wittersham, where it rejoins East Sussex to the mouth at Rye.
There are two other River Rothers in Yorkshire and in Hampshire to West Sussex.
This line runs between Hastings and Ashford.The South Eastern Railway built the line, it opened on 13 February 1851. Recommended for closure by Dr. Beeching in 1963, the route has survived various attempts to axe services completely, and stations remained unmodernised and gas-lit well into the 1970s. Services for certain stations on the line have now been reduced to an absolute minimum.
The line was single tracked between Appledore and Ore 1 October 1979, leaving a passing loop at Rye. Several stations have staggered platforms: passengers cross the line from the end of one platform to the end of the other, thus avoiding a footbridge.
The line is not electrified, with the exception of Hastings to Ore. This small section was electrified to provide for carriage sidings (there was no space at Hastings) as part of the "East Coastway" electrification of July 1935.
The line has an active rail users group called "The Marsh Link Action Group". Website Link
Wikipedia Website Link