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Weymouth And Portland Railway
The Portland Branch railway was a railway line located on the Isle of Portland in the English county of Dorset. The line operated from the late nineteenth century until closing to passengers in 1952 and goods in 1965. For a short line, it had a complex history, built in three separate sections and operated jointly by two rival railway companies. Its construction needed twelve years of blasting through solid rock and three extensions of Parliamentary time. Inception The need in the early 1820s to transport stone led to an older railway, the Merchant's Railway, being promoted. A public company authorised by Act of Parliament, the company existed for a long time after the closure of the railway. The railway initially consisted of a tramway, then an incline from Priory Corner to Castletown Pier. This was a distinct railway from the later Portland Branch, although an attempt by the Easton and Church Hope railway to take it over failed at the parliamentary stage. The line was at ...
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Wilts, Somerset And Weymouth Railway
The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dorset. It opened the first part of the network but found it impossible to raise further money and sold its line to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1850. The GWR took over the construction and undertook to build an adjacent connecting line; the network was complete in 1857. In the early years of the 20th century the GWR wanted to shorten its route from London to the West of England and built "cut-off" lines in succession to link part of the WS&WR network, so that by 1906 the express trains ran over the Westbury to Castle Cary section. In 1933 further improvements were made, and that part of the line was established as part of the "holiday line" to Devon and Cornwall. The network was already a major trunk route for coal from South Wales coa ...
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Castletown, Dorset
Castletown is a small village in Underhill on the Isle of Portland in Dorset. It is located close to Fortuneswell, on the shores of Portland Harbour, and includes a sandy beach, as well as one of Portland's notable highlights; Portland Castle, while the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is also located nearby. As with the rest of Portland's villages and settlements, Castletown has been designated as a conservation area, as it is a place of special architectural and historic interest. Underhill, incorporating Castletown and other settlements became designated in 1976 with boundary extensions in 1997 and 2000. History Originally the location for fishermen to launch their boats, Castletown later developed during the 19th century with the construction of Portland Harbour's breakwaters, and the establishment of the naval base. During the 16th century, Henry VII had selected Castletown area for the building of Portland Castle. Castletown was an essential part of the ...
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Railway Lines Closed In 1965
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer facilit ...
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Railway Lines Opened In 1865
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prepared flat surface, rail vehicles (rolling stock) are directionally guided by the tracks on which they run. Tracks usually consist of steel rails, installed on sleepers (ties) set in ballast, on which the rolling stock, usually fitted with metal wheels, moves. Other variations are also possible, such as "slab track", in which the rails are fastened to a concrete foundation resting on a prepared subsurface. Rolling stock in a rail transport system generally encounters lower frictional resistance than rubber-tyred road vehicles, so passenger and freight cars (carriages and wagons) can be coupled into longer trains. The operation is carried out by a railway company, providing transport between train stations or freight customer faciliti ...
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Railway Correspondence And Travel Society
The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society (RCTS) is a national society founded in Cheltenham, England in 1928 to bring together those interested in rail transport and locomotives. Since 1929 the Society has published a regular journal ''The Railway Observer'' which records the current railway scene. It also has regional branches which organise meetings and trips to places of interest and an archive & library. It has published definitive multi-volume locomotive histories of the Great Western, Southern and London & North Eastern Railways, and has in progress similar works on the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and British Railways standard steam locomotives. It also has published many other historical railway books since the mid-1950s. On 2 November 2016, the RCTS become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), registered number 1169995. Its new Archive and Library (located within the former station-master's house at Leatherhead station) was opened on 6 October 20 ...
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Jurassic Coast
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-December 2001. The site spans 185 million years of geological history, coastal erosion having exposed an almost continuous sequence of rock formation covering the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. At different times, this area has been desert, shallow tropical sea and marsh, and the fossilised remains of the various creatures that lived here have been preserved in the rocks. Natural features seen on this stretch of coast include arches, pinnacles and stack rocks. In some places the sea has broken through resistant rocks to produce coves with restricted entrances and, in one place, the Isle of Portland is connected to the land by a barrier beach. In some parts of the coast, landslides are common. These have exposed a wide range of fossils, ...
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Weymouth And Portland National Sailing Academy
The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is a centre for the sport of sailing on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. The academy building is located in Osprey Quay on the northern tip of the island, and the waters of Portland Harbour and Weymouth Bay, adjacent to the site, are the main areas used for sailing. Local, national and international sailing events have been held at the site since it was opened in 2000, and in 2005 WPNSA was selected to 2012 Summer Olympic venues, host the sailing events at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 Olympic and 2012 Summer Paralympics, Paralympic Games. History The academy was formed as a not-for-profit company in 1999 and officially opened on 1 April 2000. It occupied converted naval premises until a clubhouse was built, which was opened in June 2005 by the Princess Royal. GBP, £7.85 million of funding for the project was donated by charities, individuals and local councils; the National Lottery (United Kingdom), ...
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Rodwell Trail
The Rodwell Trail is a short-distance footpath that runs from Wyke Regis to the town centre of Weymouth in Dorset – a distance of 3.5 kilometres. The trail, opened in 2000, travels along the former route of the Weymouth and Portland Railway. The section from near Sandsfoot Castle to Ferry Bridge is part of the South West Coast Path. The route follows part of the Jurassic Coast, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest. It is named after a neighbourhood of Weymouth which it passes through. The trail is estimated to be used by thousands of people, often as a means of avoiding traffic congestion in Weymouth. The trail is popular with pedestrians, cyclists and dog walkers. Maintenance of the trail is carried out by the Friends of Rodwell Trail group, who carry out litter picks and clear overgrowth on the route. Their work has been promoted by local publications such as the ''Dorset Echo''. Route The trail starts on Abbotsbury Road in Westham, Weymouth and ends at Ferrybridg ...
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Rodwell Station
Rodwell, a name of Old English origin, is a locational surname deriving from any one of various places in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Kent, England.In English, the meaning of the name Rodwell is "lives by the spring near the road". Notable people and characters with the name include: Surname * Benjamin Rodwell, British lawyer and Conservative politician * Brett Rodwell, Australian rugby league footballer * Cecil Hunter-Rodwell, British colonial administrator and Governor * Charles Rodwell (born 1996), British-born French politician * Craig Rodwell, American gay rights activist and founder of the first gay bookstore *Emerson Rodwell, Australian soldier, cricket player, umpire, commentator and administrator * Eric Rodwell, American bridge player * George Herbert Buonaparte Rodwell, English composer, musical director, and author * Jack Rodwell, English footballer * James Rodwell, English rugby union sevens player * Jim Rodwell, English footballer and former chairman of Bo ...
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Melcombe Regis
Melcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in Dorset, England. Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th century. It received a charter as a borough in 1268. Melcombe was one of the first points of entry of the Black Death into England in the summer of 1348. (The disease was possibly carried there by infected soldiers and sailors returning from the Hundred Years' War, or from a visiting spice ship. There is no way of knowing for certain.) The two boroughs, Melcombe on the north shore and Weymouth on the south, were joined as a double borough in 1571, after which time the name ''Weymouth'' came to serve for them both. Nevertheless, Melcombe Regis remained a separate parish and became a civil parish in 1866. The civil parish was abolished in 1920 and merged with Weymouth. After two centuries of decline, the town's fortunes were dramatically rev ...
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Chesil Beach
Chesil Beach (also known as Chesil Bank) in Dorset, England is one of three major shingle beach structures in Britain.A. P. Carr and M. W. L. Blackley, "Investigations Bearing on the Age and Development of Chesil Beach, Dorset, and the Associated Area" ''Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers'', No. 58 (March 1973) pp. 99-111. Its name is derived from the Old English or , meaning "gravel" or "shingle". It runs for a length of from West Bay to the Isle of Portland and in places is up to high and wide. Behind the beach is the Fleet, a shallow tidal lagoon. Both are part of the Jurassic Coast and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and together form an SSSI and Ramsar Site. The beach is often identified as a tombolo, although research into the geomorphology of the area has revealed that it is in fact a barrier beach which has "rolled" landwards, joining the mainland with the Isle of Portland and giving the appearance of a tombolo. The beach curves sharply at the east ...
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