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The Rodwell Trail is a short-distance footpath that runs from
The trail starts on Abbotsbury Road in Westham, Weymouth and ends at
factual programme '' Railway Walks'' presented by
The Rodwell Trail is a short-distance footpath that runs from Wyke Regis
Wyke Regis is a village in south Dorset, England. The village is part of the south western suburbs of Weymouth, on the northern shore of Portland Harbour and the south-eastern end of Chesil Beach. Wyke is south of the county town, Dorchester ...
to the town centre of Weymouth in Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
– a distance of 3.5 kilometres. The trail, opened in 2000, travels along the former route of the 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 ...
. 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
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-Decembe ...
, and Sites of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
. 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
The ''Dorset Echo'' is a daily newspaper published in the county of Dorset, England.
The title publishes Monday to Saturday from editorial offices in Weymouth, and covers issues concerning south, central and west Dorset. The Saturday edition ...
''.
Route
The trail starts on Abbotsbury Road in Westham, Weymouth and ends at Ferrybridge
Ferrybridge is a village in West Yorkshire, England. Ferrybridge lies at a historically important crossing of the River Aire which borders the North Yorkshire village of Brotherton. It is linked to other communities by the A1, which follows t ...
in Wyke Regis
Wyke Regis is a village in south Dorset, England. The village is part of the south western suburbs of Weymouth, on the northern shore of Portland Harbour and the south-eastern end of Chesil Beach. Wyke is south of the county town, Dorchester ...
. The latter part of the trail is along the northern side of Portland Harbour, passing the Tudor Sandsfoot Castle. The Rodwell Trail travels along the former route of the 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 ...
, which was constructed in 1865 to carry passengers and Portland Stone between the two settlements. In 1891 it would be extended to serve Whitehead's Torpedo Factory at Wyke Regis (within close proximity of where the trail ends). In 1870 the first intermediate station at Rodwell was opened and later improved in 1908, with a new passing loop, platform and signal box. The line's use was improved further in 1909 when new halts were added at Westham and Wyke Regis, and again in 1932 with a stop at Sandsfoot Castle Halt. The railway closed on 9 April 1965.https://www.dorsetforyou.com/media.jsp?mediaid=191812&filetype=pdf Along the route, the remains of the station platforms, and other relics, including tunnels can be seen as a reminder of the railway. The signboards of each station halt are not original, but label each original stop.
Within the Westham area of the trail, a World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
light anti-aircraft gun emplacement built into the railway embankment was refurbished in recent years to provide a viewing platform across Weymouth and to act as a reminder of Weymouth's defence during the war largely on account of the naval base at Portland. The stone structured emplacement would have given low-level defence to Weymouth and Portland harbours. The mounting gun ring still remains, and this would have held a 40 mm Bofors Gun. The dividing partitions surrounding the ring, still survive, which would have been ready-use ammunition lockers and general equipment storage cupboards, as does the rooms below that are reached by a set of steps on the southern side of the emplacement.
An extension of the trail further along the old railway line was proposed as a means of access to the 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 wat ...
during the 2012 Olympic Games. Following a £900,000 investment, £350,000 of which was contributed by the Big Lottery funded Sustrans "Connect2" initiative in 2012, a missing link in the trail was reconnected and installed.
The Rodwell Trail featured on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...Julia Bradbury
Julia Michele Bradbury (born 24 July 1970) is an Irish-born English television presenter, employed by the BBC and ITV, specialising in documentaries and consumer affairs. Her passion is the outdoors and more recently following her cancer diagn ...
, which was first broadcast on BBC Four in October 2008, and repeated on BBC Two in April 2009. Portland's Merchant's Railway was also featured on the programme as a continuation of the same walk. The walk was included in the book accompanying the series.
Wildlife
The trail is a haven for various wildlife, and forms a green lung linking Ferry Bridge with the RSPBRadipole Lake
Radipole Lake is a lake on the River Wey, now in the English coastal town of Weymouth, Dorset, once in Radipole, the village and parish of the same name. Along the western shore of the lake, and between Radipole and the town centre of Weymouth, ...
wildlife reserve. The route often features many species of birds, including Kingfisher
Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly colored birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species found in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...
s, Redwing
The redwing (''Turdus iliacus'') is a bird in the thrush family, Turdidae, native to Europe and the Palearctic, slightly smaller than the related song thrush.
Taxonomy and systematics
This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in h ...
s and Great Crested Grebe
The great crested grebe (''Podiceps cristatus'') is a member of the grebe family of water birds noted for its elaborate mating display.
Taxonomy
The great crested grebe was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in t ...
s. A range of insects, rodents, mammals such as fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
es and badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...
s, as well as lizards and frog
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...
s can also be seen. Plantlife includes Foxglove
''Digitalis'' ( or ) is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs, and biennials, commonly called foxgloves.
''Digitalis'' is native to Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. The flowers are tubular in shap ...
s, Bluebells and Meadow Buttercup
''Ranunculus acris'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, and is one of the more common buttercups across Europe and temperate Eurasia. Common names include meadow buttercup, tall buttercup, common buttercup and giant but ...
s. Abbotsbury Road often has Hedge Sparrows and Blackbirds in the hedges, along with Garden Spiders and Great Green Bush Crickets. Serotine Bats and Pipistrelle Bats have also been seen around this area. To the south of Wyke Tunnel, the damp environment has spawned Pendulous Sedge and Heart's Tongue ferns. Common frog
The common frog or grass frog (''Rana temporaria''), also known as the European common frog, European common brown frog, European grass frog, European Holarctic true frog, European pond frog or European brown frog, is a semi-aquatic amphibian ...
s and Blackcap
The Eurasian blackcap (''Sylvia atricapilla''), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are sm ...
s are found within this area, as well as foxes and badgers. The Buxton Road Bridge region often has many species of a butterfly during the summer, including Red Admiral, Comma, and Holly Blue
The holly blue (''Celastrina argiolus'') Retrieved April 20, 2018. is a butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family and is native to the Palearctic.
The holly blue has pale silver-blue wings spotted with pale ivory dots. Seitz des ...
. Mice may also be spotted within the area. Between Sandsfoot and Wyke Halts, various wildlife from Common Lizards to the Common Blue
The common blue butterfly or European common blue (''Polyommatus icarus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae and subfamily Polyommatinae. The butterfly is found throughout the Palearctic. Butterflies in the Polyommatinae are collectively ...
butterfly are often found. Amongst the reeds are Wasp Spiders and the rare Bithyinian Vetch and Little Robin plants. At the Sandsfoot Gardens, the vantage spot over Portland Harbour is popular for seeing overwintering birds such as the Great Northern Diver
The common loon or great northern diver (''Gavia immer'') is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish or ...
, Slavonian Grebe
The horned grebe or Slavonian grebe (''Podiceps auritus'') is a relatively small waterbird in the family Podicipedidae. There are two known subspecies: ''P. a. auritus'', which breeds in the Palearctic, and ''P. a. cornutus'', which breeds i ...
s, and Merganser
''Mergus'' is the genus of the typical mergansers , fish-eating ducks in the subfamily Anatinae. The genus name is a Latin word used by Pliny the Elder and other Roman authors to refer to an unspecified waterbird.
The common merganser (''Mer ...
s.
References
{{reflist 2000 establishments in England Geography of Weymouth, Dorset Tourist attractions in Weymouth, Dorset Footpaths in Dorset Rail trails in England