My Brighton and Hove | Places | Transport | The Dyke Railway | Exploring the route of the old Dyke Railway: Part V

Log in

User name: Password:

How to contribute

The Dyke Railway

Exploring the route of the old Dyke Railway: Part V

By Peter Groves

Photo:The old track, now coolly shaded by trees

Photo:The curved path at the back of Rowan Avenue follows the old railway route

Photo:Rowan Avenue prior to development by T. J. Braybon & Son c.1930

Photo:Virtual, gentle curve of Rowan Avenue

Photo:The 3 youngsters can't resist 5 minutes on the swings

Photo:Poppies at the Park, built on top of the Dyke Railway

Rudi leads the way towards Knoll Park Recreation Ground, following the route of the old track, now coolly shaded by trees. This part of the cemetery, north of the Old Shoreham Road, was previously Sackville Nursery. The boys follow the curved path at the back of Rowan Avenue into the park.

No signs on old map
There are no signs on the old map to indicate that there had once been a small station, "Rowan Halt" at the back of Rowan Avenue! There's sound reason for this; the halt was not built until after publication of the old map! The Aldrington Manor Estate, centred around Elm Drive and Rowan Avenue was built by T. J. Braybon & Son of Brighton in the early 1930's. The estate rapidly developed and by 1934 250 houses had been built, with a further 100 planned. To serve the transport needs of the public, Rowan Halt was opened in January 1934. This consisted of a wooden platform, some 70 feet long, a corrugated steel shelter and footbridge across the line. It was felt that Southern Railway had shown great foresight in providing an outstanding facility to serve the transport needs of the area, just how wrong could they be, with the line closing just 5 years later!

Comparing maps
Tiarnan downloads the virtual view and they all compare it against the old map. The gentle curve of the old line on the map corresponds exactly with the virtual curved alignment of the back gardens of Rowan Avenue. Tom spots 2 twittens on the virtual view, these once gave access to the platform from Rowan Avenue.

Bombing of Dyke Railway
The old Dyke Railway line had not been closed for very long before the outbreak of WWII. Throughout the summer of 1940 the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over southern England. On August 26th 1940, during a raid on the town, 9 bombs were dropped on the Rowan Avenue area. The old Dyke Railway would have been a legitimate target, or perhaps it was mistaken for the main London to Brighton line. A significant amount of damage was caused to houses in Elm Drive and Rowan Avenue, where 8 of the bombs fell. The 9th landed in Stapley Road killing poor old Mrs Mary Munro, whose body was dug out of the rubble some hours after the raid.

Knoll Park Recreation Ground
Knoll Park Recreation Ground was built on the site of a former refuse tip known as Hudsons's Tip. The boys stop to take a drink and watch the Hangleton Lawn Bowling Club in action before cycling up through the park to the children's playground. The 3 youngsters can't resist 5 minutes on the swings and climbing frame, while Pete and Tony examine "Poppies At The Park" nursery, a 1950's building constructed directly on top of the old Dyke Railway.

This page was added on 23/11/2009.

Comments about this page

I have just read the coments above about Poppies At The Park. The building they are in, until about 1970 not sure of the date, used to be the school meals kitchens. All the meals for local schools were cooked there, and taken around to the schools in three green LD 30cwt vans. As an apprentice at Vine and Lees garage from 1966 I helped to service those vans. I can remember in the late 1960s, at this time of the year, one of my first jobs in the mornings was to fit snow chains to the vans to enable them to deliver the meals on time.

By K W Barrington (09/01/2010)

I grew up in various houses in Rowan Avenue and Hangleton Road , including no.187 which is almost on the spot where the railway bridge crossed Hangleton Road. I only recently discovered the James Gray collections online and they have some great photos of the line , however I have always wondered why so few good photos exist of parts of the line, in particular Rowan Halt (Peter A Harding's booklet has press photos of the opening ceremony in 1934, but they are not very clear). Surely the railway was interesting enough to be photographed in the 1930s when many people were moving into the new houses in the area? Also I should think enough people who could afford a property would have had a camera - I am sure there are many pictures out there that are long forgotten of the line (and its even possible that there maybe old cine films of the line in action tucked away somewhere).

By Calvin (30/08/2010)

I completely agree with Calvin's comments about the apparent lack of photos of certain parts of the Dyke line. Whilst the fairly early demise of the line might account in part for this, what I have always found puzzling is that railways in general tend to be well covered by photographers and it is therefore strange that parts of the Dyke line appears to be an exception. Incidentally, the last time I visited the site of Rowan Halt I noticed some sheets of faded green corrugated iron tucked hidden away behind the bushes. Could this be part of the old station building structure which would once have stood on the site?

By Stu Berry (24/11/2010)

Hello Stu, am I right in thinking that you are the Mr S Berry credited at the back of Peter Harding's booklet? It's a very good account, probably as complete as we can get. I have been in touch with Peter (Groves ) and although I now live in Yorkshire I would like for a few of us to meet and explore parts of the line, maybe in the Spring? I am especially interested in the town end of the line as it maybe there is still something to find (as you say about Rowan Halt). Anyone interested in meeting or exchanging info can contact me at calvinandabeer@yahoo.co.uk.

By Calvin (07/01/2011)