Anke: Royal Tunbridge Wells

The Art of Wall Art

Whilst you are waiting for your train have you ever stopped to admire the painting on the wall? I'm not talking about the hilarious limerick on the wall above the urinals but rather the impressive 100ft long mural that adorns half of Platform 2.

A small section of the giant mural. Click it to see more photos.

As a bit of fun I've been participating with other photographers in a 52-week photography project, each week having a different topic. Last week the subject was "Wall Art."

Now, this being Tunbridge Wells, there isn't too much wall art as I would think of it hanging around. Yes we do have some small pieces about the place, but I was looking for something substantial. Then it hit me. The train station! Not literally of course.

I popped down to the station to ask if I could take some photos. Normally, in any usual railway station, this would cause alarm bells to ring and questions to be asked. But, on this occasion, the very pleasant staff were only too happy to let me wander about and snap away to my hearts content.

A small section of the giant mural. Click it to see more photos.

The giant artwork was painted by six artists over a month and a half in the Spring of 1989. The artists were Brain Barnes, Aileen Barnes, Glenn Barnes, Steve Lobb, Carol Kenna, and Neil Torbett. Brian Barnes MBE is an acclaimed artist well known for his public murals with several large important pieces in South London.

A member of staff at the station who was there at the time told me our mural was painted "just to brighten the place up" and cost an amazing £40,000 to paint (an even more astonishing £100,000 in today's money).

Click to see some more photos of the panels of the mural.

Do you think our town could do with some more murals? Maybe brighten up a few bare walls? I think the bridge over the station itself could do with a nice scene on it, it would look really nice as drivers descended Grove Hill Road, wouldn't it? Where would you like one painted?

Way Out West

As some of you may know I have a bit of a passion for art, and although I may not have the finest taste in the classic snobby art world's eyes I know what I like. This, along with the recent annoyance at how under-utilised this town's architecture is brought about a bit of an idea. Allow me to run it past you with a bit of background first.

Back before 1985 there were two railway stations in Tunbridge Wells, the Central and the West. The Central being the old name of today’s station on Mount Pleasant and the West station was at the bottom of The Pantiles.

Tunbridge Wells West station was opened in 1866 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) as the eastern terminus of the Cuckoo Line from Polegate. The station was built as part of a race between the LBSCR and the South Eastern Railway (SER), who had the Central station, for access to the town.

Looking down the line towards Grove Tunnel today from Montacute Road bridge, all overgrown.

Tunbridge Wells West was also reached from East Grinstead in 1866 via Groombridge, then two years later a line from Groombridge to Uckfield was opened up giving Tunbridge Wells West direct services to the South Coast at Brighton and Eastbourne and into London Victoria.

The station's facilities were much larger than those at Tunbridge Wells Central. The passenger station originally had five tracks with three serving long platforms (two of which were island platforms) and two other shorter platforms. The reason for the station's extensive layout was that it served no fewer than six different routes with both passenger and goods traffic.

Although initially conceived as a terminus station, an agreement between the SER and the LBSCR saw Tunbridge Wells West linked by a short spur to the Hastings Line thereby connecting it with the Central station. This spur came about as a consequence of the intense rivalry between the two railway companies which came to a head in 1864 when the SER proposed the construction of a new line to Eastbourne.

The LBSCR realised that this new line would impact on their Cuckoo Line down to Polegate so proffered to the rival company that instead of going to the expense of building their Eastbourne line they should share the existing line by means of construction of a spur between the two stations. This would benefit both companies as the LBSCR could then run their trains into London on the Hastings line too.

The LBSCR was successful in their pitch and the construction of Grove Tunnel and the spur began.

Don’t worry, my idea is coming...

Grove Tunnel in 1986, courtesy of Ravenseft. Click for larger.

The short single-track spur was opened a couple of years later, enabling services from Tunbridge Wells West to pass underneath Warwick Park using Grove Tunnel, then curve north to join the main Hastings Line towards Tunbridge Wells Central.

An LBSCR goods service was the first to run along the new spur in about 1867, but passenger services didn’t commence until 1876. It was an under-utilised line right from the start as even by 1894 only five passenger services and one goods train were using the short line from the Central station. I suppose the SER were quite lucky they never invested in an Eastbourne line of their own after looking at those statistics. However, by 1958, the line had become one of the busiest single-track sections of rail in the UK. With up to 30 services each way per day.

By this time though, passenger numbers were in decline and train services were severely cut back, the town could no longer afford the luxury of two stations.

The number of services passing through Tunbridge Wells West declined further and further as one branch line after another was closed from the 1950s onwards under the 'Branch Lines Committee' which had the remit to close the least used branch lines.

Soon after these closures the Beeching axe had begun to swing and Tunbridge Wells West was earmarked for closure in 1966, luckily it was reprieved, but it wasn’t to last much longer.

By the 1980s the line had become a shadow of itself and was operating as little more than a shuttle service to the Central station and Tonbridge. Finally, after many years of under-investment (the Beeching Report forbidding spending on anything other than essential repairs), it was discovered that the track and signalling needed to be replaced. It was decided by British Rail that the cost of keeping the line from Eridge to the Central station open and undertaking the works, some £175,000, did not justify the outlay. It therefore announced the closure of the line (including Groombridge and the West station) from 16 May 1983 and the line was finally closed for good on the 10th of August. At the time of closure it is thought that the West station was the last station in British Rail to have gas lighting.

The old station building, which is Grade II listed, has today become a restaurant and the platform area was bulldozed to become a supermarket. Part of the old line has since been reopened as the Spa Valley Steam Railway, which operates to Groombridge, and really is a fabulous day out. The old Grove Tunnel still remains between the two stations, disused, and therein lies my idea.

Design concept idea by Lee Crawley of the new art gallery in Grove Tunnel.

A report in 1994 stated that it would cost £100,000 to get the tunnel up to a useable standard, that is for trains to run through it of course so let’s double that for the cost of making it "habitable" and then factor in inflation, so I estimate it would take about £300,000 to convert it into an art gallery/cinema.

Just imagine the fabulous curved brick walls painted bright white and then covered with colourful local art, maybe museum pieces relating to the old railway, maybe even a cinema. Imagine all those coaches that drop off hundreds of tourists every day at the mouth of the tunnel at the Pantiles Coach Park, an endless stream of revenue delivered straight to the door, walking down landscaped gardens to the huge glass doors at the mouth of the tunnel. It would look amazing.

Anyone up for it? What would you turn it into?

For some really rather fabulous images from history of the station take a visit to Nick Catford’s Disused Stations website here.

Heritage Open Day 2009 - Spa Valley Railway

Heritage Open Day Weekend 2009 kicked off today, so I dragged the wife kicking and screaming down to the platform of the Spa Valley Steam Railway for a free nose around.  Upon arrival we thought it polite to pop into the ticket office to say hello, and lucky we did as the lovely man behind the plastic roundel said it was quiet so how about a guided tour around the engine shed. Brilliant!

Even the wife got stuck in asking lots of questions about the half-finished locomotives and the rusting carriages sitting patiently in corners waiting to be restored.  Of course this is still a working shed therefore all the questions and answers had to be shouted over the grinder working its magic on the roof of an old British Railways slamdoor carriage.

Our tour guide told us all about the work the railway is doing to try and restore the line back to Eridge and all the great locomotives they are hoping to run on the line, but with just spare time to work on it it is taking many years to renovate even the smallest engine parts.  You must go and see the level of workmanship though as the restorations are wonderful and the level of enthusiasm is amazing, even if the new carriages are going to be painted blue and not in out tour guide's favourite green.

As we were talking the distinct sound of a chuffing engine became louder and louder so we all rushed over to the platform edge to watch a little GWR locomotive pull in to the station. The smell of the steam and the noise of the puffing chimney was fabulous. It was then he took us onto the train for a tour of that too!

We learned all about the different types of carriage and how they had restored them. In the final 1950s carriage, he said that it took them years to try to source the authentic lighting for above the tables but to either no avail or it was just too expensive, then they happened to find the exact replicas in Homebase across the road. Remarkable, who would have guessed that Homebase would get its design inspiration from a seventy year old British Rail car.

After a great tour we retired to the ever-present stationary buffet car for a nice cup of tea and a biscuit, well I wanted an iced bun but the man before me ate the last one.  The wife bought me one on the way home instead though, it seems she enjoyed it after all.

There are lots more places open this weekend for the special Heritage Open Day event, check out the website and go and visit something.  If you do pop into the Steam Railway, even though it's perfectly free apart from the ride on the train which is half-price, please consider dropping a few coins into the donation boxes or do as we did and buy lots of souvenirs of your visit.

If you'd like to see a couple more photos from the engine shed, just click here.

Spotted

Many many thanks must go to one of our great readers who sent in this picture of themselves on the Spa Valley Railway.  Anne, pictured here, can be seen carrying one of our famous tote bags.  Thanks for the wonderful picture, Anne, enjoy your glory!

All Aboard!

There we were at the supermarket at the bottom of the Pantiles. It was late, the car park was empty, it was quiet. Until we poured our bottles and cans into the recycling bins and created a racket that is. We tried to do it as quietly as mice for the neighbours benefit honestly. But then it struck me, looking around the desolate car park. This place hasn't always been this quiet.

Until 20-odd years ago, this part of town would've been noisy, smelly and thriving with activity. You see this car park used to be home a bustling railway station, Tunbridge Wells West.

Opened in 1866 by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, this station was built in competition with the main Central station which was owned by the South Eastern Railway company. The station ran lines to the coast at Brighton and Eastbourne and also into the capital at London Victoria. You could catch a train along the Cuckoo Line to Polegate, along the Wealden Line to Lewes, or along the Three Bridges line to Three Bridges and East Grinstead. All of these lines were eventually connected in 1876 to the main Tunbridge Wells Central station via a tunnel under the town and then through a link in the Grove Tunnel, allowing both companies to run down the lines. The rivalry between the two companies had cooled off by this point.

You can still see part of the line and tunnel that went to the Central station from the bridge across Montacute Road and also in Warwick Park. Go have a look.

The Grade II listed main station building itself was built on a lavish scale, complete with clocktower with louvred spirelet and weathervane, gas-lit booking hall and elaborate ornamental ceilings. And seeing as though they had plenty of room they also built stable sidings, carriage sheds and a locomotive depot.

The station wasn't always called Tunbridge Wells West. It obtained its suffix following the Railways Act of 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, which the Government passed to move the railways away from internal competition and the stations fell into the single ownership of the Southern Railway.

The station proved to be very popular over the next 40 years, frequently handling 100 trains a day, that was until certain routes from the station began to close. It seems the train just couldn't compete with the motor car. First of the lines to close was the East Grinstead to Lewes line in 1958, then the Three Bridges to Groombridge line fell in 1967, followed by the Cuckoo Line in 1968 and finally the Wealden Line in 1969.

Services were cut back drastically and following years of neglect and a lack of investment in the few remaining lines, British Rail decided that the cost of keeping the station was unjustifiable. The station closed on 6 July 1985.

You can still visit the station, as the main building has become a restaurant/pub and the engine sheds still occasionally smell of steam with the preservation of a small line to Groombridge (hopefully eventually Eridge) providing much pleasure to thousands of tourists every year aboard the Spa Valley Railway.
This is certainly an interesting part of the town's history and one I shall revisit very soon.