Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2007 | Page 66
life
COUNTRYSIDE, WILDLIFE & FARMING
Countryside from
a Steam Train
By Tony Ridd - [email protected]
There are many ways of viewing the countryside
around us, but few can be more nostalgic and
romantic than seeing it from a steam train.
I am lucky enough to have
clients who’s land is adjacent
to the Havenstreet railway line,
and when working there, love
watching the spectacle of the
highly prized steam train pass
by, with it’s passengers leaning
out of the carriage windows,
absorbing the wildlife and
countryside around them.
What’s particularly good
about train travel is that you
get an elevated view of the
countryside. Lorry and tractor
66
drivers get this anyway but
for the majority, cars tend
to be lower than hedges so
you never really get to see
what’s on the other side.
As a passenger in a smart,
clean and comfy carriage, more
than a hundred years old, you
have the advantage of this lofty
position passing through some
of the most unspoilt scenery
on the island and you get the
chance to really appreciate
what is around you with a
sense of going back in time.
Just down the line to
Havenstreet is Briddlesford
Copse, owned and carefully
managed by the People's Trust
for Endangered Species – over
the last couple of years we have
planted more than 7000 new
trees and coppiced several
acres of deciduous woodland.
Access is limited to the copse,
as it is used for research by
the trust, but luckily the train
passes through a large part of
the wood giving you the chance
to glimpse some of the work
that has been taking place. It is
a native, deciduous woodland
with some parts being classified
as ancient. This means that it
has been continuously wooded
for more than 450 years.
Further west towards Wootton
you pass through an area
known as Littletown, where
apart from the railway line
being laid in the late nineteenth
century, the small field system
Island Life - www.islandlife.tv