Relics of the Railway Past –Part 1 – Telegraph Poles

Whilst walking down the straight mile of old railway line from Itchen Abbas towards Martyr Worthy always look out for relics and artifacts left behind that remind you of the once busy railway line. Starting at the end look over your shoulder into the garden of what is now a private house, you will get a glimpse of the old Itchen Abbas Station platforms. As you continue your walk you will see, depending on the time of year and the state of the undergrowth, some old sleepers. These are mainly of the concrete type.

After a while if you keep looking on your right hand side you will see an old Telegraph pole high on the embankment. Telegraph poles are a common feature of old railway lines. Telegraph poles were first used in the 1850’s in the UK. You may wonder why telegraph poles are called as such, this is because they were used to convey telegraph messages between telegraph stations before the telephone was in invented. In 1878 Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone to Queen Victoria. Telegraph Poles were placed along railway lines so that messages can be passed from Stations to stations and to Signal boxes.

A little known fact is on the Southern railway the cross poles at the top of the pole were always fixed on the London side of the pole, thus enabling, if you were lost walking on the line, a clear direction reminder. As you keep walking you will come cross the Chillandham Lane bridge. Just after you cross the bridge there is another old telegraph pole on your right hand side.

In the next Blog I will point out some more railway relics and talk about some of the ecology on the Watercress Way.