Luxor4u

I have previously mentioned the embankment at the end of my garden and that there is significant social history relating to it. I went out yesterday and took a few pictures so that I could tell the tale. I have collaged the pictures to save having to upload so many and the old images have been grabbed from web sites.



The embankment was dug by hand in the late 1820’s by gangs of ‘navvies’ navigating the route for, what was to be, the first ever scheduled, fare paying railway service. The seven mile track was to run from Whitstable harbour on the north Kent coast to the Cathedral City of Canterbury, to the south.

The track bed still exists for much of the route and there are still remnants such as railings that survive to this day. Most of the old track bed has been surfaced to provide a cycleway between Canterbury and Whitstable.

There were two significant obstacles on the route. Firstly, about a mile from the Canterbury Station, a hill needed to be negotiated in some way. Tunnels were common on the canals (see Horus’ very interesting A Tale of Two Tunnels) but it had never been necessary to dig a tunnel for passenger steam trains. The other problem was steep gradients. George Stephenson was appointed engineer for the project but the day to day supervision was done by his son Robert with Isambard Kingdom Brunel involved in the tunnels construction.

The tunnel which is about half a mile long was dug and lined successfully. The gradient problem was solved by installing static winding engines at the high point of inclines to haul the train up on cables. Two were originally installed but a third was added later. Construction of the line took four years.

During this time another engineer, Thomas Telford, was building the harbour at Whitstable where the line would end. So the finest engineers of the day were involved in the construction of the line which was to give access to the coast to those living in the Canterbury area, and to provide a transport link from the harbour to Canterbury.



The first locomotive on the line was The Invicta. This was built in 1829/30 at Forth Works, Newcastle upon Tyne by George and Robert Stephenson. It was designed after the style of Stephensons Rocket. It had a works number 24, and cost £635. It was shipped down the east coast to Whitstable and prepared for it’s maiden journey from there to Canterbury.



On Monday 3rd May 1830 The Invicta arrived at Whitstable Harbour with nearly 300 passengers having completed it’s first journey and making history as the first scheduled railway in the world. It soon became affectionately known as The Crab and Winkle Line and that name is perpetuated with a restauraunt of that name on the quayside, and the cycle track from Canterbury to Whitstable.



Invicta only produced about 12 horse power from its 10” x 18” cylinders at 40 psi of steam and could not cope with the gradients. She was replaced after a few years but has always remained in the Canterbury area and after a major refurbishment in1977 she is now on view in The Canterbury Museum.

A view across the small harbour today. Still have barges coming in there.



A little bit of social history at the bottom of my garden…….and beyond..

Thank you for that Grandad - really interesting and what a beautiful view from the bottom of your garden - I'll be around at the weekend for a Barbeque

That was really interesting Grandad, nice to know your own piece of history from the bottom of your garden. How easy was it to research?

Thank you Grandad, really interesting history from your area, love the old pictures with the new

Thanks for sharing that with us Grandad, a lovely little bit of social history and a link with the past located at the end of your own garden.

You mention Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a fascinating man in his own right. I was going to say “a giant in his day” but of course he was quite a short man who was famous for wearing very tall hats! My favourite picture is the one of him leaning against the giant slip-way chains wearing his big hat and smoking a cigar.

Sometimes it is so easy to forget the connections that link some of our current leisure activities such as cycle ways or walking routes, to places that were often hives of activity in our industrial past and not the pleasant places that we know today.

Thanks for your comments folks.

Being engineer trained myself, and a lover of steam, I was very pleased when Invicta was restored and placed in the museum.

Half of my family come from Whitstable Sue and I have always known quite a lot about the line. The bricked up tunnel is just a couple of hundred yards along the embankment from me. The line was still in use during the war and, until fairly recently, the railway track was still along the harbour quayside, which I can remember from those years.

There is a lot about the line, online.

I know that image of I K B, Horus. He was only 53 when he died in 1859 but what a legacy he left.

Very interesting Grandad. Thanks for sharing! Knowing how one is connected to the land, the dirt, the soil is phenomenal and always gives such a good feeling to know from whence we came by knowing the history of an area.

Thank you, Grandad – that's brought back a wealth of memories. Born and bred in Whitstable, I was very familiar with the old Crab & Winkle line. It was a great playground for us children…there were still some tracks in place when I was young – they ran across the main road and into the harbour. I can just remember the last of the freight trains running (passenger services ended in 1930 – my mother, from Canterbury, used to talk about the excitement about travelling on the train to the seaside).

The Canterbury-Whitstable line ran over the main line and until they demolished the old wooden bridge we spent hours playing "dare" – who could stand there for the longest time when the steam trains passed underneath. There was plenty of hot steam as the trains chugged out of Whitstable Station! On longer expeditions, we used to look for the Tyler Hill tunnel to explore.

As a cub reporter, I covered the eventual demolition – after a strong local fight – in the Sixties of "the oldest railway bridge in the world" … just been looking at a photo of me on the pile of rubble.

So you are a Whitstable ‘native’ then Tony. I am only half native, my late mothers’ family are Whitstable people and many of my Whitstable ancestors were associated with the sea. Her family lived on Middle Wall and Island Wall but their houses are no longer there having been demolished and rebuilt.

We spent a lot of time there during the war years when my father was away on active service. We would stay with relatives in Sydenham Street and Bexley Street and, although only six or seven years old, myself and a cousin would go into Harbour Street to a little shop where you could buy a rather poor excuse for Ice Cream. Certainly would not allow children to do that on their own today.

Whitstable is in national news today as the town with the highest proportion of independent retailers in the UK. After Woolworths closed, and to the best of my knowledge, there are now no chain stores in the town centre at all. This is why I think it retains its Victorian/Edwardian charm….I love the town.

I am glad that my piece on the Crab and Winkle Line prompted some memories.

Lovely pictures and a fascinating insight into the history of the line. Thank you Grandad

Wonderful views Grandad
When at Ramsgate Catering College I used to go to a club in Whitstable called 'The Charge.
Could you take a picture of Janet Street Porters' weekend cottage as I'm nosy....
didn't Arthur Askey have a supermarket there?

Grandad wrote:So you are a Whitstable ‘native’ then Tony. I am only half native, my late mothers’ family are Whitstable people and many of my Whitstable ancestors were associated with the sea. Her family lived on Middle Wall and Island Wall but their houses are no longer there having been demolished and rebuilt.

A native in that was born and raised there; it was the old sea-and-fishing families (the Rigdens were the best known clan) who regarded themselves as true 'natives' – like the famous oysters! The Middle Wall/Island Wall area was a terrific place (still had traces of the old smugglers' alleys) and I remember it under water after the devastating flood of '53; we played on the beach and I always dreamed of a home right by the sea (no prom for Whitstable!).

Gentrification has tidied up the place now; I walked round the old haunts two years ago – two recent retirees revisiting the town where we started our careers as junior reporters. I know what you mean by loving the town; in my 20s I just wanted to get out into the wide world but the town still exerts a pull.

Doc, I don't know the whereabouts of JSP's weekend retreat but will ask around. You have already made me nosey.

Never heard of Authur Askey having a supermarket there but might well be so. Best known celeb of late was Peter Cushing who lived in the town (on Middle Wall I think) until his death in '94. Spent much time painting.

Yes Tony, I think that families that can trace a long Whitstable heritage call themselves 'natives'. Foad and Gann are other old town names. There are others that escape me just now.....

We are just off now to visit the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel le Ferne. Then on to the White Cliffs visitor centre for coffee.

It's a hard life but somebody has got to do it.

Ah, I did know Peter Cushing's home; it was on Wave Crest, a row of tall terraced houses on the beach behind Island Wall. He was such a familiar figure – cycling, before an accident, and walking his dog on the beach – that there was no celebrity-staring.

If you're on Ms Street-Porter's trail, she is reputed to live by the sea along the Seasalter beach area. I've racked my brain for an Arthur Askey connection to no avail – but he was such a busy, busy bee!

Thanks for the leads Tony....another little excursion for me. I expect Cushings house has a blue plaque. JSP's probably has 'p*ss off' on the gate.

You mentioned the alleys, well 20 Middle Wall where my mother was born was one of 4 terraced (nos 16 to 22) timber shiplap clad, houses. They were demolished but the brick built houses either side remain. The terrace was bounded by Beach Alley and Squeeze Gut Alley.

I shall be getting out all my 'who do you think you are stuff' if we continue comparing notes about Whitstable.

That probably would take up too much forum space on reminiscing, fun though it is! Maybe a PM or two? I'm now feeling the urge to get on the train on my next trip to the UK!

Trust you enjoyed your day down Dover way.

Round where I live Whitstable is known as Islington on Sea......

A name used in the town (with a slight curl of the lips!) too. It was all them Londoners buying up weekend cottages what pushed up prices beyond local affordability! Media columnists gushing about their quaint getaways didn't help either. Let's hope it's settled down a bit now…

Very interesting Grandad!

Who2 said

Round where I live Whitstable is known as Islington on Sea

You see, little old Whitstable is even known on the West Bank.

(Don't correct me Doc, I get your drift )