Waverley Route Heritage Association

Whilst walking around the derelict site, brothers Andy & Matt Stoddon from Lancaster chanced upon Len Ashton, a resident of Whitrope, 2 miles further up the line. Matt had spoken to Len briefly several times before, but this time it would be different – and change all their lives in doing so. Realising that they had met on a few previous occasions whilst walking at Whitrope, a friendship was quick

ly formed, partly due to the brothers being ardent Liverpool supporters like Len, Liverpool born & bred. The brothers were invited to Whitrope where they were introduced to Len’s wife Hilary, and having had similar, separate thoughts on creating an organisation for the Waverley Route, and after a chat over several mugs of coffee, a decision was made that night between the Stoddons & Ashtons to form one – eventually settling with the name “Waverley Route Heritage Association” – and being dedicated to the whole route from Edinburgh to Carlisle, not just one particular location. Over the next few months, whilst the four set up the organisation officially, the brothers visited Whitrope regularly, stopping over in order that walks could commence early in the morning and finish late at night. The summer months were spent painstakingly scouring every inch of the trackbed between Shankend & Steele Road, using GPS software for accuracy, and logging remnants of the railway with a view to small acts of preservation here and there. Old mileposts and intermediate posts were searched for, but most were long since gone – fine mementoes of the Waverley Route, most now standing in back gardens all over the country. Many miles were walked, and on one particular occasion it took around 4 hours to walk through Whitrope Tunnel, partly due to filming inside the tunnel and notes being made about the lining and drainage systems. In October 2001 Len & Hilary woke up to find Andy digging up part of their garden. Wondering what he was doing, Andy had to remind Len of the previous nights’ conversation over a beer or two, about excavating the footings of Whitrope Siding Signal Box. Just one month later, on 10th November 2001, with snow covering the ground at Whitrope, the Waverley Route Heritage Association was officially formed & constituted. Only four months had elapsed since that chance meeting, but the seeds had already been sown for what was to come. The group of four soon became many, although at this time the only volunteers were the four founder members. Work started to renovate some of the old bridges, with corroded handrails cleaned up and repainted. No official permission existed at this time to carry out the work, but the group just got on with it and waited for questions to be asked. It wasn’t long before the Forestry Commission became aware that something was happening on the old railway. Small white posts had started appearing every quarter of a mile along the track, and the bridges were starting to look like new, with replica number plates attached. The local Forestry Ranger took notice and the group had their first visit from the Commission to see what was going on. In early 2002 official permission was granted by the Forestry Commission for the Association to carry on with the works on the line, which included the er****on of several full size replica mileposts between Whitrope & Riccarton. The Waverley Route had started to come to life again. But shortly after, disaster struck – in March 2002 Whitrope Tunnel suffered a severe collapse of lining at the south portal. The freshly formed Heritage Association had already made people aware of the situation, sensing that something was about to happen due to the changing shape of the roof and a number of minor falls. But it still came as something of a shock to see virtually the whole portal now blocked with rubble. This was a blow to the organisation, but would lead to the eventual listing of the structure as a tribute to the men that built it. May saw the unveiling of the Association’s 25 year plan, which would see the eventual return of a heritage railway to the Scottish Borders, running south from Whitrope to Riccarton Junction, and beyond. This plan also included the creation of a heritage centre at Whitrope, using the site of the old Whitrope Siding, with the added possibility of recreating the demolished signal box. During the spring and summer of 2002, new signs were erected at Whitrope Summit to mark the 140th anniversary of the opening of the Waverley Route. A signpost points to Carlisle & Edinburgh, giving distances to each in miles, and a cast sign was commissioned showing the height of the summit and the dates. On the day of the World Cup Final in 2002, June the 30th to be precise, it was teeming down with rain. Five members of the Association set off on the first organised walk – a very low turnout, but not surprising given the awful weather. Whilst passing through Riccarton a conversation was struck up with a visitor to the site. By the end of the day, after a further visit to Whitrope, the visitor had been persuaded to bring some of his items to the Waverley Route Heritage Association, including several sections of railway track and two coaches which could be used for a static display and heritage centre. One week later, and having to act very quickly, the whole site of the railway at Whitrope Siding was scraped using a mechanical digger which happened to be in the area at the time. Planning permission was rushed through in just 6 weeks and a full site lease was acquired from the Forestry Commission. At the beginning of September 2002 the site was ballasted, thanks to the help of the Forestry Commission, and shortly afterwards several sections of line arrived, having been stored at Coupar Angus. During the week that followed Association members got their first taste of tracklaying – which had to be done the hard way due to the severe lack of tools. On 19th September 2002 the first piece of rolling stock moved on the Waverley Route for over 30 years. A South West Trains Mark 1 Buffet car may have looked out of place, but it didn’t matter – after all, the Association had only been established for 10 months and had now done something only talked about by others. Several days later a Mark 2 Brake coach joined the Mark 1, and the Waverley Route Heritage Association were able to show off their bold attempt at putting the Waverley Route firmly back on the map. The winter of 2002 set in quite hard, and it was almost impossible to get any work done outside. Efforts were concentrated on planning for the Association, and on archiving materials. in February 2003, and the following day work started in earnest on restoring the Mark 2 BSO. With around 5 or 6 layers of paint on both the roof and the bodysides, it was not an easy task, but the decision was taken to “bottom” it back to metal ensuring the job was done correctly. After several months of paint stripping, filling and sanding down, a coat of primer was eventually applied, with the roof receiving a full coat of the correct roof paint. All the window mountings were removed, glass removed from the frames and after all the glazing was cleaned up the frames were resealed and reinstalled. All the door hinges were replaced with brand new parts from Doncaster works, and the guard’s compartment was removed, giving the internal appearance of one long display hall. This is yet to be fitted out, and work has been suspended internally pending the application of a grant for the heritage centre. All the paint has been acquired for the outside of the coach, and for the Mark 1 Buffet which was been rubbed down by hand, and this is yet to be applied, with both coaches to be painted in crimson lake livery. After first submitting plans for blocking Whitrope Tunnel way back in the spring of 2002, which were initially unsuitable, the Forestry Commission finally approved a design for the blocking which got underway during a rather snowy February & March. Problems were encountered at the northern portal when it was found that one of the grilles – the last piece – did not fit. It turned out that measurements for the fabrication had been taken from the south portal only! Final checks throughout the length of the tunnel were made by three of the W.R.H.A. Committee members on what would be a rather sad occasion. Whilst the heritage centre was being planned, work commenced in clearing the garden of the station master’s house at Riccarton Junction after submission of plans of work and the appropriate risk assessments to the Forestry Commission. After several weeks work and after the cutting down of trees, bushes & shrubs, the house once again became visible to anyone passing through Riccarton – all this work having been undertaken by the Waverley Route Heritage Association volunteers. Subsequent planned work for the restoration of the house has been suspended pending further discussions after a building inspection. New display boards were placed at Whitrope Summit & at the north end of Riccarton in spring 2003, these being dedicated to two Waverley Route workmen who recently passed away, Bill Stitt, born in Whitrope Tunnel east cottage and raised at Riccarton, and Kit Milligan from Riccarton, author of the book “Just a few lines”, itself being republished by the Association in 2004. The clearance of the Whitrope Tunnel south portal was aided by transportation of a digger to Whitrope. Tons of mud, shrubs and general detritus were cleared from the trackbed, leaving it at ballast level for the first time in over 20 years. The drains were rodded out to ensure the area could be thoroughly drained, with masses of tree roots being removed in the process. Read more at http://wrha.org.uk/about/