New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

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Peter350
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New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Peter350 »

The main road between Burley and Brockenhurst uses the old railway alignment for just over a mile east of the Holmsley tea rooms. Before the railway closed, traffic on this route would have used the now abandoned road via Wilverley Post. That route was shorter in distance than the current one so why was it diverted in the first place? Was it part of a plan to build a new fast road on the dismantled railway alignment between Ringwood and Brockenhurst?
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by mark3evo »

its a sound idea, less corners and gradients

like the A16 out of Grimsby
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Berk »

I mentioned it in this post last year. I presume once the railway had closed, the idea of putting a road along the track bed was seen as too good to miss.

I think what prompted my post was, I assumed the (at grade) road had always been there, when it hadn’t. However, the A35 always was.
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by mikehindsonevans »

Good heavens!
I drove along this very piece of road this afternoon, enroute to and from a supplier meeting in Christchurch.

The section of road including the overbridged includes a 40mph section attributed to a "weak bridge".
There are a couple of suicidally-aligned T-junctions just over the crest of the bridge, heading westbound!

This SABRE website is truly all-knowing!
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Ruperts Trooper »

Strange that the railway alignment wasn't usrd all the way to the B3035, just south of Brockenhurst.
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Berk »

Ruperts Trooper wrote:Strange that the railway alignment wasn't usrd all the way to the B3035, just south of Brockenhurst.
Indeed. Or at least cutting the corner on the heath road.

Perhaps the cost of installing a new level crossing was the final straw (they’re not terribly keen on those now).
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Peter350
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Peter350 »

mark3evo wrote:its a sound idea, less corners and gradients

like the A16 out of Grimsby
By looking at a map, it appears that the newer route actually has more corners and is less direct than the old Burley - Brockenhurst route.
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Burley - Brockenhurst road.png
XC70
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by XC70 »

How did the old road cross the A35? Perhaps the bridge for the railway line under the A35 was the attraction?
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Berk »

XC70 wrote:How did the old road cross the A35? Perhaps the bridge for the railway line under the A35 was the attraction?
Probably. If you’re always having to give way to main road traffic, an underpass can be just the ticket.
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by KeithW »

If you look on Streetview at the start and end of the old road you will find it was a pretty inadequate route for motor traffic, its not much more than a bridlepath with some pretty sharp contours and of course at grade crossing of the A35

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.81676 ... authuser=0

The old railway gave a wider well graded route complete with underpass. Given that this is a National Park the choice seems reasonable. You can see why the bridge needs replacing but that would have to be done anyway.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.81676 ... authuser=0
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Osthagen »

mark3evo wrote:its a sound idea, less corners and gradients

like the A16 out of Grimsby
Having had a look at the road on Google Maps, I would have thought that such an explanation could be ruled out straight away :lol:
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by XC70 »

I have great memories of this road.

We lived a long way away in Bedfordshire, had a touring Caravan and my Grandparents lived in Burley.

We used to take the van and pitch at Setthorns which is right at one end of this bit of road. In fact you could even pitch a tent on the old railway line. We would spend most of our time at my Grandparents house in Burley.

We would return from Burley, late and usually in the dark to Setthorns. Dad would stop at the corner, where the road comes off the railway alignment and my 2 brothers with a torch would get out and then run back along the disused railway to race the car back to the caravan.

I can't unfortunately remember who usually won!
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Berk »

Finally, plans are afoot to replace the bridge. It’s going to remain in situ whilst a new bridge is built alongside, and the A35 connections slewed across.

Apparently it was built 110 years ago, and only came under highway authority control in 2012 - an ex-BRB asset??

Presumably the new bridge will be NSL - the limit is temporarily 40, due to the condition of the bridge.
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by PaulLothian »

I think the railway line was part of the delightfully nicknamed Castleman's Corkscrew, named after the chief promoter of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway. More about the line here - https://spellerweb.net/rhindex/UKRH/LSWR/Castleman.html

Thanks to the original poster for reminding me that I have been meaning to look it up since I first heard it mentioned over 50 years ago!
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Surreyist »

Berk wrote: Sat Jul 13, 2019 17:24 Finally, plans are afoot to replace the bridge. It’s going to remain in situ whilst a new bridge is built alongside, and the A35 connections slewed across.

Apparently it was built 110 years ago, and only came under highway authority control in 2012 - an ex-BRB asset??

Presumably the new bridge will be NSL - the limit is temporarily 40, due to the condition of the bridge.
I believe the final assets owned by British Rail Residuary Ltd, such as disused tunnels and bridges etc, were finally disposed of to local authorities and highways agencies at about that time
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Berk »

You wouldn’t normally expect a highway authority to adopt an asset in such bad condition it almost immediately needs to be replaced...
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by Big Nick »

If anyone is in the area they might want to get down there and review on progress. According to Facebook reports work is well underway on this project.
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by jervi »

I visited the site today on a bike ride. Station Road is closed under the bridge (along with the bridleway) & all right turns are banned between the link roads and the A35. Although one criminal thought she could do a right turn in front of me, I have my helmet camera recording, so she can expect a letter in the post.

The A35 is currently working under a signal controlled single lane shuttle over the current bridge, with an additional phase for those joining from station road (on the NW side).
It appears that no construction of the bridge has started, at the moment it just looks like ground clearance & grading.
Bridge1-min.PNG
Bridge2-min.PNG
Bridge3-min.PNG
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Re: New Forest - Why was the Burley - Brockenhurst road diverted via the old railway?

Post by GeekyJames »

Update on the Holmsley Bridge replacement scheme including photos.

https://www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/ne ... d-9232994/
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