Where was Red Squirrel 14/9/2019

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

Since BNM got grahame's recent quiz rather quickly, here's one from me. No clues to start with.

[johnneyw]

Hmmm, what looks like a foot/cycle path on an old railway embankment with an access to what appears to be a rather empty car park with perhaps just one vehicle in sight. The Squirrelmobile?

A bit of a gradient on what I take is the old railway embankment. Somewhere along Linear Park, Bath?

[Red Squirrel]

Hmmm, what looks like a foot/cycle path on an old railway embankment with an access to what appears to be a rather empty car park with perhaps just one vehicle in sight. The Squirrelmobile?

Actually I has standing astride the Squirrelmobile as I took the photo. The parking area is a small one for local residents.

A bit of a gradient on what I take is the old railway embankment. Somewhere along Linear Park, Bath?

Not S&D^▸ (Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway), and not Bath. The old railway was single track running over the bridge uphill from left to right.

[johnneyw]

....... running over the bridge uphill from left to right.

Uphill, L to R?  It looks the other way in the photo. Optical illusion? It also looks as steep a gradient as a normal railway can cope with.
Hilly, wooded perhaps and old railway lines? Sort of describes the Forest of Dean?

[JayMac]

Are we in the Mangotsfield area?

[Red Squirrel]

....... running over the bridge uphill from left to right.

Uphill, L to R?  It looks the other way in the photo. Optical illusion? It also looks as steep a gradient as a normal railway can cope with.
Hilly, wooded perhaps and old railway lines? Sort of describes the Forest of Dean?

It was a 1 in 60 gradient. I agree that it looks the other way round, but trains going up hill passed from left to right over this bridge. Despite appearances, it's a suburban location.

Are we in the Mangotsfield area?

Not really. The line was part of the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) network. According to Google, it's about 12.3km from Mangotsfield Station by bicycle; you could cover a decent chunk of the route on off-road paths along former railway lines...

[johnneyw]

Sticking my neck out, Bristol to Bath Railway Path at Saltford?

Edit: Oops, just reread the clue and the railway path in question wasn't GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) so back to drawing board.

[martyjon]

Somewhere on the former North Somerset line from Frome to North Somerset Junction in the Stockwood area cos that's the only closed GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) network single line I can think of 12.3 Km from Mangotsfield in a suburban area, now prove otherwise !!!!

[bradshaw]

Whitchurch cyclepath, north end?

[martyjon]

Whitchurch cyclepath, north end?

Isn't that the same as Stockwood cylclepath south end ? 

[Red Squirrel]

Somewhere on the former North Somerset line from Frome to North Somerset Junction in the Stockwood area cos that's the only closed GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) network single line I can think of 12.3 Km from Mangotsfield in a suburban area, now prove otherwise !!!!

Yup, that's it! Near Davids Road; go through the arch to get to Sturminster Road.

There were no trees here in 1968 or thereabouts, when a young squirrel scrambled up onto the embankment and skipped along the sleeper impressions in the ballast, wondering where the track had gone...  I did however find this:



If I live long enough to see the B&NS reinstated as part of a link between Bristol and Bournemouth, I promise I'll let them have it back.