Unused railway embankment

Image: © John Winder Taken: 4 Jun 2020

The Forest of Dean Central Railway was intended to capture much of the lucrative freight traffic generated by the industry of the Forest of Dean. It was, however, founded on a pretty shaky financial footing and predicated on a level of traffic which either never really existed or was snapped up by the FoDCR's rival, the Severn & Wye. The line was intended to run from a purpose-built dock at Brimspill on the banks of the Severn Estuary near Awre, to Foxes Bridge Colliery near Speech House in the Forest of Dean. Ultimately, the line only ever made it as far north as New Fancy Colliery (and then only for four years or so); even though the trackbed northwards was prepared, track was never laid on it. Likewise at the southern end, earthworks for the line to Brimspill dock (and possibly for the dock itself) were built but track was never laid: instead, a junction with the South Wales Railway was built. The FoDCR was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a success, and there's something poignant about the idea of these earthworks, symbolising the hopes and dreams of the holders of the FoDCR's worthless shares, still bearing mute testimony to the plans of the doomed company over 150 years later. This was taken looking towards the intended site of Brimspill dock.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0