10th February 2025: The Waverley Route, by Dennis Lovett

Today we enjoyed a fascinating afternoon listening to Dennis, a retired railwayman with more recent interests in model railways . His interest in the Waverley route began with childhood holiday visits to grandparents in Galashiels, and he has returned to the area many times to track the route down from Edinburgh Waverley. In his talk he recounted the successful reopening of the section from Edinburgh down to Tweedbank; visited market towns such as Galashiels, Melrose, Hawick; traversed the summit at Whitrope Tunnel and the lonely moorland; finally crossing the border into England running into Carlisle. The talk was well illustrated by photos then and now.
Given the relatively sparse population between the two termini, and the bleak moorlands, the line was always vulnerable to closure, and although it escaped the initial Beeching cuts it finally succumbed in1969, joining the ranks of lamented long distance closures such as the S&D and the GC.
Our next meeting is on Monday 10th March at the usual venue and time, Weston Favell Village Hall Booth Lane South, Northampton NN3 3EP, at 2pm.
The speaker will be Mike Corbett with the Vintage Trains Story.

Richard Deacon
Chairman/Secretary