Update Sunday 11th December

On visiting the site yesterday, I could see that the tree clearance had continued apace.  A huge number of trees and bushes have grown up unchecked since the final closure and lifting of the Bedford branch. 

I noticed that a large log carrying machine had been brought onto the site to move the increasingly large number of tree trunks that have been stacked up.

Now that the trackbed has been cleared, you can start to see a similar view to the pictures I uploaded earlier from 1964.  Although it is still hard to believe that this was once a very important section of line for the Midland Railway allowing them access to London.  For ten years this was a twin track main line from Leicester until the Midland fell out with the Great Northern and built an extension from Bedford to St Pancras.  Then from 1867 to closure it was branch line having largely been singled in 1911.  Even to this day the Midland main line is still referred to as the Leicester to Hitchin line.

 I then moved a couple of hundred yards south and took the footpath by the River Hiz under the bridge.  This photo shows the substantial three arch main line bridge with the lower arch of the Bedford line visible behind. In between is a later addition which I can't work out the purpose of.  Because of its semi-hidden location, there is a considerable amount of graffiti here.

Viewed from the other side, bridge two of the Bedford line is quite clearly visible for the first time for many years.  Quite a contrast to the other side as presumably the slightly later construction blocked the three arches of the main line bridge.  Note the odd mix of blue and yellow bricks.  The bridge is still in excellent condition which is a testament to the Victorian bricklayers that built it.

 Moving further away this shot shows more of the cleared embankment with blue netting along the far side of the Bedford embankment.  This is presumably to stop any tree fellers from straying on to the main line embankment as there no fence here unlike north of the scrapyard.

 Returning to my starting point, I took a picture of the other side of the scrapyard bridge, another substantial three arch blue brick construction.  One wonders why they are both so big when a single arch would surely have sufficed.

Finally, a shot east from the end of Wilbury Way of the haul road extending into the field along side the perimeter of the future embankment.  There was no evidence of this last week so preliminary works are moving ahead quite quickly.  Top left you can just see the edge of the main site compound.