Bluebell Railway Southern at War 2009

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History

In 1877 an Act of Parliament was passed to authorise the construction of the Lewes and East Grinstead Railway (L&EGR).The line was sponsored by a number of local landowners, including the Earl of Sheffield. A year later an Act of 1878 enabled the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company (LB&SCR) to acquire and operate the new line.

The line had six stations, but only the station at Barcombe was within walking distance of an existing village: the remaining five were in thinly populated areas. Chailey parish had two stations, one at Sheffield Park and the other at Newick and Chailey. It was customary at that time for a rural railway line that was supported by a private company or notable individuals to have stations sited in close proximity to the residences of its sponsors. Thus Sheffield Park station was built for the Earl of Sheffield, and Newick and Chailey for Newick Park and Reedens, the residences of two other sponsors. The other stations on the line were at Kingscote, West Hoathly and Horsted Keynes. A branch line ran from a junction at Horsted Keynes to Ardingly and Haywards Heath on the LB&SCR main line.

Significantly, the 1877 and 1878 Acts included a clause stating that:

Four passenger trains each way daily to run on this line, with through connections at East Grinstead to London, and to stop at Sheffield Bridges, Newick, and West Hoathly.

This imposed a legal requirement on the railway owner to provide a service, and it emerged much later that the only way to remove this obligation was to pass another Act of Parliament to rescind it.

After the passage of the 1878 Act, the new line opened in 1882, with the usual pomp and ceremony and a great deal of celebration. The whole line from East Grinstead was built to take double track, which was actually laid between East Grinstead and Horsted Keynes; however, south of the junction at Horsted Keynes the line was only single track with passing loops at the stations. Like a number of rural branch lines of that era, as well as conveying passengers a substantial quantity of local produce was transported: milk, farm products and coal, and timber to and from Albert Turner & Son, a local sawmill. Curiously, the only time Sheffield Park station received a substantial number of passengers was when Lord Sheffield entertained the Australian Cricket Team, with the inevitable match between them and Lord Sheffield's own team.

As early as 1954, and certainly long before Dr Richard Beeching (whose programme of railway closures and service cuts became known as the Beeching Axe) became Chairman of the British Railways Board, the Branchline Committee of British Railways had submitted a proposal to close the section of line from East Grinstead to Culver Junction near Lewes. This was challenged by local residents, but eventually the closure was sanctioned in February 1955, and a closure date fixed for 15th June 1955 although the line actually closed prematurely on 29th May due to a rail staff strike .The ensuing battle fought between British Railways and the users of the "Bluebell Line" (as it was known) became infamous, as a result of four years of acrimonious argument which the transport users conducted in opposition to the Transport Authorities.

Shortly after the closure a local resident of Chailey, Miss Margery Bessemer, discovered in the wording of the 1877 and 1878 Acts the clause (mentioned above) relating to the "Statutory Line", and demanded that British Railways honour this legal obligation and reinstate the services required by the Acts. On 7 August 1956 British Railways was forced to re-open the line, and so began the "Sulky Service", with the trains only stopping at the stations mentioned in the Acts. Meanwhile, in 1957 British Railways took the case to the House of Commons, resulting in a Public Inquiry.British Railways were sternly censured, but later the Transport Commission was able to persuade Parliament to repeal the special section of the Act. By this means the line was again, and this time finally, closed on 17 March 1958.

Spring 1959 saw the formation of the Lewes & East Grinstead Railway Preservation Society, the forerunner of today’s Bluebell Railway Preservation Society. Its initial aim was to re-open the whole line from East Grinstead to Culver Junction, and to run it as a commercial service. This was envisaged as using a diesel railcar, a two-car DMU, as soon as funds allowed. These plans sadly came to nothing, for two reasons: firstly, the Society failed to purchase the whole line; and secondly, most local residents were not that interested. So in the interim, the re-opening of the section of line from Sheffield Park to Bluebell Halt just south of Horsted Keynes (which was at first leased and eventually purchased from British Railways) as both a steam railway and museum was planned and approved.

 

Douglas C47 (DC3) Dakota ZA947 was manufactured in March 1942 and initially issued to the United States Army Air Force. In September that year the aircraft was transferred to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and served mainly in Canada but was latterly used in Europe until declared surplus to requirements in 1971.

The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough then purchased the aircraft, which was allocated the UK military serial number KG661, as it had carried the serial 661 with the Canadians. During her time with the RAE, KG661 was used for a variety of tasks and trials, including dropping sonabuoys through holes cut in the fuselage and launching remotely piloted vehicles.

For some time, however, there had been some doubt about the aircraft's serial number; research showed that the original Dakota KG661 had been destroyed in an accident, so the aircraft was allocated a new number: ZA947. Cleared for para-dropping, she often displayed in this role or appeared in the static park at airshows. In 1992 the Defence Research Agency, the successor to the RAE, declared her surplus to requirements and offered the aircraft for disposal.

The aircraft was adopted by Strike Command and issued to the BBMF in March 1993, after Air Atlantique at Coventry had completed necessary engineering and structural work. The Dakota is a year-round workhorse for the BBMF being used in a variety of roles, including general support tasks, such as transporting groundcrew and equipment to display venues or other operating airfields. Importantly, as there are no other multi-engine tailwheel-configured aircraft in RAF service outside the BBMF, she is used for training aircrew for the BBMF multi-engine aircraft and in keeping the pilots of the Lancaster current on a multi-engine tailwheel aircraft during the winter months when the bomber is out of action.

Increasingly, though, the Dakota has become a display aircraft in her right and now appears regularly on the airshow circuit either on her own or as part of a BBMF 3-ship formation, in company with a pair of fighters. She continues to be capable of para-dropping and is used in that role for special commemorative events. During 2004, original and authentic 'para-seats' were re-fitted to the Dakota, returning the cabin interior to the original, wartime specification. In 2007 clearance was gained to drop the RAF freefall parachute display team, 'The Falcons', and in 2008 clearance was gained to use the latest military static line parachute, thus enabling BBMF to drop the current generation of paratroopers. We hope that in 2009 the Dakota will drop members of the Parachute Regitment in the Arnhem 65th anniversary celebrations.

Dakota ZA947 currently wears the livery of 267 'Pegasus' Squadron, which flew in the Transport, Trooping and Re-supply roles in the Middle East and the Mediterranean Theatres during 1943/44.The squadron employed various colour schemes on its Dakotas but always displayed its 'Pegasus' emblem prominently on the aircraft's nose. The Squadron's role included the re-supply of partisans and resistance fighters, behind enemy lines, either by para-drops or by landing at clandestine airstrips.