The last train's gone, so walk the line
By Kate Simon
I do like a repurposed railway line. Being a bit of a townie, it’s my kind of country walk with the dog – away from any possible conflict with cows and no need to wrestle with an OS map. I’ll leave the yomping across fields to my co-writer Phil, a seasoned hiker.
Whenever I plan a trip to the countryside, I scope out the nearest greenway. My explorations have included, to name a few, The Camel Trail in Cornwall, the Biddulph Valley Way on the Cheshire-Staffordshire border, and the Forest Way in Sussex, which follows a train track ironically used by yet axed by local resident Dr Beeching.
But a greenway doesn’t just provide rural-lite ramblers like me with an easy way to embrace the great outdoors. Short of a radical reintroduction of a nationwide local railway network, these paths at least preserve and create open spaces and provide environmentally friendly thoroughfares for humans and safe routes for wildlife. The website of Sustrans, the cycling charity, is a good resource to trawl for ideas.
There are greenways popping up across the country, including in our cities. The Castlefield Viaduct in Manchester, built in 1892 and derelict since 1969, is being transformed into a sky park by the National Trust. It’s currently piloting public access with guided tours of one stretch of the structure, but the aim is for the whole span to open permanently in the future. Tickets must be booked but they are free.
Hot on its heels is the Camden High Line in London, which will aim to transform 1.2km of old train tracks from Camden Gardens to York Way, on the shabbier side of the borough. Last week Camden Council approved planning of the first section. Now begins the task of raising £14m to carry out the work.
Supporters say the Castlefield Viaduct and Camden High Line are welcome green lungs that will benefit their local areas and examples of how to improve urban infrastructure in an environmentally responsible way. But critics warn against prioritising visitors over residents and the negative impact of gentrification on less affluent and marginalised members of local communities.
There are certainly lessons to learn from the experience of the project from which the Camden initiative has taken its name, the New York High Line (pictured), a re-imagined former freight route on Manhattan’s West Side that opened in 2009 (itself a copy of the Promenade Plantée in Paris’s 12th arrondissement).
More than a decade later, it is one of the city’s must-dos, attracting more than 8 million visitors a year and expected to contribute about $1bn to New York’s tax revenues over the next two decades. Yet one of the High Line’s founders, Robert Hammond, has labelled it a flop for locals, especially those living in public housing by the park. “We were from the community. We wanted to do it for the neighborhood. Ultimately, we failed.”
When I visited the High Line for the Independent on Sunday in 2009, I not only enjoyed a walk along a pleasant green corridor in the heart of the city but got a glimpse of New York’s real backyard. Today’s view is of luxury apartments, restaurants and galleries.
Some visions of the future can lose sight of the past.
Phil’s Beer Notes
Plenty of good pubs on the Camel Trail. You won’t go thirsty. But if you’re the more serious type of beer drinker, Padstow Brewery has not one but two tasting rooms in town where you can sample your way through a flight of different styles, and if you time it right join a tasting guided by an expert.
While you’re on the Forest Way, you might stop off for refreshment at the Anchor Inn at Hartfield, which is housed in a splendid 15th Century manor house with open fires and a lovely garden where you can quaff a choice of local ales.
If you’re doing the Biddulph Valley Way, the new Beartown brewery and tap room in Congleton is a must. In the ‘Den’, you can look down on people hard at work making the beer you’re lazily drinking, and if you want to get closer to the action you can book a brewery tour.
Photo © David Berkowitz