jamesjefferies’s avatarjamesjefferies’s Twitter Archive—№ 31,316

                      1. Yesterday I found out via the Camden Miniature Steam Services email (camdenmin.co.uk) about the lost Holywath Railway of Coniston. It was created by Major John Hext in the grounds of his home and it looked a cracker. I fell down an investigative rabbit hole! 1/7
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                      Firstly I watched this video which is an interview with the major players about how the railway came about with some nice footage - youtube.com/watch?v=8pjnyHuh0Tc - interesting to hear how the house had it’s own Hydro-electric power station too. 2/7
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                    It was then sad to hear how when the Major died, the railway needed to be sold to pay various taxes - probably a good job that I missed the auction and the sale in 2012 - bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-18189612 2/7
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                  Digging around a bit further, the house was Wreck of the week in November 2012 - wreckoftheweek.co.uk/2012/11/mansion-coniston-cumbria.html - this piqued my interest - looked like an amazing house when in it’s prime. I wonder what state it is in now? 2.5/7
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                The wayback machine had an archived version of the sales details, sadly without the map or floor plans - web.archive.org/web/20130321032136/http://www.michael-cl-hodgson.co.uk/property-for-sale/details/403/Coniston/Holywath/ - imagine being able to buy this house with the railway intact - what a dream! 3/7
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              Then, I found this other video of the railway with some fun and games on the final steaming day - really sad to think about what was there ready to go - youtube.com/watch?v=0cKsS85X9zI - what I wanted to see now was a track diagram, how did this railway fit together? 4/7
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            A bit more digging and I found the auction instructions which included a track diagram! fdocuments.in/document/instructions-from-the-executors-of-the-late-the-coniston-railway-the-closure.html on page 3. 5/7
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          What an interesting layout and railway it looked. Long and short of it though, I wondered what happened to the track, signals, engines etc, what’s still there? Maybe someone on here knows? 6/7
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        In the meantime though, I couldn’t help but start having a nosey on RightMove for houses with 7.5 acre gardens 😀 7/7
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    1. …in reply to @jamesjefferies
      Here is a thread on the Miniature Railway forum about the Holywath Railway - tapatalk.com/groups/mrw_forums/coniston-miniature-railway-t4159-s20.html and there is also another good video here - youtube.com/watch?v=XDDfNKfb3gM
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    Some more photos of the house here - zoopla.co.uk/property/holywath/torver/coniston/la21-8hn/12660789 It would be great to see a proper copy of the sales catalogue one day!
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