Theatre of Trees
Well-known member
Dr Beeching didn't axe the line from Lewes to East Grinstead it was British Rail who initially closed it back in 1956 until a resident found a loophole that legally obliged them to reopen it. Which they did running a skeleton service at times that nobody used them until they obtained the requisite Parliamentary act needed to close the line in 1958. The Ardingly branch was not closed until 1963 and originally provided a link to the Bluebell railway at Horsted Keynes that had opened in 1960.
