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Press Releases
91Èȱ¬ South explores Beeching's legacy with Joe Crowley
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The lost world of England's railway lines is explored this Sunday 26 October on 91Èȱ¬ One South, as Joe Crowley investigates the impact across the south of Dr Beeching and his 1963 report The Re-Shaping of British Railways.
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All corners of England were to suffer blows from the Beeching axe and the implications were to run much deeper than the loss of rail services. Landscapes, buildings, villages and towns now take a different shape because of events in the Sixties.
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The programme examines the winners and losers from this dramatic period in transport history.
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Joe's journey begins in Dr Beeching's home town of East Grinstead, where he visits one of the first lines to benefit from the railway restoration movement – the Bluebell Railway.
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He then travels to Lancing, where nearly 2,000 jobs were lost overnight, to hear first-hand the impact Beeching had on the local community.
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Down the track into Hampshire, Joe arrives at the beautifully restored Horsebridge Station near Romsey, before hopping across the Solent to the Isle of Wight to meet the enthusiasts responsible for one of the island's most popular attractions – the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
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In a bid to see if there is any light at the end of the tunnel, Joe also talks to Gordon Pettitt, former National Director of Regional Railways, who argues that the economic state of the Sixties meant it would have been impossible for the railways to survive as they were.
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And finally returning to West Sussex, Joe visits West Grinstead Railway Station on the Downs Link – a former line turned long-distance bridleway, which now provides a travel corridor for wildlife.
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Said Joe:
"I think what struck me was the impact of the report. In some cases individuals lost their jobs, communities were left isolated without their train lines and whole areas lost their livelihoods."
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Notes to Editors
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The 91Èȱ¬ South programme is one of 10 regional programmes each looking at the impact of the Beeching cuts on their areas.
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All programmes are broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ One, Sunday 26ÌýOctober 2008, at 4.25pm, and form part of a 91Èȱ¬ Four-led season looking at The Golden Age Of Steam.
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HB
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