Fantastic video Pastfinder. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to Part 3.

Hi Bob, excellent video!!. The builders of that church didn't have to look far for material!! Shame the sundial went missing maybe one day it will be identified and return home. Looks like there is, or was, a good water source in the town, talking of which I recently came across a channel you might find interesting Isaac Moreno Gallo. One of his recent videos explored the water distribution tunnels, from Roman times, underneath Carmona, which I visited earlier this year. Although in Spanish I think you can setup English subtitles. Great series, thanks for taking us around Silchester, I'm amazed I'd never heard of it before. All the best!! PS: Great cameo appearance from the snake from I Claudius👌👌

Really enjoyed this, i have walked all of the still remaining basingstoke canal so its nice to see the last bit.

I am not living too far away and enjoy a walk around Silchester from time to time, thanks for your film, now i can just watch this instead 😁. I always wondered why it was abandoned, then stumbled across a video on you tube called Roman Britain the work of giants crumbled - by fall of civilizations, which offers a great explanation of why many of the roman settlements were abandoned. It seems when the romans left those remaining did not want to habit where their past masters had lived.

Pretty certain that no "Tigers" ever graced that arena. Not that none were ever brought into the Roman Empire from their natural home range way to the East since the Romans certainly traded with the Indian Sub-continent, but such limited exotica would have been reserved for places closer to Rome. 😉 Lions, Leopards and Cheetahs though just might have made it before the Empire's appetite for their version of Fox-hunting cleaned out much of the Mediterranean area's big cats. 🙄😊

Calleva is an incredible place that evokes images in your mind of times past. Superb film with totally professional production makes it a joy to watch

Great update as always looking forward to the ones of Chester again soon.

I use to play on the Kingsworthy / Springvale to Worthy Down Halt line 50 years ago. Good to see it again and thank you for such a great revisit and explanation of all the features.

Wonderful thanks

Brilliant video. Thanks for linking your commentary and video, back to maps and old photos to make this very informative

Thank you so much!

OMG that brought back some memories. I was born and grew up in Kings Worthy when it was much less built up (BTW we always spelt it as “Kingsworthy” and you can still see that spelling on some old maps). Anyhow spent many a weekend / evening walking the old railway and playing in the pill boxes and worthy down platform and buildings. You would always meet other kids playing up there. You could walk for miles before they filled in the bridges. If you had carried on along Springvale road you would of encountered what we just new as the “Old Railway Bridge” next to legion lane. I believe this led to Alresford but I could be completely wrong lol. Anyhow enough rambling. Great video.

My family had a brand new council house (1930s) in Milton- a relative told me the canal was literally the road outside the house and they would go swimming in it. The newer houses across the road used to flood all the time because of it being part of the canal.

Thanks for the video. I have seen some of these sites, but its great to see them all linked together.

Great fun, really well researched, Dumpman Films did a similar job in 2023. You can access the embankment between the A34 carriageways just south of Kings Worthy station, you need to go under the bridge that carries the A33sb and A34sb over the river, that will give you direct access. I couldn't find any evidence of Kings Worthy platform, looked both sides in the trees.

Thanks for your work and research and amazing footage on this old line regards fred

I live in Eastleigh and found this a great informative video and so much modelling reference material, thanks regards Fred

The amount of bricks required to construct this Tunnel would have needed to be sourced from more than one brickworks, hence the different colours, obviously the Council now use this as a storage area.

With more investment by the LSWR & SR, Alton could have been an important junction serving the vast area of Hampshire,,,,There was no need to build, , at a considerable cost the Portsmouth direct line from Guilford to Portsmouth as the LBSC ran a direct line from London Victoria to Portsmouth at that time with many links to other towns in Sussex and Kent.

Fantastic viewing.

Looking forward to part 3

Straight road, shortest distance between 2 points.....yup must be a Roman road.

If you walk down Goldsmith Avenue on the left hand side with your back to Fratton bridge, just before the Layland paint building there is an old cobbled slipway down to where the canal used to be.

Thoroughly enjoyed your video fabulous presentation, I always think of all the jobs the railways created? Progress? So they say.

I enjoyed your video of the canal. The pump house was the building you suggested. It was the home of my great grandparents, back in the day.

top!

Its not a basin ,its a loading wharf !

Very interesting. I walk the Didcot end of the line with my dog nearly every day, looking forward to you covering that part in the future.

I used to live just up the road a bit and this used to be part of my play but never knew the full history and I have to thank you for doing this series as it's very interesting for me to find out about our local history-thanks for sharing!

Thanks for the video, I really enjoyed it. The 'thin houses' in the video are known locally as the spite houses. The tale is that the builder constructed the houses over three storeys tall due to a dispute with the owner of the cottage opposite, in order to block the far reaching views of the Mersey estuary and Liverpool beyond. I don't dispute your speculation that the footprint was restricted by the passage of the tramway, but as a resident of Helsby all of my life, I thought you might like to know a little local knowledge about how they came about their name.

I believe the originally planned Ellesmere canal from Pontcysyllte Aqueduct via Wrexham would have emerged on the opposite bank of the Dee - which would have given the Dee branch more of a purpose should it have survived.

Top stuff as ever Bob!

That was brilliant very informative. Shame the river banks are so overgrown and unmaintained all the way from there up to the band stand it’s looks a mess and could be so look so much smarter.

Hi Bob, really well produced well done!! Very interesting to see the short spur onto the mainline and the other lines for the military camps. I know I'd be tempted to take some of that metalwork home!! Look forward to seeing the next installment All the best

Hi it’s Mark was made up with the ones you did on Chester and the Roman part I love Chester I go every Friday only living in Wirral and like you look around for Roman remains. I suggest at somepoint you maybe look into doing about the 1960s development one you maybe aware but if not in the 1960s a big development happened in Chester due to the amount of congestion with traffic. That’s how the ringroad came about they smashed through that part of the medieval wall that’s how st martins way came about and so many old town houses where demolished that’s why outside the walls looks so modern today due to that development. Also another one the English civil war that played a major part in Chester’s history so many old buildings where destroyed and apart of the wall near the river got hit to and some evidence is clear near the Roman gardens. Also King Charles the first stayed there at gamol house today the brewery tap on lower bridge street near ye olde kings heads pub another historic one. There you go given you something to work on. Take care

I'm amazed at how big the prop was on the old barge at the brick works.

Really interesting video, thanks. My daughter lives nearby in South Wonston

Grew up around Winchester and return regularly (thank god for the Newbury bypass, Kings Worthy bypass - which was being built in the summer of 1968 when I was interviewing for my school). I believe that (somewhere just north of the modern Winnall flats) the 1933 Winchester bypass had an underpass for the Avington and Magdalen camp railway (but 1933 bypass, 1918 line to camps closed? Possible red herring). Contemporary istorical pics of the bypass construction might help. Anyway, great video; thanks.

Thanks Bob, another great video. Have been to that rifle club in the tunnel in the 1970s

This line could re-open for Container trains from Southampton docks from Worthy Down to Didcot !

What a Great video, this was filmed right on my doorstep. A regular walk for me with my dogs. When watching this felt like I was walking the route with you. You missed a few important features, the build date scratched into the brick work of the double bridge and the remains of the signal post just before the bridge near Worthy Down station, which by the way is called Racecourse bridge.

another informative enjoyable episode Bob l,ve done the chesil tunnel tour very interesting inside fairly long to l never knew of the spur off beautiful engineering on the bridges and the effort of the navvys digging the embankments out l really enjoy watching thank you for making this.

I hope in the future someone is making a video of the overgrown remains of the M3, once we come to our senses and give cars the flick. Great video. Thanks.

18:30 That looks very much like a dug-up Hallade monument.

Fascinating 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Really enjoyed the 1st episode so was very much looking forward to this 2nd instalment. Absolutely fascinating commentary as always and great filming (especially enjoyed the views inside the tunnel). Thankyou🙂

Beautiful brickwork and a lovely bit of broad gauge ... what's not to love about these videos! ❤❤❤ Brilliant filming and commentary thank you.

I remember as a child exploring the abandoned buildings of Worthy Down Halt. This would have been late 60s. The buildings and platform were still in existance but in a poor state - stairs were so rotten that even the weight of a child snapped then through.

Great stuff, really enjoying the journey

Great video 🙏😄