REDLAKE REVISITED
On Easter Saturday that well known and erudite author, Ted Wade, and his six foot scale rule (also know as Mike South) mounted a joint expedition on behalf of the Merioneth's South Western Branch. The site of this early morning (8 a.m.) liaison was 300 ft. above the G.W.R. Plymouth - Exeter main line, on the southern fringes of Dartmoor, at a forgotten place called Cantrell Siding, near Bitaford. This was the lower terminus of the Redlake Tramway, about which Ted is currently collecting material for his next Gemini Publications book. Those who have read his Plynlimon & Hafan Tramway book will know Ted's high standards and excellent draftsmanship.
Now for the history bit .... In 1846 L.H. Davy and William Wilkin, of Totnes, obtained from Duchy of Cornwall the right of "cutting, manufacturing and vending peat and peat charcoal" in Redlake Mire, a rich source. They constructed the Zeal Tor tramroad in 1847 from Redlake to Shipley Bridge, with wooden rails bolted to granite blocks. The venture failed and the partnership was disolved by 1850, when Davy paid Wilkin £4,000 for "machinery, tramways, horses and carts".
The lower portions of the line and the derelict works at Shipley Bridge, originally used for the production of naphtha from peat, were re-used from 1872 by the Brent Moor Clay Works for the transport and pressing of clay; this was extracted from pits near the sources of Bala Brook for a few years before this venture in its turn fell into disuse. There was talk of revival around 1903 but when this was done the Redlake-Iveybridge route was used, since the Redlake and Leflake pits were now the focus of attention.
A new company, calling itself the China Clay Corporation, was formed in 1905 with headquarters in Ivybridge. After a preliminary survey in 1909, the 3ft. gauge Redlake tramway was built in 1910 under the direction of Richard Hansford Worth. It was 7 1/2 miles long from a specially constructed transfer siding (Cantrell) near Bittaford to the Redlake clay works.
The tramway, whose rails were spiked directly to wooden sleepers, did not carry the clay extracted at the workings; this was suspended in water and piped down to the main line at the siding, where it was dried. The railway itself carried the staff in three rudimentary passenger vehicles; it also took coal up for the pumping engine, returning in the evening with sand for building and fertiliser. The line began with an inclined plane of over 350 ft. A shed for the locomotives operating the rest of the line, which rose steadily from 750 to over 1,450 ft., remains; one of the locomotives was the "C.A. HANSON" (named after a director of the company), a Kerr Stuart 0-4-2 side tank, which bore the brunt of the traffic until 1921 when, needing major repairs, it was scrapped. Its replacement, a steam tractor named after Lady Millaby-Deely,, outlasted the line and was sold on its closure. The original locomotive, a slightly smaller 0-4-2, also from Kerr Stuart and named "DARTMOOR", was unreliable and used mainly for shunting and standby duties.
The Redlake tramway was opened on 11 September 1911, but its trade deteriated during World War 1 and in 1921 it was purchased by the chief shareholder, Sir Henry Millaby-Deely, and renovated. Leftlake pit, an earlier working on the route of the tramway, was also worked from 1922. But the new firm failed suddenly in 1932, and the engines, rolling stock and rails were auctioned. The G.W.R. removed the sidings and signal box at Bittaford in the following year.
We stopped to measure what appeared to be a platform face at the site of some derelict filter beds, and then spent a happy half -hour under darkening skies
Now for the history bit .... In 1846 L.H. Davy and William Wilkin, of Totnes, obtained from Duchy of Cornwall the right of "cutting, manufacturing and vending peat and peat charcoal" in Redlake Mire, a rich source. They constructed the Zeal Tor tramroad in 1847 from Redlake to Shipley Bridge, with wooden rails bolted to granite blocks. The venture failed and the partnership was disolved by 1850, when Davy paid Wilkin £4,000 for "machinery, tramways, horses and carts".
The lower portions of the line and the derelict works at Shipley Bridge, originally used for the production of naphtha from peat, were re-used from 1872 by the Brent Moor Clay Works for the transport and pressing of clay; this was extracted from pits near the sources of Bala Brook for a few years before this venture in its turn fell into disuse. There was talk of revival around 1903 but when this was done the Redlake-Iveybridge route was used, since the Redlake and Leflake pits were now the focus of attention.
A new company, calling itself the China Clay Corporation, was formed in 1905 with headquarters in Ivybridge. After a preliminary survey in 1909, the 3ft. gauge Redlake tramway was built in 1910 under the direction of Richard Hansford Worth. It was 7 1/2 miles long from a specially constructed transfer siding (Cantrell) near Bittaford to the Redlake clay works.
The tramway, whose rails were spiked directly to wooden sleepers, did not carry the clay extracted at the workings; this was suspended in water and piped down to the main line at the siding, where it was dried. The railway itself carried the staff in three rudimentary passenger vehicles; it also took coal up for the pumping engine, returning in the evening with sand for building and fertiliser. The line began with an inclined plane of over 350 ft. A shed for the locomotives operating the rest of the line, which rose steadily from 750 to over 1,450 ft., remains; one of the locomotives was the "C.A. HANSON" (named after a director of the company), a Kerr Stuart 0-4-2 side tank, which bore the brunt of the traffic until 1921 when, needing major repairs, it was scrapped. Its replacement, a steam tractor named after Lady Millaby-Deely,, outlasted the line and was sold on its closure. The original locomotive, a slightly smaller 0-4-2, also from Kerr Stuart and named "DARTMOOR", was unreliable and used mainly for shunting and standby duties.
The Redlake tramway was opened on 11 September 1911, but its trade deteriated during World War 1 and in 1921 it was purchased by the chief shareholder, Sir Henry Millaby-Deely, and renovated. Leftlake pit, an earlier working on the route of the tramway, was also worked from 1922. But the new firm failed suddenly in 1932, and the engines, rolling stock and rails were auctioned. The G.W.R. removed the sidings and signal box at Bittaford in the following year.
We stopped to measure what appeared to be a platform face at the site of some derelict filter beds, and then spent a happy half -hour under darkening skies
walking round the site. By the time we returned to the car, it was snowing heavily, so we continued on up to Redlake. The army, for once in league with the Dartmoor Preservation Society, had unfortunately made a very thorough job of demolishing the surface buildings as part of a training exercise in about 1946. A fair amount of detective work is required to make sense of the layout, but after some manic digging by your scribe in an 18 ft. deep buried culvert, we managed to establish the line of the china clay slurry pipes out of the now flooded pit. The workings themselves were some 200 ft. below the present surface level. a chill and somewhat sinister lake filling the void. Even at the height of last summer's drought the surface level dropped only some 5 ft., so to dewater the pit would probably take years of pumping. Ted and I still entertain lunatic visions of finding "LADY MALLABY-DEELY" lurking on the bottom one day.
Mike South and Michael Ewans 1977
Mike South and Michael Ewans 1977