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Ouse Valley Railway

Rail transport in East SussexRail transport in West SussexRailways authorised but not built in the United KingdomUse British English from July 2015
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The Ouse Valley Railway was to have been part of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR). It was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1864 and construction of the 20 miles (32 km) long line was begun, but not completed. It never opened to traffic.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ouse Valley Railway (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Ouse Valley Railway
Haywards Heath Road, Mid Sussex

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N 51.033 ° E -0.114 °
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Ouse Valley Viaduct

Haywards Heath Road
RH17 6QP Mid Sussex
England, United Kingdom
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Ouse Valley Viaduct
Ouse Valley Viaduct

The Ouse Valley Viaduct (or the Balcombe Viaduct) carries the London-Brighton Railway Line over the River Ouse in Sussex. It is located to the north of Haywards Heath and the south of Balcombe. Known for its ornate design, the structure has been described as "probably the most elegant viaduct in Britain."Construction of the Ouse Valley Viaduct commenced by the London & Brighton Railway company in 1839. It was designed by the principal engineer for the line, John Urpeth Rastrick, in association with the architect of the London to Brighton railway, David Mocatta. The viaduct is 96 feet (29 m) high and is carried on 37 semi-circular arches, each of 30 feet (9.1 m), surmounted by balustrades, spanning a total length of 1,480 feet (450 m). Each pier contains a jack arch with a semi-circular soffit, which had the benefit of reducing the number of bricks required. The roughly 11 million bricks required for its construction were mostly shipped up the River Ouse (via Newhaven and Lewes) from the Netherlands. On 12 July 1841, the viaduct was officially opened to train services, although the structure was not fully completed until the following year. Despite the structure's fine design, materials, and architectural features, the viaduct has had an expensive and problematic history. The first major restoration work occurred during the 1890s, during which sections of the original brickwork were entirely replaced in the belief that this would increase the structure's strength. However, the viaduct suffered considerable decay during the majority of the twentieth century. By May 1983, the viaduct had been recognised as a Grade II* listed structure. Between March 1996 and September 1999, the viaduct was subject to an extensive restoration by national rail infrastructure owner Railtrack; this work was part-funded by the Railway Heritage Trust, English Heritage and West Sussex County Council.

Balcombe Place
Balcombe Place

Balcombe Place is a Grade II* Listed Building, built in 1856 in West Sussex, with a south view across the Ouse Valley. It now forms part of The Balcombe Estate.The architect was Henry Clutton. It was built for John Alexander Hankey, whose family had been living at Naylands, a house about 1 mile away. The Gentleman's Magazine in 1864 refers to a meeting where “members adjourned to Balcombe Place, a residence recently erected by John Alexander Hankey, Esq., who hospitably entertained them”.The main living area was connected to the servant's areas, a rear courtyard and stables. A photograph in 1897 shows a tall, large glass and wood conservatory on the east side. By the 1960s, that structure had fallen in disrepair and had either been demolished on purpose, or had simply fallen down. Images in 2013 suggested it was overgrown, but still protected by walls on each side, and probably still growing plants from earlier plantings. Descriptions refer to the Denmans 'lawn tennis' courts, but their location is unclear. No courts are shown in the 1910 OS map, a (hard) court existed in the 1960s and appears in the 1974 OS map. At 2013, the OS (and Google Earth) show the hard court to have gone.Early maps show wooded areas around the main building, but with a generally unobstructed view to the south. By the 1960s, some trees to the east and south had been removed. This may have occurred during the war years, or when the land was used as a school, but may have been arranged beforehand by Lady Denman, who recorded 'bonfires' as a hobby and was once described as 'indiscriminately lopping' trees.

Ardingly College
Ardingly College

Ardingly College () is a fee-charging boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located near Ardingly, West Sussex, England. The school is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and of the Woodard Corporation of independent schools and as such has a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition. It was originally a boarding school for boys, and became fully co-educational in 1982. For the academic year 2015/16, Ardingly charged day pupils up to £7,710 per term, making it the 29th most expensive Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) day school. It is a public school in the British sense of the term (i.e. fee-paying). As of 2017, there are about 416 pupils enrolled at the school, aged between 13 and 18. Additionally, there are about 520 pupils aged from 2½ to 13 at the Ardingly College Preparatory school, with which it shares some grounds.The school is regularly positioned amongst the top ten International Baccalaureate (IB) schools in the United Kingdom, and has won the Royal Society of Chemistry Top of the Bench Competition, at the time captained by Thomas Hindle.Ardingly played an important role in providing infantry throughout the 20th century conflicts, with around 1,200 Ardingly pupils going on to fight in the First World War, 146 of whom were killed, along with two former members of staff. In addition, 88 Old Ardinians died in World War II; their names being recorded in a book of remembrance.The school's former pupils – or "Old Ardinians" – include four Conservative MPs; satirist Ian Hislop; actor Terry-Thomas; Formula One World Champion Mike Hawthorn; author Neil Gaiman; Interscan inventor John Paul Wild; and Allard Motor Company founder Sydney Allard.