Savernake Station - Iconic and Protected
Landholder Helen Huggins recently signed an in-perpetuity Conservation Agreement with the BCT for her property, Savernake Station. Here she talks from the heart about the significance of protecting her land for conservation.
Conservation at Savernake Station
Landholder Helen Huggins is funded by the BCT under a Conservation Agreement to protect important areas of her land for conservation, in perpetuity.
Here she discusses what the property means to her, why she wants to protect it, and how the BCT has helped.
Savernake Station Kangaroos boxing
Two young roos having a boxing match, until their father comes along and sorts them out.
G526 G537 6CM4 ex Oaklands at Savernake
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Bullo River Station – Extending the AWC Model
Covering over 160,000 hectares in the north-west corner of the Northern Territory, Bullo River Station is both a working pastoral property and conservation sanctuary. The station is a birdwatchers’ paradise and is also home to a diverse range of wildlife including wallabies, crocodiles, reptiles, frogs and small mammals.
AWC has formed a partnership with the owners of Bullo River Station, Julian and Alexandra Burt to deliver conservation management on the unique conversation values. Bullo River is a commercial cattle operation that also operates a high quality eco-tourism venture. AWC & Bullo River will be working partnership to demonstrate how conservation and pastoral activities can co-exist.
© Brad Leue/AWC
Hungerford to Westbury (Heywood Road Junction) – Hastings DEMU cab ride – 24 March 2018
*The Sixty Marches* charter, Part 2:
Cab view from Hungerford to Westbury (Heywood Road Junction). Filmed from Hastings Diesels Limited’s preserved Hastings DEMU on Saturday 24 March 2018, during the outward leg of The Sixty Marches private charter.
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In this video we travel the 33 miles and 2 chains across part of Berkshire and most of Wiltshire, along first the Berks & Hants Extension and then the Stert & Westbury Railway, from Hungerford to Westbury (Heywood Road Junction). We climb alongside the Kennet & Avon Canal, past Bedwyn where the Network Turbo we’ve followed since Reading is turning back in the siding, to our respective summits at Savernake. There the canal passes beneath the railway in Bruce Tunnel at the site of Savernake Low Level station – and the remains of the Midland & South Western Junction Railway (M&SWJR which ran from Andover to Swindon) cross over us shortly beforehand and run alongside. We then descend, reaching our train’s maximum permitted speed of 75mph as we run through Pewsey station, before turning in to the Woodborough Down Goods Loop to allow faster trains to pass. Under way once more, our line descends and curves left after the site of Patney & Chirton station as we follow the ‘new’ 1900-built Stert & Westbury cut-off route avoiding the twisty route via Devizes whose closed remains climb up beside us. On approach to Westbury, we turn right at Heywood Road Junction in order to head for Westbury station rather than the avoiding line; as the video fades, we are signalled to the right towards Bath.
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Did you know? Crofton Pumping Station was restored and reopened in 1970 by Sir John Betjeman.
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During the weekend when this was filmed, the Great Western route via Didcot was completely closed for electrification work, with many diverted services vying for pathways over the “Berks & Hants” route.
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This outing began at Hastings and ran via Tonbridge, Redhill and Guildford to Reading, then via Hungerford (part 1) to the Westbury area (this video) where we turned right at Heywood Road Junction, through Bradford-on-Avon and Bath to Filton, through the Severn Tunnel into Wales, to Maindee Junction (Newport) for the line through Abergavenny to Hereford; the return journey was via the same route. We intend to produce video footage of the entirety of the rest of this journey to Hereford.
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Video footage is from an unattended unmonitored forward-facing cab-camera in motor coach 60116 Mountfield. The soundtrack mostly comes from the camera in the leading cab; however, on one occasion there was audio which we are not permitted to publish, in this case the soundtrack you hear on this video is instead an accurately synchronised audio recording made in the rear cab.
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0:49 – HUNGERFORD station
4:45 – Froxfield Bottom Lock (no. 70)
9:19 – Bedwyn station
10:40 – Crofton Lock Flight and pumping station
11:54 – Site of Grafton Curve Junction (M&SWJR)
12:32 – Site of Wolfhall Junction (M&SWJR)
13:09 – Savernake summits and disused station
14:29 – Burbage Wharf disused station
15:59 – Wootton Rivers Halt disused station
17:58 – Pewsey station
19:22 – Manningford Halt disused station
22:30 – Woodborough disused station and Down Goods Loop
28:00 – departure from Woodborough loop
31:46 – Patney and Chirton disused station
32:58 – Divergence of former line to Devizes
36:57 – Lavington disused station
40:32 – Edington and Bratton disused station
44:51 – Westbury HEYWOOD ROAD JUNCTION
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Video, soundtrack and captions © Copyright 2018–2019 Hastings Diesels Limited.
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Travel on our train! See our Railtours webpage at:
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Equipment: video by GoPro Hero3+ camera with focus modification, suction-mount and extra batteries; back-cab audio by Tascam DR-44WL courtesy of ; video production by Da Vinci Resolve (free).
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Here are the actual timings for the day’s outing:
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Here are annotated extracts from the Network Rail Section Appendix:
Outward:
Our return journey’s route was changed just a day or two before the trip because of a bridge strike — from Hereford to Filton Abbey Wood we were supposed to have been routed via Worcester and the Gloucester area to Yate and Bristol Parkway, but as things turned out we had to retrace our steps via the Severn Tunnel. The following shows our original route.
Return:
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Midnight in Billa Kalina over 5 months
A compilation of all of the midnight photos taken at the Billa Kalina DFN camera site. - Billa Kalina is in South Australia.
By Hadrien Devillepoix
Over the 5 months you can see the evolution of the star background as the Earth travels around the sun, the rapid movement of the Moon (and see how bright it is!) and the movement of Jupiter (see the bright blob in the lower part of the image which is visible from about a third of the way into the video through until the end).
Oaklands Yr5 School Camp 2010 Walk in Orienteering Mono-Rail
Created on March 27, 2010 using FlipShare.
Agronomist Greg Rummery wants a conservation outcome
The Rummerys have been offered a conservation agreement with the BCT after their successful application in the BCT’s North West Plains conservation tender. Their property will now be protected in perpetuity (forever), and the Rummerys will receive annual payments for their conservation efforts. As the agreement is on the title of the property, even if the property changes ownership, its protection is maintained. Greg thinks a conservation outcome is the best outcome for his piece of land.
Rare! DL50 8131=2323 Cullarin & Gunning 8-6-2019
In a very rare movement for the NSW main south line, a DL led a Pacific National wheat train southbound ex-Goulburn to Harden.
Nr100 & G526 Pacific National Freight Train
G511+RL303 - 1CM4 - Oaklands(NSW) line
Limited to a track speed of 30kph on the branch line, Qube grain train 1CM4 passes through Rennie, NSW enroute to Oaklands to collect a load of grain for export.
November 2016
A2 986 & K190 at Malmsbury -16th Sept 2017
Diamond Valley Railway private charter hauled by A2 986 and K190 at Malmsbury on 16th Sept 2017.
Trust for Nature in partnership with North East Catchment Management Authority.
Trust for Nature is a not-for-profit organisation that works with landholders to facilitate permanent protection of private land for conservation.
El Zorro and V/line on the North East: Australian Trains
A short video on the North East mainline, featuring an up standard gauge El Zorro grain train arriving at Benalla on the Oaklands branch, followed by a down V/Line Albury pass on the mainline and then the El Zorro grain powering up the rise out of Violet Town.
The El Zorro grain is hauled by an interesting lashup consisting of former V/Line locomotive G532, former NSWGR locomotive 442s2 and two former Kowloon-Canton Railway 51 class locomotives, now operated by CFCLA as their TL class.
© 2012 James Brook
Wild camping in the forest
It's Friday 7th June and I've been planning my escape into to the woods all week, my bag is packed and I'm ready to go. I get Dropped off at the station by my partner and jump on the next train and I'm on my way.
I arrive in the forest and head off to an area I picked as a possible place to camp for the night. On arrival I scout around and find the best pitch, get set up have dinner before the on-slort of mosquitoes. May be this is not such a good spot after all.......
I climb into the tent to escape being eaten alive and open a small bottle of home made sloe voka I've brought with me and settle down for the night.
After a good nights sleep I wake to clear blue sky, I get brakefast on the go pack up and then prepare to set off for the day.
I'm off and walking but my plans are then interupted by a call from work, I have to make a detor and head home and prepare for a night at work trying to resolve an issue before the next day.
So thats thats rest of the day / weekend ruined due to work thank you verry much.
Conservation Tenders with the BCT
Are you are a landholder in NSW who wants to protect the biodiversity on your property and get funding in return? Learn about the Biodiversity Conservation Trust's Conservation Agreements.
The John Dugal Travel Show - Eps 1: The Meetup Traveller
John Dugal takes a spontaneous trip to Amsterdam only using meetup.com. Somehow he ends up at Roodharigendag (Redhead Day) the worlds biggest redhead celebration. Things start to get a little bit freaky!
Spheres, June 25, 2010 @ 1 PM, #1, Toronto.wmv
Please view this video in 480p resolution for best clarity and quality. Look for a superfast UFO (sphere) in the right hand bottom of the frame in the first segment of the video. In the second portion look for 1. a flattened-out sphere that looks like a transparant flying saucer, 2. a sphere that loses its camouflage for a few tenths of a second (a few times) and shows what was inside of it (a number of dissimilar physical objects - UFOs).
35028 Clan line and the VSOE + 67005
Wednesday the 24th of October 2012. BR(s) MN Class 4-6-2 No 35028 Clan Line and 67005 Queen's Messenger on the VSOE Special (1Z91 Victoria—Bristol Temple Meads—Victoria) It was a damp misty day at Wandsworth Town station Clan Line was making good time she arrived at 09:01. 3 minutes early she sounded in top form I got a whistle and wave from the foot plate crew.