Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway

Off_it

No, not another trainspotters thread - well, not really.

I've got a couple of days off this next week for kids holidays and was thinking about taking the family down to Hythe and going on the little train along through the Romney Marsh, just for a day out.

I remember going on it when I was a kid but can't really remember too much more, i.e. whether it was good or not.

Anyone been on there lately? If so, any recommendations as to where to stop off? Dungeness is a bit desolate from memory - unless you're into power stations and glowing like a Ready-Brek man! - and it says something on their website about a model railway at New Romney, which I'm sure my boy would like.

Cheers

nolly

hythe is quite nice mate. im go all hallows sometimes but thats has been dampened when i found out they have a power station

SoundAsa£

Get off the train at Dunguness and have fish and chip at The Pilot.....fantastic....quite the best you'll ever have.

Curb_It

JT lives in Hythe so does Dowman. so they can fill you in.

We spend a lot of weekends down there and took ians daughter on it last year.

Dymchurch is a dump but the girls loved the all the amusements so it does kill a good few hours if you want to get off there.

SoundAsa£

[cite]Posted By: nolly[/cite]hythe is quite nice mate. im go all hallows sometimes but thats has been dampened when i found out they have a power station

nolly...please please please use a capital letter just once in awhile...make an old man happy will ya!

BDL

Climb the lighthouse at Dungerness

ME14addick

There is a new train halt between Dymchurch and New Romney to allow passengers to visit the Romney Marsh Visitor Centre, which is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust.

aliwibble

Off_it, if you do go, can you let us know if there's any kind of information about the history of the railway, especially during WW2? There's a bit of family folklore I'd like to check up on.

superclive

Go for it, I loved it there when I was a kid every summer at the caravan in dymchurch. I went to littlestone and had a couple of nights in a b and b last summer it was great, the pilot is great for fish and chips and we had a nice dinner in another pub right by the power station, can't remeber what it was called but it was nice. Phil daniels ended up there in eastenders once!

Off_it

[cite]Posted By: aliwibble[/cite]Off_it, if you do go, can you let us know if there's any kind of information about the history of the railway, especially during WW2? There's a bit of family folklore I'd like to check up on.

Have a look on their website - it says something about it being taken over by the army and them running some sort of narrow-gauge armoured train up and down the line. Bet that sh*t Fritz up - the thought of coming face to face with a midget armoured train!

mid_life_crisis

Lovely day out. The train museum/model exhibition is at New Romney station (where it's normally easy to park)and my six year old son loved it. (so did I!)
Dungeness has a stark beauty & the pub is a bonus. Dymchurch has the amusements as mentioned. Hythe is decent.
Always brings back happy memories of family holidays at Littlestone when we were kids.
If the weather's fine, you're sure to have a good day.

JT

I wouldn't go that far....


I live 2 mins from the railway but i couldn't really comment on what it's like anymore.

Dymchurch isn't the same as it once was imo, although Dowman may disagree. Bit of a ghost town at times.Still got all the tacky amusements & few dodgy rides. Kids would like the sandy beach though.

Dungeness is just pointless for a visit...

New Romney has the biggest 'station' i think.

I'd advise do the train, but do lunch and other things in Hythe. The Red Lion [1 minute drive from light railway] does superb food and is a large family friendly pub with garden. Just been done up.

Off_it

Cheers all.

Looks like we're gonna head down there in the morning - unless it's pishing down!

JT

We have our own climate in Hythe, it's bizarre.

Elthamaddick

always liked Hythe, stayed at the Hythe Imperial a couple of times and played the golf course.

aliwibble

Ta, Off_it. My Grandad was stationed there for a while during the war, and allegedly the big gun on the armoured train only had one bullet, which didn't fit properly anyway. Having had a quick look on their website, they are having a 1940s weekend on the 8th-9th May, so I think I'll pass the details on to Mum and Dad, to see if they fancy taking him down there for the day.

SoundAsa£

[cite]Posted By: JT[/cite]



I wouldn't go that far....


I live 2 mins from the railway but i couldn't really comment on what it's like anymore.

Dymchurch isn't the same as it once was imo, although Dowman may disagree. Bit of a ghost town at times.Still got all the tacky amusements & few dodgy rides. Kids would like the sandy beach though.

Dungeness is just pointless for a visit...

New Romney has the biggest 'station' i think.

I'd advise do the train, but do lunch and other things in Hythe. The Red Lion [1 minute drive from light railway] does superb food and is a large family friendly pub with garden. Just been done up.

[cite]Posted By: JT[/cite]



I wouldn't go that far....


I live 2 mins from the railway but i couldn't really comment on what it's like anymore.

Dymchurch isn't the same as it once was imo, although Dowman may disagree. Bit of a ghost town at times.Still got all the tacky amusements & few dodgy rides. Kids would like the sandy beach though.

Dungeness is just pointless for a visit...

New Romney has the biggest 'station' i think.

I'd advise do the train, but do lunch and other things in Hythe. The Red Lion [1 minute drive from light railway] does superb food and is a large family friendly pub with garden. Just been done up.

[cite]Posted By: JT[/cite]



I wouldn't go that far....


I live 2 mins from the railway but i couldn't really comment on what it's like anymore.

Dymchurch isn't the same as it once was imo, although Dowman may disagree. Bit of a ghost town at times.Still got all the tacky amusements & few dodgy rides. Kids would like the sandy beach though.

Dungeness is just pointless for a visit...

New Romney has the biggest 'station' i think.

I'd advise do the train, but do lunch and other things in Hythe. The Red Lion [1 minute drive from light railway] does superb food and is a large family friendly pub with garden. Just been done up.

Dungeoness is in fact a desert...yes honestly, it's genuinely designated as a desert.
It's not pointless because it has The Pilot which has just about the best fish and chips in The UK....well certainly in the South of England anyway.

Steve Dowman

the Pilot fish and chips are excellent, but so is the Torbay in Hythe High Street and about half the price. Dungeness definitely has a stark beauty about it, well worth a visit and as mentioned it is technically a desert, has the largets expanse of shingle (stones to you and me) anywhere in Europe, though I prefer sand, always seems really windy there so may be cold, though it definitely has its own micro climate in the area. St Marys Bay has a nice beach but not much else. New Romney is a nice little place, has a decent pub (the Ship Hotel) for a good meal, or as mentioned fish and chips in the other mentioned places. Htyhe also has the canal, which is more like a picturesque river really, next to the railway, which has some picnic benches alongside, if you fancy a good walk, you can go about 3 miles to Seabrook or 6 miles to Port lympne (where the wild animal park is worth a visit as well). As JT said, Dymchurch is tacky, but keeps the kids amused. As with any tourist attractions, the railway is not cheap, nor is the Zoo/animal park, but great for keeping the kids amused. not much to see in Greatstone or Littlestone, I would stick to Hythe, Dymchurch, New Romney and Dungeness.

LargeAddick

I genuinely like Dungerness, I don't know what it is, maybe it's the desolation, but I like it there. When the rellies were over from Oz we took the train there, had Fish and Chips and a drink or two, wandered the beach a bit and had a good day out despite it being wet and windy. Me squeezing on the train was quite amusing too !!!

Steve Dowman

i like Dungeness too, like you say, hard to know why as it is desolate. you can see why there are so many artist huts down there as the light seems different, must be the lack of building/hills, but it always seems so bright, even on a dark day, must be the plutonium in the air.

northstandsteve

if your going to do the zoo thing howletts is better than port lymphe which is fecking hilly.

guinnessaddick

Anyone remember when the cottage by the beach was being sold.

guinnessaddick

This is the picture that was used.

Off_it

Cracking day out - would recommend it to anyone.

Hardly any traffic down the M20, got to Hythe with 45 mins to spare for the next train so had a little stroll around the park opposite alongside the canal (built during the Napoleonic war as a defence against potential invasion, apparently - you learn something every day!), got the little chuffer all the way down to Dungeness, had a stroll about there and a bit of grub in the station caff (Pilot was too far to walk back to - apparently it used to have it's own stop there, but not any more), got the train back to New Romney, little wander about there, visited the museum (if you like train sets - which, as Charlton fans, I'm guessing you all do - then this one is pretty impressive!), kids had a play in the playground, then the chuff back to Hythe.

Nice weather all day - good stuff!

Goonerhater

thats some f**kin green house behind the cottage in the big pic !!! bet they get big old toms out of that and they glow in the dark !

northstandsteve

[cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]Cracking day out - would recommend it to anyone.

Hardly any traffic down the M20, got to Hythe with 45 mins to spare for the next train so had a little stroll around the park opposite alongside the canal (built during the Napoleonic war as a defence against potential invasion, apparently - you learn something every day!), got the little chuffer all the way down to Dungeness, had a stroll about there and a bit of grub in the station caff (Pilot was too far to walk back to - apparently it used to have it's own stop there, but not any more), got the train back to New Romney, little wander about there, visited the museum (if you like train sets - which, as Charlton fans, I'm guessing you all do - then this one is pretty impressive!), kids had a play in the playground, then the chuff back to Hythe.

Nice weather all day - good stuff!

and managed to miss the amusements at dymchurch, well done ,my kids fleece me in there every year.

BDL

Did you go up the lighthouse?? My eldest went outside at the top, no fear that one.

Off_it

Steve - 35 sheets for the train (which actually wasn't bad value), 20 sheets in the caff and 25 in the gift shop - I'd say I got fleeced alright. Oh yeah, and petrol!

Didn't go up the lighthouse BDL - was a bit on the windy side for all that caper. (Plus I'm a lazy fat **** and there's no lift!)

superclive

I love this thread! One of my fav parts of the world. As soon as I passed my driving test I just kep going down there! Going down for a weekend this summer too with the family and our freinds. My mate took us to a cracking pub in the marshes, little church opposite and a plaque to noel coward in there.

Steve Dowman

Some lovely village pubs round here, could be burmarsh or woodchurch you went to. The down side of living here is the distance to work in london, the upside is good schools, hardly any crime, cheap property with land for the price of a london terrace. I have a long commute, an hour and a half on the train to charing cross, but at this time of year I walk to the station, which takes me along the canal and up the hill to sandling station, with views along the bay right down as far as dungeness and the commute is worth it.

JT

Fair play walking that Steve!