EPW000152 ENGLAND (1920). North Salts, Rye, 1920

North Salts, showing Spring Place and Waterloo Place with Mounsfield and Grove House in the background

OK the good folk at Britain from above are not going to like this but the image is backwards! But the good news is I found it!

I would say this is a northern scene, probably Lancashire or Yorkshire, around Preston or the like. With the mix of stone terraces and Edwardian suburban villas

There are several things that do not add up about the Hythe - Sandgate suggestion for this picture. Firstly the only section of railway that ran beside the Royal Military Canal was the narrow gauge (15 inches) Romney Hythe and Dymchurch, open in 1927, so is not possible on grounds of date.



Even if it was the right railway the buildings in the background are all wrong when considered against the location - map evidence from Hythe or by their building style. It is hard to identify if the buildings are brick or stone, but I tend towards them especially the terraces, being stone. In either case they look more like something characteristic of Derbyshire or Yorkshire rather than south-east England.



I agree with Class31 about the railway on an embankment across a floodplain. The question about the water in front of the railway being a canal is settled by the telegraph pole that is situated in the water at the foot of the picture. It is clearly flood water.



It would appear there are a number of different types of fencing in association with the railway. Immediately at the front of the embankment there appears to be a thorn hedge, possibly growing around a post and rail fence that becomes visible at the lower left-hand corner. The white gate stands in a post and wire fence. That this fence and the one across the lower right-hand corner of the picture are parallel to the railway might suggest they are related to its boundary marking in someway. The distances from the tracks might suggest land being taken in for a widening of the line…. a bit unusual by 1920 as most of the big quadrupling projects had taken place by then. A number of railways used hedges as boundaries at various locations - the London and South Western and Midland to name just two. However there is nothing here that is distinctively from just one company.



The track is in good condition. The spacing of the sleepers (closer under the rail joints) suggests rails of 30ft in length carried on twelve sleepers. This might point to the Midland as the LSWR had eleven sleepers under a 30ft length of rail.



A number of the houses appear to have external steps to back doors on the first floor (street level) as well as doors to cellars. The washing lines seem to extend into the neighbouring field…. perhaps by agreement with the landlord/landowner.



To the left-hand side of the picture is a structure that appears to be a disused railway carriage, with four compartment doors (black windows) with ventilators and to each side windows with the blinds drawn down (white). It is hard to tell, but it could be an old Midland vehicle still in Crimson Lake (dark red).



None of the above brings me any closer to knowing where the scene is located. Perhaps the number sequence is a red herring on this identification?

Looking at the picture before and after (EPW000151 & EPW000153), this is very likely to be between Dover and Hythe along the coast.

The water in the front looks like the stream between Hythe and Sandgate, but there isn't a railway there today.

It is surprising that this photo remains unidentified. There are so many of us railway enthusiasts that we should have got this one by now. We have a straight double track standard gauge railway line on a slight embankment with what look like flooded borrow pits on either side of the line. Can anyone identify the lineside fencing as being that associated with a particular railway company.

I suspect that this may be a coastal location with little to base this upon.

The high quality villas may be built to take advantage of a view and are typical of seaside locations. The terraced housing is utilising the flat ground on the edge of the flood plain and avoiding the hills.

Where is the photo taken? I've no idea.