Wye
This is an attractive
rural station, which retains much of its bygone charm. The site has managed to
avoid drastic rationalisation and modernisation – until fairly recently, not
only did the station boast 19th Century buildings and manually-operated level
crossing gates, but also comprised a working signal box and a full complement of
semaphores. Wye came into use on 6th February 1846, opening with the Ashford to
Canterbury section of the SER’s branch to Margate. The company received Royal
Assent for its Thanet via Canterbury line on 23rd May 1844, and secured £400,000
in shares and £133,000 in the form of loans to cover the route’s construction
cost. In its fledgling years, the SER provided very little in the form of
station infrastructure, and being one of the company’s earlier openings, Wye
probably consisted of little more than platform surfaces. These in turn would
merely have been a series of wooden planks, simply bridging the gap between
ground level and the floor of the carriages. A more permanent-looking affair
here probably evolved over the subsequent ten years, the station developing into
a somewhat untypical creation of the SER.
Two platforms eventually came into use, lined at their rears with iron railings,
and contrary to SER practice at the time – particularly at rural sites – these
were not staggered. The main building was a somewhat grand affair, positioned at
the southern end of the ‘’up’’ platform. It was two-storeys high, built in red
brick, lined at the edges with stone, and demonstrated a series of gabled
pitched roof sections. Of those stations upon the Ashford to Minster (exclusive)
section of line, only Wye and Grove Ferry boasted such elaborate structures,
each being a slight variation of a standard design. A scaled-down version of
this same architecture was used for Crossing Keepers’ houses at both of these
sites, and at the latterly opened Chartham. The level crossing at Wye was
located immediately south of the platforms, and was flanked to the west and east
by the aforementioned Keeper’s house and a gate box respectively. With reference
to the latter, this was a diminutive single-storey clapboard affair, comprising
a slated pitched roof and the SER’s trademark sash-style windows. It is likely
that this came into use during the mid-1860s as the station’s first signal box,
at a time when signalling nationwide was still in its primitive stages. More
clapboard was also to be seen upon the ‘’down’’ platform, where an attractive
30-foot-long waiting shelter, complete with wrap-a-round sides, windows, and a
backward-sloping roof, was provided.
In the latter part of the 19th Century, the SER hired contractors Saxby & Farmer
to re-signal a number of its station sites. This was at a time when
re-signalling projects had become so vast in number, the SER was unable to
undertake all the work in-house. Saxby & Farmer modernised signalling
arrangements at Grove Ferry, Sturry, Chilham, and Wye stations, and this
probably coincided with the company’s partial re-signalling of the SER’s Ashford
to Hastings line, in 1893. Signal box design along both routes was standardised
on an attractive gabled-roof structure, comprising a brick base and timber upper
half. The cabin at Wye was built at the northern end of the ‘’up’’ platform,
providing the signalman with a clear view over the layout’s sidings. With
reference to the latter, goods facilities eventually comprised four lengthy
sidings to the north of the platforms, in addition to a northward-facing dock
line used for loading cattle into wagons. One of the four sidings terminated
behind the ‘’down’’ platform, serving a goods crane and a pair of coal staithes
to its immediate west.
Before moving on, it is worth mentioning, if only briefly, Wye Racecourse. This
had come into being, initially for flat racing, in 1849, the first meeting being
held on 29th May of that year. Steeplechases were held in September, January,
March, and May, and the oval course, less than a mile in length, was located 600
yards south of the station. At SER site, a third platform surface, dedicated to
race day passenger traffic, was provided, immediately south of the level
crossing. The racecourse track was to be found on the ‘’down’’ (west) side of
the line, but conversely, the racecourse platform was built on the ‘’up’’ side
of the line. Beside the ‘’down’’ track existed the Crossing Keeper’s residence
and a ‘’home’’ semaphore, whilst the land alongside the ‘’up’’ track was without
any significant obstacle, perhaps explaining the location choice of the third
platform.
The Southern Railway installed its trademark swan-neck lampposts, complete with
‘’Target’’ name signs, but little else changed at Wye under this company’s
reign. It was the British Railways era, particularly the period of the Kent
Coast Electrification Scheme, which brought moderate infrastructure alterations.
These began in 1960, with the installation of a 50-foot-span prefabricated
concrete footbridge – a product of Exmouth Junction Works – between the
platforms. This required the fitting of a banner repeater signal to the ‘’up’’
platform, now that the footbridge obscured the starter semaphore at the southern
end of the layout. The platform surfaces themselves were re-faced with the same
material, and the wrought-iron swan neck gasp lamps gave way to electric
lighting, supported upon concrete bracket posts and demonstrating hexagonal
lampshades. A regular electric service along the route commenced on 9th October
1961, but the full accelerated timetable on the ex-SER trunk line did not come
into use until 18th June of the following year. Modernised colour light
installations, controlled from a series of ‘’power boxes’’, came into use during
the electrification programme on both Chatham and Tonbridge main lines, but the
mechanical signalling of the Ashford to Hastings, Ashford to Minster, and
Faversham to Dover Priory routes remained unaltered. Thus, Wye retained its
Saxby & Farmer cabin, which continued to control a splendid array of semaphores,
in addition to the sidings of the goods yard; the latter were formally
decommissioned on 10th June 1963.
In about 1990, the distinctive concrete bracket lampposts were replaced by
modern metal variants, and digital clock displays appeared on the platforms. At
this time, traditional level crossing gates remained and these continued to be
worked by hand. A lever frame was present at the southern end of the ‘’down’’
platform, which was used by the Crossing Keeper to release the gates. Semaphore
signals were a feature of the station right up until the end of 2003: on 15th
December of that year, colour aspect lights were commissioned in the vicinity,
controlled from the ‘’Canterbury Wye Area Control Centre’’. The latter can be
found at Canterbury West, in a modern portacabin affair located next to the
gantry of the 1928-erected signal box. The Saxby & Farmer cabin at Wye was
switched out of use, whilst the SER-designed signal box at Chartham was
relegated to a gate box.
Layout after Saxby & Farmer re-signalling of 1893. Drawn by David Glasspool
20th April 2007
An Ashford-bound view from the ''down'' platform shows the prefabricated concrete footbridge of 1960 and
the architectural splendour of the main ''up'' side building. In the background, beyond the level crossing, can
be seen the overgrown site of the former racecourse platform. This was a shallow affair, more akin to the
ground-level platforms found on the Continent. The last race at Wye took place on 2nd May 1974. David Glasspool
20th April 2007
A second southward view, this time from the footbridge, shows the delightful ''down'' side clapboard waiting
shelter. Between this and the level crossing, at the bottom of the platform ramp, is the lever frame which is
used to release the crossing gates. Just to the right of the gates is the whitewashed Crossing Keeper's house.
David Glasspool
20th April 2007
After the change over to colour aspect lights, the windows of the vintage Saxby & Farmer signal box were
fitted with grills, as a precaution against vandalism. Note the gap in platform side, from where point rodding
once emerged for a trailing crossover (see track plan). David Glasspool
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