TWEEDSMUIR PARISH HISTORY.
Talla Railway
Sheep Crossing
One feature of the railway is that due to the large number of sheep in the Upper Tweed valley it was necessary to provide a sheep crossing at periodic intervals. Another reason was probably the dissatisfaction by landowners by the perceived lack of stock crossings on the LMS Symington-Broughton-Peeblesrailway project. Hence when the Edinburgh Water Works project came along the requirement for more stock crossings for this new project was considered. This was done by either over-passes or under-passes depending on the terrain. Over cuttings a simple concrete/timber bridge was constructing. Sometimes it was necessary to construct a simple turf ramp (not too elaborate as these were hill sheep) parallel with the track at one side using a convenient bank at the other with a concrete/timber bridge. The underpasses varied in height depending on the height of the available embankment.
Remains of underpass sheep crossing at Glenveg looking east. Notice the metal straining posts from the original fence line in front of the pass.
Remains of an overpass near Victoria Lodge. The bank on the far side is natural, on the near side is a turf ramp. The metal straining posts indicate where the concrete bridge was located.
The railway was fenced over its entire length. And because of the number of sheep crossings there was a considerable number of interruptions in the fence lines. These metal straining posts were devised and a bit over engineered, of very high quality and very durable! The footings are splayed out and embedded in concrete and very difficult to remove hence the reason why they are still here 100 years on. The wire used for the fences was not solid but stranded ie wire rope. Remnants of the wires are still wrapped around the tensioning bolts. Some of the straining posts have been incorporated into present day fences and at one location some wire rope is still in use!
Many of the sheep crossings were destroyed by commandoes during WW2 during concrete demolition exercises. Apparantly the hard Victorian concrete was similar to that used for defensive purposes ie pill-boxes etc.
There is a complete underpass about one hundred yards north of the Crook Inn - this is unusually circular and made of concrete. A feature of this crossing is that the sheep shared the crossing with the Glenmore Burn and that there is a metal railing separating the burn from the sheep walk. This would appear to be a neat example of Victorian engineering detail but was it also the boundary on the west side of the A701 between the parishes of Tweedsmuir and Drumelzier. The parish boundary on the east of the A702 was the Polmood Burn. More about this on the Origins of Crook page.
Near Mossfennan there is the remains of a rather spectacular overhead sheep crossing comprising of six concrete piers and long ramps at right angles to the railway track.
The photograph below taken in 1905 shows the complete sheep crossing. What was the purpose for this grandeur. Was there a secondary use for the crossing such as the centre piece for an opening ceremony of some sort?
