THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

LOOKING ACROSS TO DEVIL'S DYKE

Copyright Valerie Martin 2005

Cissbury Ring and is owned by the National Trust and so is Devils Dyke to the east of Findon.  The Dyke covers some 200 acres of downland scarp, deeply incised by a dry valley.  It also has an element of scrubland  and a lower wood fringe, there's a large car park and an restaurant stands inside an Iron Age Hill Fort. The nearby Devil's Dyke is the deepest dry valley in the world.  The unique features developed after the last Ice Age when the melting water eroded the chalk downland to the permafrost layer. When the ground thawed the water flowed through the chalk, leaving a dry valley.

In Victorian times there was a special railway from nearby Brighton to take sightseers to the foot of the hill, from where they could get another steep railway up to the fort.  The first train ran on the line in August 1887.   The service ceased operation on 31st December 1938.

On one occasion the first train was returning to Brighton from the Dyke Station and met a horse on the track.   The train blasted a whistle once or twice but there was no response from the beast.  The fireman waved his arms frantically and shouted but all the commotion had no effect at all on the horse.    In the end the train had to proceed slowly at a snail's pace on its way with the in front horse leading the way all the way to Brighton.

It is said that up to 30,000 people visited a DAY in its heyday. Attractions also included two bandstands, an observatory, a camera obscura, fairground rides, a switchback railway, and an aerial cableway railway across the combe.   This cable railway was designed by William Brewer and built in 1894 and consisted of 1,200 feet of cable suspended 230 feet above the valley floor from cast metal supports.  Two cars each carried four passengers and were pulled across by a cable worked by an oil engine.   The service first operation on 13th October 1894 and finally ceased operation c. 1909. 

Of course, there is another story of how Devil's Dyke came about.  This is that the devil wanted to flood the Weald and dug a trench but he was stopped by St. Cuthman before he got through to the sea and the flood could take place.

In December 2007, I received this most fascinating photograph from Kathy Merritt with an email saying...."I found this old picture in my father's old belongings.

When I enlarged the photo, I seen the words "Devil's Dyke" on the side of the wagon.

Can you give me any futher information. I'm very curious about the time frame of the photo and Devil's Dyke.  Kathy Merritt".

As Devil's Dyke was a pleasure ground years ago, I can only guess that the early photograph is of a day's outing with everyone dressed in their Sunday best.  

I suddenly thought that I could ask Rick Shaw to help me out if he could on the subject of the Devil's Dyke day trippers.... and he soon replied to my SOS.....

"Hello Valerie, What a lovely old photograph. I would estimate the date to be 1890 to 1900.

The Devils Dyke started to become very popular around about this time when the estate was bought by a Mr Hubbard. Hubbard was an entrepreneur who realised that the Dyke had a lot of potential as visitor centre. He was responsible for introducing all manner of visitors attractions to the Devil's Dyke and its popularity quickly increased.

Some of the attractions included A Dyke Railway, a funicular (steep grade railway) on the north face, an aerial cableway across the chasm, a funfair, a switchback railway, a camera obscura and many more novelties.

At this time the most popular form of transport would have been the horse drawn carriage and I believe the photo shows a group of Victorian day trippers on their way from Brighton to sample the delights of the Dyke!  Rick".

I have even wondered if an enterprising photographer was up at the Dyke complete with a cart and was offering to take pictures of sightseers sitting in it.  But that rather dashes the illusion of it coming over from Brighton doesn't it, Rick, and I'm a bit of a romantic.

I think you are a bit of a romantic also from the looks of your collection, Rick !

Continue if you would like to read A Walk With H. S. Toms on Cissbury Ring.

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life in Findon.