0:00:06 > 0:00:09For me, trains are about getting from A to B,
0:00:09 > 0:00:12but there are people of all ages who love
0:00:12 > 0:00:15the romance of the golden age of the railway.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18When the first train left Great Victoria Street for Lisburn
0:00:18 > 0:00:23in 1839, it changed our lives forever.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25Fast, dangerous and exciting,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28the railways sped up the pace of industry,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31commerce and communication. At one time almost
0:00:31 > 0:00:35everyone in the country lived within five miles of a station.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39People who'd never been out of their home town or village
0:00:39 > 0:00:42could take a trip to the city or spend a day at the seaside.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47I'm much too young to remember all that, but I've spoken to people
0:00:47 > 0:00:51up and down the country who can't understand why
0:00:51 > 0:00:55most of our railway network was abandoned almost 50 years ago.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59I want to find out what the attraction is,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03to see if there is any trace left of these old lines,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06any hidden history to be found in some of the places they pass through.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10And that brings us to tomorrow,
0:01:10 > 0:01:13temperatures will rise to about 18 or 19 degrees for many of us.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17As we look ahead towards the rest of the week and into the weekend,
0:01:17 > 0:01:19plenty more dry weather to come.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23Well, there you are, that was the weather, not looking too bad at all.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Perfect for getting away from the weather desk for a few days to walk the line.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43I'm not off to a great start.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47I'm looking for the old railway station in Downpatrick
0:01:47 > 0:01:50and this is it, well, this is where it used to be.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Like stations in other towns, it was torn down decades ago.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57But Downpatrick hasn't turned its back on its railway history,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00in fact it has the only full size heritage railway
0:02:00 > 0:02:03in Northern Ireland, and so that's where I'm headed.
0:02:10 > 0:02:14I've heard about grown men and their passion for train sets,
0:02:14 > 0:02:16but this is ridiculous.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Downpatrick Railway Museum has its own station and ticket office
0:02:23 > 0:02:27and its own signal box controlling a short stretch of track
0:02:27 > 0:02:30where the steam trains can show their paces.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35It's all run by volunteers in dungarees, with oily rags,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39who spend much of their time stripping and restoring carriages and engines.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47One of the volunteers is a BBC colleague, Robert Gardiner.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50I'm told this is the old Royal saloon,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52but it's not looking very regal today, is it?
0:02:52 > 0:02:55She's not, but the fact that it survives is remarkable.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56She was built in 1897
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and has carried King Edward VII, King George V and
0:02:59 > 0:03:04King George VI, but after the Second World War it was scrapped.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Down here you've got people from all mix of life, you've got engineers,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13you've got people who work on Translink or Irish Rail and you've
0:03:13 > 0:03:18got others who have absolutely relatively no interest in trains
0:03:18 > 0:03:20but they're interested in the various disciplines
0:03:20 > 0:03:23they're involved in here, such as the woodwork
0:03:23 > 0:03:26and metalwork and those sort of things.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29And these guys tackle some big projects.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33These particular vehicles are local carriages.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36They would have been built for the Belfast and County Down Railway
0:03:36 > 0:03:40and operated between Queen's Quay station and Bangor,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Newtownards-Donaghadee, as well as Newcastle and Ardglass.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49This vehicle here was built in 1905 and would have operated
0:03:49 > 0:03:51an intensive service between Belfast and Holywood.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54- It ran for almost five decades? - Five decades, yes.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58It's essentially the grandfather of all modern railway vehicles.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01You can kind of imagine the people hanging out of these trains,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- like something you'd see in the old movies.- Absolutely.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Trying to figure out how to get the windows to drop
0:04:06 > 0:04:08with the leather straps and hanging out the windows
0:04:08 > 0:04:11when the guard's shouting at them to get their heads in.
0:04:11 > 0:04:15- It's like stepping back in time, isn't it?- It really is.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18Even the finishes for what is a third class carriage
0:04:18 > 0:04:23were very, very high. You can almost see a bit of Titanic in the designs
0:04:23 > 0:04:26of the carriages of the time.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34This has just been restored after about seven-odd years of work in our workshops.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37After the Second World War there was a shortage of housing
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and an awful lot of railway carriages were sold off,
0:04:40 > 0:04:41either used as hen houses,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45or this particular one has been used as a house in Guildford.
0:04:45 > 0:04:46The key difference between, say,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48third class and first and second class
0:04:48 > 0:04:52would have been legroom and personal space.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55The first class usually would have had higher seats.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59You wouldn't have been mingling with the other riff-raff and...
0:04:59 > 0:05:03Basically you were just buying more comfort as the ticket price went up.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07This really takes us back to the golden days of the Downpatrick railway.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Tell me a bit about that. When did it begin and where did it go to?
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Well, the railway from Belfast to Downpatrick was built in 1859
0:05:15 > 0:05:18and was originally built to serve the courts up on the hill.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21You would have had barristers and judges travelling down
0:05:21 > 0:05:24by train then for the spring court sessions and
0:05:24 > 0:05:28the contrast that would have been to taking the stagecoach between
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Belfast and Downpatrick on a rickety road would have been dramatic.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38About ten years later it was then extended on to Newcastle and to Ardglass.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44I'm going to find out if any traces of that line still exist.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Good luck with that. There's an awful lot that
0:05:47 > 0:05:49you'd need to know what it is you are looking for,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53but there are other bits that are accessible and absolutely stunning.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Ticket bought,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and comfortably settled into my third class carriage,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09I can begin to appreciate that golden age of railway travel.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44Sadly, the track runs out all too soon
0:06:44 > 0:06:46and I'm forced to walk the line...
0:06:46 > 0:06:48if I can find it.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Well, Robert certainly wasn't lying,
0:06:52 > 0:06:55it's been a bit of a journey getting here, up through embankments,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58muck, brambles, but now I'm here,
0:06:58 > 0:07:03it's clear to see that this is where the railway used to be.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10It must be 60 years since a train travelled along here
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and the traces are harder to spot with every passing year.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19And the first stop after the train left Downpatrick, Downpatrick Races.
0:07:24 > 0:07:26Ladies all glammed up...
0:07:28 > 0:07:32..runners and riders making their way down to the start line...
0:07:32 > 0:07:34and some of us a having a flutter.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41Then there's the weather, as important as ever on race day.
0:07:41 > 0:07:43My weather colleagues are forecasting showers.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45That'll mean heavy going underfoot.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50There's been horse racing at Downpatrick since 1685.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54In fact, a horse that raced here was also ridden
0:07:54 > 0:07:58at the Battle of the Boyne and it finished on both occasions.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04The present course opened in the 1860s
0:08:04 > 0:08:07and for many years the railway ran excursions to the races.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13One memory is, as a very small child, about five or six years old,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16being taken to the races here on this grandstand
0:08:16 > 0:08:19and I remember there was a race on
0:08:19 > 0:08:24and the train came along, the old steam engines,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27and it stopped and people were all looking out the carriages
0:08:27 > 0:08:29watching the race and the next thing, it puff-puffed
0:08:29 > 0:08:32and away it went, heading towards Ardglass.
0:08:32 > 0:08:37I don't think being on time to Ardglass just made all that much difference in those days.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41The trains didn't just bring people here,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43they actually brought the horses.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47Pre-war, all animals were transported by train.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49You know, cattle wagons, there were horse wagons,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52we had no motorways or anything like that in those days
0:08:52 > 0:08:56and there wouldn't have been as many horseboxes or cars about.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00It was only the very affluent people who had a motor car,
0:09:00 > 0:09:04so a lot of people travelled by train, and including the animals.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14No luck. I'd have better chance predicting the weather!
0:09:14 > 0:09:15Time to move on.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21On the other side of the course I can see where the path
0:09:21 > 0:09:24of the old railway has become the ambulance safety track
0:09:24 > 0:09:26for the horses and riders.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Beyond that it headed towards Ardglass.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37It's over 60 years since the railway line closed here.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Since then it has been reclaimed by nature,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43covered by road and ploughed up by farmers,
0:09:43 > 0:09:49but if you look closely enough, you can still find remnants of the old railways.
0:09:49 > 0:09:53Just like here at Marshallstown crossing, we have bits of old track.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58And once we had trains trundling along here, making their way to the coast.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05The line of the old railway track runs straight as an arrow
0:10:05 > 0:10:09ahead of me and it's hard to believe that trains once disturbed
0:10:09 > 0:10:13the peace and quiet of this rural heartland of County Down.
0:10:16 > 0:10:20And even more surprising, a short distance from Marshallstown
0:10:20 > 0:10:24are the remains of what was once obviously a substantial railway halt.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32It's easy to understand why some stations and halts were built.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34They were in towns or villages,
0:10:34 > 0:10:39they connected factories with markets, cities with harbours
0:10:39 > 0:10:42and cattle markets with ports, but here in Ballynoe
0:10:42 > 0:10:45there's nothing, there is no village, there is no industry,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47why build a halt here?
0:10:47 > 0:10:52This 1928 book of Ancient Monuments of Northern Ireland
0:10:52 > 0:10:53may shed some light on that.
0:10:54 > 0:10:59Here we have a map of some of our most important historical monuments
0:10:59 > 0:11:02and what's really interesting about this is that
0:11:02 > 0:11:06we can see that most are within spitting distance of a railway.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10And, sure enough, just a short distance away
0:11:10 > 0:11:13is a sign for Ballynoe Stone Circle.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16This is magical.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18County Down's version of the Dark Hedges.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24A century ago, train loads of day trippers ventured down this laneway
0:11:24 > 0:11:29to visit one of Ireland's largest ancient, man-made landmarks.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37If the Game of Thrones producers are scouting for new locations,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39they should take a look here.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46The Victorians were fascinated by their ancient history.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53Places like Ballynoe were hugely popular for excursions
0:11:53 > 0:11:57and the railway companies were quick to spot a business opportunity.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03When I first started my journey I hoped for a few surprises,
0:12:03 > 0:12:05and this is certainly one of them.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09OK, it's not as big or as famous as Stonehenge but it is impressive
0:12:09 > 0:12:12and on days like this when the weather is fairly decent
0:12:12 > 0:12:14it is well worth the visit.
0:12:14 > 0:12:20With the closure of the railway line Ballynoe Stone Circle drifted back into obscurity.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27Race goers and day trippers were important railway customers
0:12:27 > 0:12:30but the branch line from Downpatrick to Ardglass was built
0:12:30 > 0:12:33for more practical and commercial reasons.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Ardglass has been one of the main fishing ports
0:12:39 > 0:12:42along the east coast of Ireland for centuries.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48The boats are bigger nowadays and the work is much more mechanised
0:12:48 > 0:12:51but in many ways the scene hasn't changed.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58In the late 19th century, herring was the prize catch
0:12:58 > 0:13:00and it was still a fresh fish market.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06This fish had to be sold fresh for consumption within 24 hours,
0:13:06 > 0:13:08so obviously you wanted to get it off the quayside
0:13:08 > 0:13:10as quickly as possible,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and it would have gone to Belfast for transmission to,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17to England, to Billingsgate or even to Aberdeen or something like that.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19The railway network was crucial
0:13:19 > 0:13:24in the development of the market for fish.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28A rail line was built right down to the quayside
0:13:28 > 0:13:32so that the boats could unload their catches straight onto trains
0:13:32 > 0:13:35and get them off to the markets as quickly as possible.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39By the 20th century, the herring catches were so big
0:13:39 > 0:13:42that a major curing industry developed in Ardglass
0:13:42 > 0:13:46to salt the fish and transport them further afield.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50And with the curing industry came the gutter girls.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Some of the girls used to lodge with Hilda Smyth's family.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58They came from Donegal and Scotland,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02they came from all over and they were lovely girls, lovely.
0:14:02 > 0:14:06They were out nearly every day and they got their boots on them
0:14:06 > 0:14:11and fingers all ragged, for in case of the jags and things from the herring.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13When we were off school in the summertime
0:14:13 > 0:14:17we used to bring the tea down to them in a can,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19the wee sandwiches or soda farls,
0:14:19 > 0:14:22cut and butter or jam or something on them
0:14:22 > 0:14:26and we would fight who'd get to carry the cans down to the quay.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29It got us on the harbour. They were quick doing it, you know?
0:14:29 > 0:14:32They just pulled the gut out
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and we would go down and watch them, yes, and it was hard work,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37dirty work,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41and the big troughs on the harbour, full of herring.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43You would have walked on the herring.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46The harbour was absolutely covered, you could hardly get down there.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48So many fish.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53They would have processed hundreds of tonnes of fish.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58They were paid per barrel of fish that they produced
0:14:58 > 0:15:02so they wanted to work long hours, because the more fish there was,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06the more they could put away and the more they would have got paid,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09but certainly there were reports of them setting up flares on the end
0:15:09 > 0:15:13of the pier so the girls could work right into the night.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18The annual influx of a bunch of lively, young, single women
0:15:18 > 0:15:22to the village inevitably set male hearts a-flutter.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24I picked my wife from one of them.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31They were very nice, good-looking girls.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35They just turned us young boys, our heads were turned.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40I suppose when the girls were staying here
0:15:40 > 0:15:44they kind of helped your mum out with the cost of running the house.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Well, I think it was six shillings she got for each girl.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50They came here with big trunks with them
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and they had hardly anything in them and there was
0:15:53 > 0:15:57a draper's shop down in Bath Street, Martin's you called it,
0:15:57 > 0:16:02and they used to, when they got their pay at the end of the season,
0:16:02 > 0:16:05they went there and they bought bedclothes,
0:16:05 > 0:16:08and I remember my mother helping them to fold them up
0:16:08 > 0:16:12to put them into these trunks to bring to the station
0:16:12 > 0:16:14when they were going back to Donegal and Scotland
0:16:14 > 0:16:17and all the different places that they were going.
0:16:18 > 0:16:21They would have been in Ardglass for six weeks,
0:16:21 > 0:16:23then they might have gone to the Isle of Man.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27Because herring is a migratory fish,
0:16:27 > 0:16:31the herring fishing season is quite limited,
0:16:31 > 0:16:34but then you go on to the next place that the herring is
0:16:34 > 0:16:37and then you go on to the next place
0:16:37 > 0:16:40so they would have been working maybe from April
0:16:40 > 0:16:42until the end of October,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44so that would have given them six months of work.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50The short curing season wasn't much use to the railway company,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53nor was the herrings' tendency to disappear
0:16:53 > 0:16:56from the local fishing grounds for years at a time.
0:16:57 > 0:17:01They're still catching and processing fish in Ardglass,
0:17:01 > 0:17:03but the branch line closed in 1950.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Back on the mainline from Downpatrick to Newcastle,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12the trains passed close to Ballykinler
0:17:12 > 0:17:15where there's been an army camp for centuries.
0:17:15 > 0:17:19With the outbreak of World War I it quickly grew in size,
0:17:19 > 0:17:24but it's only now that we're finding out how important it was to the war effort.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28The men who would have come with the Ulster Division,
0:17:28 > 0:17:314,000 or more of them, were men from the city.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34They were quite unused to being in a rural location,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36a coastal location.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39They labelled it World's End because of that.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41They'd have travelled out on the train to the little halt
0:17:41 > 0:17:44of Tullymurry and then eventually another little halt was created
0:17:44 > 0:17:47closer to Ballykinler, just called the Ballykinler Halt
0:17:47 > 0:17:49and they would have marched in here.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54On a cold winter's day training here would have been quite the business
0:17:54 > 0:17:58and just a real sense, I think, that the men
0:17:58 > 0:18:01were getting some preparation for what lies ahead of them.
0:18:03 > 0:18:07It becomes quite clear with the news coming through from France
0:18:07 > 0:18:10that the First World War is going to be very static.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15The power of defence has managed to trump the power of attack,
0:18:15 > 0:18:20and so therefore a very ancient military feature called
0:18:20 > 0:18:24trench warfare becomes dominant on the Western Front.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29And when the men arrive out here, the whole process of turning
0:18:29 > 0:18:34a portion of Ballykinler Army Camp into a trial
0:18:34 > 0:18:39or kind of model version of the Western Front begins.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Queen's University archaeologists have been uncovering a whole system
0:18:43 > 0:18:47of training trenches that lay forgotten for years
0:18:47 > 0:18:49and I'm being given a first look at them.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53What we have is a set of trenches
0:18:53 > 0:18:57which have been dug by the soldiers themselves.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00So you'll find that the trench system here reflects
0:19:00 > 0:19:02what's going on on the Western Front.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06You have these zigzags of the trench formation.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10You have quite a sense of the depth of the trenches.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13I mean, trenches have to be deep enough for a soldier to stand in them
0:19:13 > 0:19:16and not find that his head's over the side of the trench
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and he's going to be a victim of a German sniper.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Now, the soldiers actually in the Ulster division then leave
0:19:22 > 0:19:26in the summer of 1915 and they're never really back here again,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29but what happens as well, what we have to remember is that
0:19:29 > 0:19:31there would have been a lot of training going on,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34of new units of soldiers who were coming through,
0:19:34 > 0:19:39and then very movingly, this place would have been filled with men
0:19:39 > 0:19:42who had been veterans of the war,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45who were coming back and recuperating.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48They'd have been out here on the dunes and trying to,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52no doubt, get focused again about going back to the war.
0:19:52 > 0:19:56So, right the way through to 1918, for four-and-a-half years,
0:19:56 > 0:19:58this place is very busy,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01and thousands of men make their way through here
0:20:01 > 0:20:04and many of them, of course, don't come back.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11And a generation later, the process was repeated.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Ballykinler was filled with American accents as thousands of GIs
0:20:15 > 0:20:20were billeted and trained at the camp before joining the Allies in Europe.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Shortly after the end of World War II,
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Ballykinler Halt was scrapped and now there's no trace of it.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Sometimes it can be quite difficult to find the old railways
0:20:41 > 0:20:45but here at Murlough the track has been transformed into a path
0:20:45 > 0:20:49for walkers and cyclists - it's accessible, it's well signposted
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and on days like today it's absolutely breathtaking.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Look at all those big stratocumulus clouds.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01I've been good to myself with the forecast -
0:21:01 > 0:21:04the sun should stay out all the way round to Dundrum.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Lots of birdlife along the shore.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15Apart from that, I have this beautiful stretch
0:21:15 > 0:21:17of old railway path to myself.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27I'm not used to this sort of solitude but I could get to like it.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35Dundrum was once a busy harbour, importing timber from the Baltic
0:21:35 > 0:21:37and coal from England.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39There was a siding down to the quay
0:21:39 > 0:21:42where goods could be loaded directly onto the trains.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Newcastle was the eventual destination for the line
0:21:48 > 0:21:51I've been following - the Belfast and County Down -
0:21:51 > 0:21:56but I'm taking a detour to tell you about a battle for domination
0:21:56 > 0:21:59that developed between it and its larger rival,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01the Great Northern Railway.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08The Belfast and County Down Railway reached Newcastle in 1869.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13By 1880 the Great Northern had extended its line
0:22:13 > 0:22:15from Lisburn to here, Ballyroney.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Apart from the monthly fair at nearby Rathfriland when this station
0:22:20 > 0:22:24would have been busy with cattle and potatoes being unloaded,
0:22:24 > 0:22:28you'd wonder why the GNR extended their line here at all.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31But then, they weren't really interested in Ballyroney.
0:22:31 > 0:22:35They had their eyes set on the jewel of the Belfast and County Down Railway line -
0:22:35 > 0:22:40Newcastle, which was fast becoming a popular seaside resort.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46So the Great Northern applied for government approval
0:22:46 > 0:22:48to extend its line to Newcastle.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51The Belfast and County Down objected.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53They wanted to keep Newcastle for themselves.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57There were long and bitter negotiations
0:22:57 > 0:22:59before a decision was reached.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03The Great Northern would build the line from Ballyroney to Castlewellan.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Belfast and County Down would build it from there to Newcastle.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13They would own the track, GNR trains would run along it,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16and they would share cost of manning the stations along the route.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21So GNR got what they wanted - a profitable link to Newcastle.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24Belfast and County Down got Ballyroney.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27They were the losers in this battle of the railways.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33The effect on passengers of these rival companies operating the line
0:23:33 > 0:23:36was minimal, although if you were a frequent traveller,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40you would have wondered why staff kept changing their uniform.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43Well, part of the agreement between the companies was that
0:23:43 > 0:23:45staff wore a GNR uniform one year,
0:23:45 > 0:23:48and the Belfast and County Down uniform the next.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50A masterpiece of compromise!
0:23:52 > 0:23:58# If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air
0:23:58 > 0:24:03# Quaint little villages here and there... #
0:24:05 > 0:24:08The railway turned Newcastle from a genteel rest place
0:24:08 > 0:24:11for the well-to-do into a popular holiday resort.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16When the railway people decided that they wanted to grow outside Belfast
0:24:16 > 0:24:19I can well imagine somebody saying, "Let's go to Newcastle.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22"It's a wonderful setting, you have the mountains there,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24"a train travelling to Newcastle will afford this
0:24:24 > 0:24:27"extraordinary view along the way
0:24:27 > 0:24:31"and when we get there we can offer journeys into the Mournes beyond."
0:24:31 > 0:24:35It was a perfect choice for a town to expand a railway to.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40The Slieve Donard Hotel was built by the Belfast and County Down Railway,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43but what's less well known is that
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Royal County Down Golf Club owes its existence to the railway too.
0:24:47 > 0:24:52They had seen how profitable Scottish golf courses were to the Scottish railways.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The railway that we know was already here. This was 1869.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Royal County Down began to lay out the golf course in 1880.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06Belfast and County Down Railway even helped build the golf clubhouse.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09There were special pavilions for the travellers
0:25:09 > 0:25:12coming down from Belfast to enjoy a day's golf
0:25:12 > 0:25:17and a natural combination, golf course and railway,
0:25:17 > 0:25:20with hotels and other accommodation following.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23They would have arrived at the golf club in time to have their lunch.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25They would then have played their golf.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28They might have stayed a week at the hotel,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32but at the same time they were also laying on penny or two pence fares
0:25:32 > 0:25:36for second class, third class, fourth class travellers.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38Everybody was accommodated.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41They started the ball rolling for where we are today.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47This is Beatty's Guide and Directory to Newcastle.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48It dates from 1894.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51So the hotel wasn't even around but
0:25:51 > 0:25:55there's two pages here about the Belfast and County Down Railway.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59"The most picturesque district of the North of Ireland
0:25:59 > 0:26:01"is served by the County Down Railway."
0:26:01 > 0:26:04It talks about the tourist resorts of Newcastle,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Mourne Mountains, Ardglass, Bangor, Donaghadee.
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Cheap excursion fares daily during the summer
0:26:11 > 0:26:14and we have a line about the golf club,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17"The golf links of the County Down Golf Club at Newcastle
0:26:17 > 0:26:22"are considered by competent judges to be second to none in the British Isles."
0:26:22 > 0:26:26And again they talk about, "The links of the above club
0:26:26 > 0:26:29"adjoin the railway station
0:26:29 > 0:26:33"and command a fine view of the Mourne Mountains and Dundrum Bay."
0:26:33 > 0:26:39And here we have, "The green record is 76, made by Mr FG Tait."
0:26:39 > 0:26:42I'm sure Rory McIlroy could give him a run for his money.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46I have a feeling Mr Tait and Mr McIlroy, the challenge is out!
0:26:46 > 0:26:48THEY CHUCKLE
0:26:49 > 0:26:53All along its route, the railway, from Downpatrick to Newcastle,
0:26:53 > 0:26:58has left its legacy and its mark - if you know where to look for it.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00But why did it close half a century ago?
0:27:02 > 0:27:05After the Second World War, the railway had been running
0:27:05 > 0:27:09non-stop helping the war effort, carrying troops.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12No investment had gone into the network.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15It was all private companies running the railways in those times.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19They were running on fumes at that point and they turned
0:27:19 > 0:27:21around to the government and said, "We can't carry on,"
0:27:21 > 0:27:25and the Stormont government took the decision to nationalise the railways,
0:27:25 > 0:27:26take them into state ownership
0:27:26 > 0:27:30and it was faced with this choice, do we invest in the services?
0:27:30 > 0:27:32Passenger numbers had been dropping off.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35You know, we might think these vehicles have a charm to them,
0:27:35 > 0:27:40but if you are a commuter in the 1950s this is ancient equipment.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43You know, you want something sleek and modern and
0:27:43 > 0:27:46buses and cars were the way forward.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50There is no need for railways in those areas where
0:27:50 > 0:27:52it's proposed to close them down.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55The public haven't been using them in the past
0:27:55 > 0:27:58and it's clear that there's not the traffic for a big railway service.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02The government had drawn up huge plans for a motorway network.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07That was the future and they saw no reason to invest in the railways
0:28:07 > 0:28:09and it was just easier to close them.
0:28:11 > 0:28:18I think any railway town that lost its railway still laments the loss.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Even now we're still having debates about bypasses
0:28:21 > 0:28:24around Ballynahinch and bypasses around Downpatrick
0:28:24 > 0:28:29and, while the roads were upgraded, the town centres were not designed
0:28:29 > 0:28:32to carry the volume of traffic that they're carrying now
0:28:32 > 0:28:36and so even 60 years later, we're still living with the legacy of the closures.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43In the next programme I'll be finding out how a local tragedy
0:28:43 > 0:28:45changed the course of railway history,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49I'll take a spooky walk through Ireland's longest railway tunnel...
0:28:50 > 0:28:53..and I'll be bringing together two people with special memories
0:28:53 > 0:28:56of the railway at Warrenpoint -
0:28:56 > 0:28:58next time on the Walk The Line.