Discovery Days - the industrial railway
The opening of the Arun Valley mainline railway at Amberley in 1863 created the opportunity for large scale chalk quarrying and lime burning at Amberley for the first time. From 1869 until the 1960s Pepper & Son Ltd developed chalk pits and lime works on the site now occupied by Amberley Museum.
Join the Curator for this illustrated walking tour exploring the importance and the development of the standard-gauge industrial railway through the site. We will look at historic photographs of the Marshall & Co. and Aveling & Porter steam locomotives and rail wagons, and the Hibberd ‘Planet’ diesel locomotive – to reveal how they were used to transport Pepper & Son’s products.
We will also explore the importance of the River Arun, and the canal cut south of Houghton Bridge, as transport links for enabling the quarrying of the chalk hills along the river.
