The picture shows the aerial railway that crossed the Dyke itself. It was one of three railways associated with the Dyke. Perhaps we could have some pictures of the other two please.
By Mike Hearn (14/06/2004)
This picture has really boosted my coursework’s history section – thank you very much.
Although the landscape of Devils Dyke is still easily recognisable today, the very noticeable difference in the 1910 photo is the bareness of scrub vegetation. Of course in 1910 the grazing sheep on the Downs kept growth of the kind seen today down!
By Peter Groves (28/07/2007)
The biggest reason for lack of trees and other vegetation is because there are very few rabbits, due to myxomatosis.
By Peter Manley (21/02/2023)
Re-the last comment, Peter this is not correct. The picture is dated 1910 and myxomatosis did not appear until introduced in 1953. It was the rabbits which kept the vegetation under check, along with sheep, which were greatly reduced in number in the 20th century, but the disappearance of the rabbits meant the gorse in particular could grow undisturbed. The scrub today is kept back by work parties of conservation groups in a management plan to improve the spread of chalk grasssland.
By Dr Geoffrey Mead (21/02/2023)
Sorry I did not explain it very well Geoffrey,I was looking at the picture and of course there were plenty of rabbits around in those days and that is what kept the vegetation down. I was born in Fulking a little village below the Devils dyke.
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The picture shows the aerial railway that crossed the Dyke itself. It was one of three railways associated with the Dyke. Perhaps we could have some pictures of the other two please.
This picture has really boosted my coursework’s history section – thank you very much.
There’s a photo and a little information about the funicular railway at the Dyke on this website: http://www.hows.org.uk/personal/rail/dd.htm
Although the landscape of Devils Dyke is still easily recognisable today, the very noticeable difference in the 1910 photo is the bareness of scrub vegetation. Of course in 1910 the grazing sheep on the Downs kept growth of the kind seen today down!
The biggest reason for lack of trees and other vegetation is because there are very few rabbits, due to myxomatosis.
Re-the last comment, Peter this is not correct. The picture is dated 1910 and myxomatosis did not appear until introduced in 1953. It was the rabbits which kept the vegetation under check, along with sheep, which were greatly reduced in number in the 20th century, but the disappearance of the rabbits meant the gorse in particular could grow undisturbed. The scrub today is kept back by work parties of conservation groups in a management plan to improve the spread of chalk grasssland.
Sorry I did not explain it very well Geoffrey,I was looking at the picture and of course there were plenty of rabbits around in those days and that is what kept the vegetation down. I was born in Fulking a little village below the Devils dyke.
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