St. Ives Bay Line - August 2009

Over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of August I went to Hayle in Cornwall for a few days holiday. From the beach in Hayle you can see the trains travelling along the coast along the St. Ives Bay line, which we decided to take to St. Ives for the day. The line originates in St. Erth which is also served by the Cornish Main Line, however we joined the train at the nearby Lelant Saltings station. As you can see from these pictures taken at Lelant Saltings station, the line consists of a single track, with no passing places along the entire line.




As we set off it unfortunately started to rain, which I guess is typical of a British Bank holiday. This shot is taken looking back to Hayle, and shows the awesome beach there.


The journey is a pretty short one, we soon drew towards picturesque St. Ives...






I really like this small bridge that is built over the line just outside of St. Ives, so I waited a few minutes for the train to leave again so I could take a picture of it as it travelled back towards St. Erth. The bridge was presumably built for the benefit of the residents of the house just above it.


This is definitely one of the more interesting lines that I've travelled in this country and offers you brilliant views of the beaches and of St. Ives as you approach it. There is definitely something that is incredibly appealing about coastal railways. One of my favourite things about travelling by train is that you so often get a perspective that is unable to other people, and I guess that is magnified on journeys like this where the train can take you to places that you'd otherwise be unable to reach.