Oyster fishing has been practiced in a number of locations on the shores of Hayling Island since Roman times. The Oyster bed site at the north west of Hayling Island was developed in 1863 by the South of England Oyster Company, on re-claimed mud land created in the construction of Hayling Branch line by the [...]
South of England Oyster Company
The 1860 Act of Parliament, authorising the construction of the Havant to Hayling Island branch line included the reclamation of 1000 acres of mud land by the construction of the railway embankment in Langstone Harbour. Mr Robert Hume (a prominent supporter of the branch line) bought the mud lands in 1863 from the representatives of [...]
This document was produced to advertise the Summer Races to be held on the new racecourse in front of the Royal Hotel, Hayling Island and also the new Hayling Branch line that was to be opened for passengers early July 1867. The racecourse having been built by Frances Fuller who was also the Chairman of [...]
The Hampshire Telegraph reported an “alarming accident” at Hayling Island Station on the 31st October 1892. The engine normally employed on that branch was returning from repairs at Portsmouth. On arrival at Havant it was attached to four ’waggons’ loaded with oysters from Whitstable and a break-van. The coaches forming the branch train were standing [...]
The following article was donated by Ron Lamont who spent considerable time in researching the complicated negotiations between these two companies and has laid this out in his very interesting article. It takes us back to the time of the original proposed line on embankments across the harbour and the changes in route introduced by [...]