Very late to reviewing this one. By now everyone knows this book whether you're a rambler or railway enthusiast. It's extra interesting if you like both. A modern classic. You'll want to find these walks as soon as you're able to.

A great guide for the railway enthusiast as well as the keen walker or cyclist looking for quiet, traffic free trail routes. There is a total of 100 of Britain's lost railway walks to explore. I found the map at the beginning very useful when searching for railway walks close by or where I knew I would be travelling to. The book is divided into clear sections: Southwest England, Southern England, Eastern England, Central England, Wales, Northern England, and Scotland. There are maps of each walk along with the length of the line (original and current), the relevant OS map and National Cycle Network route number. Also useful, are references for refreshment points and car parking. There is a brief history for each trail and a description of what you'll see along the way.
I have done several of these trails either walking or cycling and did't realise until now that there were so many more. Looking forward to exploring some new routes soon. Thank you to Julian Holland, Net Galley and the publisher, Collins for an ARC.

The Lost Railway Walks is a must for any rail and/or walking enthusiast. This book would even be a good addition for anyone interested in the history of the UK.
Julian Holland details 100 lost railway routes throughout the UK, providing information such as a brief history of the Line as well as its length, the length open to cyclists and walkers, refreshment points, car parking, and the National Cycle Network route number.
Essential reading for cyclists and walkers interested in touring the UK.

Plenty of great walks in this book and the history of each route is well researched and interesting to read. I walked the spa trail from Woodhall Spa to Horncastle and it such a nice walk. It was interesting to read some of the history of the railway line.

This book includes a number of guided walks along some of the UK;s abandoned and lost railway lines. The history at the start of each walk really allows you to understand the history of that railway and how it came to fade into obscurity. The instructions are easy to find and it is easy to understand the length of level of difficulty of each walk.

During the Victorian age, Britain was covered by a patchwork of local lines initially operated by small private railway companies. The legacy of Railway Mania would often result in duplication and competition along some routes. There was little or no coordination or strategic planning. Many of these lines were built to service local industry and played a key part in the success of the Industrial Revolution. Sadly with deindustrialisation and the expansion of road transport during the 20th century it was inevitable that a revision of the rail network would lead to the demise of many of the lines but seen from today the sheer draconian scale of the loss deriving from the Beeching Report (4,500 miles of railway and 2,000 stations being closed between 1963 and the mid-1970s.) seem short sighted and wrong. In recent years with the increased popularity and usage of rail there has been a reevaluation of Beeching which has seen the reopening of previously closed lines (part of the Borders Railway Line) and proposals to reopen others. ( including The Varsity Line, Portishead to Bristol, Skipton to Colne, Lewes to Uckfield). One consequence of the lost railways is that many have now been reopened for recreational use to be enjoyed by walkers and cyclists and this engaging book looks at 100 of these from around the country.

Combined into geographical areas each chapter gives a history of the individual railway line under review, what you will see along the way and practical information that includes length of the line, parking places and public transport access. There are also past and present pictures and a map showing the original route. Fortunately there are several of the walks described here that are not too far from me and I certainly intend to take the book along with me when I have a walk along them. Julian Holland is a prolific author of works on railways and railway history and his knowledge resonates throughout the book.

A fascinating read that hopefully will inspire people to go out for an enjoyable walk.

The title says it all: this is a book describing walks along now-closed railway lines. Each walk gets one page of text; a map; one or two illustrations; and some useful facts such as how long the walk is, where you can park and where you can get refreshments.

It's an excellent book for people like me, who prefer to read about such things rather than actually walk the walk. The one page of text gives a very well summarised history of the line; when / why it as opened and closed; and a description of how it is now. There is no need to take the book on the walk - use it to prepare beforehand and as a reminder afterwards.

The text is wonderful; the snippets of OS maps showing the route are good, although they are from the 1950s/60s (needed to show the line pre-closure, I guess); but the illustrations sometimes look weird in my PDF version. I guess they may appear OK on a Kindle, but my iPad shows several photos as overly green-hued. The ancient photos used to split the book into regions seem almost like hand-coloured copies of sepia prints. (Maybe they are, but the colours are disconcerting.)

#LostRailwayWalks #NetGalley

I love railways, both current and old lost tracks and stations. I definitely get this interest from by dad who worked most of his life on the railways. This book details 100 walks along some of Britain’s lost railway lines. Each walk has details which will help navigate these walks today, along with some practical information such as parking places and public transport access. It also has some pictures to accompany each walk, from past and present times.

Unfortunately, none of the walks are really near me, despite there being lots of old railways walks in my area, so I probably wouldn’t do any of these walks to experience them but it is definitely a lovely book and a very useful accompaniment on these walks. A perfect book if you love walking or if you love the railways….a great book if you love both!