Bullo Pill Railway

The Industrial Revolution brought increased demand for coal and iron, but the Forest, while having both in abundance, was at a disadvantage, being isolated from its potential markets with only a few frequently impassable roads linking it to the outside world.

The hilly terrain was unsuitable for the canals of the type which were being built elsewhere, but in the first decade of the nineteenth century plans were laid for a number of horse-drawn railways to carry goods cheaply to the Rivers Severn and Wye.

In addition there was a flow of barges carrying coal across the river to Framilode and then along the Stroudwater Canal to Brimscombe, Stroud and Chalford.

The railway was of approximately 4 ft gauge, laid as a plateway, with rails of L-shaped section, spiked to stone blocks.

All traffic was horse-drawn, using privately owned four-wheeled wagons of an approved type, with an oak underframe supporting a hopper-shaped body, and with unflanged cast-iron wheels.

[citation needed] From Bullo Pill the line heads west for a mile to the entrance of Haie Hill Tunnel; emerging at the far end at Lower Soudley.

By 1815 Bullo Pill was shipping up to 1,000 tons of coal and stone daily, but the end of the Napoleonic Wars brought about a recession, and by the 1820s the railway was a shadow of its former self.

From 6 April 1908 the opening of a new length of track allowed trains to continue to the Severn and Wye Railway station at Cinderford.

South of Ruspidge residential developments have encroached on the line, though the branch to Lightmoor Colliery can still be followed, and still retains many of its original stone sleeper blocks.

In 1991 the dock at Bullo Pill was cleared of silt and new lock gates installed, but there remains little activity although some private boats are stored and refurbished there.