ISBN 0 9523458 3 8 'The Hawkhurst Line'. First published 1982. A paperback of 32 pages most pages with black and white photos it is an excellent introduction to the forty plus years of campaigning from the residents of Cranbrook, Hawkhurst, Goudhurst, Horsmonden, Brenchley and Lamberhurst for a railway, building the line and some of the more memorable events before it joined the list of casualties just before Beeching. I bought my copy a couple of years ago from the Bluebell Railway shop it was only £3.50. I would recommend this book as an introduction to the subject.
ISBN 0 906520 66 5 'Branch Line to Hawkhurst' is much like the above but contains 96 pages and it has a lot more historic photos and is predonimantly picture based. Vic Mitchell and / or Keith Smith obviously also know a lot about steam engines as they go into more detail in that area. The photos are displayed as the book works its way down the line from north to south. Published in 1989 it cost me £7.95 a few years ago.
ISBN 1 874103 54 2 'The Hawkhurst Branch' a monster 252 page account. Brian Hart has done a tremendous amount of research into this and I feel indebted to him as a reader. Apparently 60 % of the photographs in this book have not been published anywhere else. Published in 2000. If you read this you will be hooked on the subject for life. This book may cost you about £25.00.
These books should all be available on Amazon, Ebay or try www.britishrailwaybooks.co.uk .
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I did email some of these authors to thank them and update them on what I am trying to bring about. Brian Hart thanked me for liking his book and mostly talked about what a wonderfully interesting line the Hawkhurst line was and how if it was managed well it would have made a profit. Brian has been involved in trying to reopen several closed lines, The Eltham Valley line in East Kent (another Holman Stephens enterprise), the Kent and East Sussex Railway (also Stephens, many of the signals and lamp posts from the Hawkhurst line ended up there) and for the last few decades part of the Wealden line. In his book he said that when they were trying to save the East Sussex railway twice BR came back and suggested that they might want to put their efforts into trying to preserve the Hawkhurst line which was less loss making.
Peter Harding who grew up in Goudhurst and feels more of a personal affinity with the line was very encouraging. He said that he had gone to Horsmonden to watch Dennis Compton and Arsenal's first team play a Horsmonden Eleven cricket team during which he had sneaked across to look at the cutting and was surprised how deep it was. He said that he was 'amazed' that network Rail were willing to look into reopening the Line but if sucessfull it would take years to reopen as they would have to repurchase all the land again.
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Websites:
I have only found one so far - 'Forgotten Relics' http://www.forgottenrelics.co.uk/tunnels/gallery/horsmonden.html
It gives a full account of tunnels, viaducts, bridges and cuttings explaining the engineering aspects and history and sometimes coordinating campaigns to save structures.
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