Rye & Camber

25th December 2006

Photographs taken in October 2006 of the site and remains of the Rye and Camber Tramway.

Between the years 1895 and 1939 the beautiful town of Rye in East Sussex had its own 3 foot gauge railway. Known as the Rye and Camber Tramway and from the far side if the River Rother it ran mostly parallel to the river to a station known as Golf Links then turned on to an extension (opened 1908) to the sand dunes and ran on to Camber Sands Station, a wooden halt.

Built originally to take fish from Rye Harbour to the town which did not really work because they took the fish direct to the fish quays instead, the Golf Club members used the line and also day trippers.

Originally it was run by two lovely 2-4-0 Bagnall locomotives named “Camber” and “Victoria” until 1925 when a 4 wheeled petrol locomotive was introduced, and continued services until the line was closed to passengers in 1939 when it was used for the war effort and was never re-opened.

Some of the rails still remain and also surprisingly, a corrugated iron station building at Golf Links.