Adrian Backshall: Old clay pit near Glynde station

I`ve always been interested in old tramways and redundant workings and one of the most interesting places near me for this is Glynde.
I became aware of an old tramway arcing away from the east of the station some years ago and walked it with a good friend of mine. There were still sleepers clearly visible and the remains of the bridge crossing Glynde Reach river. We couldn`t get near the old pit then but on Sunday I managed to and took the following photographs.

The clay pit was connected to the sidings at Glynde by means of a Telpherage line opened on Saturday 17 October 1885. This was the first overhead railway of its kind in the world and differs from an aerial ropeway by the individual skips having their own motor and by clever means could not run into each other. Later on, this was replaced with a proper tramway with running rails.

I`ve copied these notes from the internet…

The Glynde telpherage line was built by the Telpherage Company and officially opened on Saturday 17 October 1885. It was said to cost £1200, including the equipment to generate electricity, the trains, and the locomotives. The electricity was generated by a dynamo which was powered by a steam engine. The water for the engine was apparently raised by a windmill at the station end of the line. The line extended for almost a mile. It was a double line of steel rods 66 feet long and with a 0.75 inch diameter. The rods were elevated 18 feet above the ground on posts. The locomotive and skips were suspended from pulleys that ran on the rods. A train of ten skips could carry a ton of clay.

A clay pit was opened in 1885 north of Glynde Reach, to the east of Decoy Wood.
The pit was to supply Gault clay to the new Sussex Portland Cement works at South Heighton.
Both were on land leased from the Glynde Estate for 99 years.
In the event, the clay pit was only worked for around 30 years.
Initially the clay was transported via a telpherage line to Glynde station, latterly (by the late 1890s) via a tramway. Lusted, A.