Where do I start

Where do I start. Well what's in a name is a good point. I am a member of the SEmG The Southern E-mail group(http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/SEmG/). When ever I ask questions about Rowfant or Grange Road I normally say Rowfant again hence the name of this blog.

But why Rowfant?  Its a combination of things that have occurred over many years. I was brought up in Surrey and lived next to the Brighton Line through the late 50's and then through the swinging 60's right up to the late 70's. As a family we would go out in the car on weekend drives these would crisscross both Surrey and Sussex. As my late father was also into railways there would be the odd excursion just to cross a railway or two! So during the 60's I would have been taken down Wallage lane on at least a couple of occasions. Then in 1975 my sister and her husband bought there first house in Crawley Down(Grange Road). Now there where regular trips to see my sister firstly with my parents and then on my own once I was mobile first on a moped and then in a car. Although slightly out of the way a trip down Wallage lane seamed to happen frequently!

My interest stayed in the back of my mind until two things occurred. Firstly I bought the Vic Mitchell/Keith Smith's book "Branch Lines to East Grinstead" and I then discovered the Disused Stations web-site(http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/sites.shtml). This web-site is a fabulous mine of information and just happened to have a whole section on railways serving Tunbridge Wells West including covering the branch from Three Bridges to East Grinstead.