We started off by visiting a real white elephant. The three arched viaduct at Purton was built as part of the Purton Steam Carriage Road, to link the forest's industry to the River Severn. Unfortunately the plans were scrapped in Parliament before things ever got really underway. The viaduct, having been already built, was never used. Today it is in a poor state of repair relying mainly on local enthusiasts. The council have categorised it as risk category 3. It can be found at SO 67065 04900. We then tried to find any evidence of the Severn Railway Bridge, which was decommissioned in 1969 after being struck by colliding ships in 1960. There are some photos from this period here. Much of the bridge was shipped to Chile and used to build a new bridge. There is little remaining of the bridge these days. We did manage to find a few large pieces of masonry in the undergrowth, but nothing very impressive. As you follow the lane south from the bridge there is a treat in the way of a lovely bridge that I wasn't expecting, though no sign of the station.
The tunnel is not on a public right of way and like so many disused railways the land is used for raising game birds. The track bed is very muddy and not a pleasant walk. The tunnel was interesting as it is the only tunnel I have come across in the area wide enough for two tracks. This fact coupled with the perfect straightness of the tunnel meant that it was pretty light throughout the 506yds despite it being dusk. If it had not been for the large puddles I would not have needed a torch at all. I spent a couple of hours walking down the track and through nearby fields. Part of the reason was that the paths marked on the OS map just didn't seem to exist. There's a nice ruin on the brow of the hill at