This view across the countryside very near to my home

in Roade reveals a phenomenon that occurs a couple of times a year - the revealing of the route of the former Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJR) in the freshly ploughed field. With the farmer having just scrubbed out the oilseed rape that failed to flourish due to the incredibly wet winter, he has just ploughed the field and planted some spring barley. With the tilled soil just drying out a little shows the lighter strip where the line used to run emerging from the twin arch bridge on Ashton Road. It's amazing that over forty years after the line was abandoned and structures removed that the route still stands out in this manner. Google Earth also reveals the line again from the air but with further structures such as embankments and lines of trees for further reference.