New Hythe signal box would have won no prizes in

the design awards! Built by the Southern Railway in 1939 to an austerity design it was a simple brick-built box with a single slab of concrete for the roof probably made at the company's Exeter plant where most of their railway infrastructure was manufactured. It controlled the level crossing into an industrial area on the Medway Estuary and was in use until 2005 when the crossing was replaced by a huge bridge. With the abolition of the box, the block section was then extended from Snodland to the north to Aylesford to the south. I am not at all sure why the signalman and his friend are looking at me laughing and waving? Perhaps it's the sight of a Venture Scout complete with a fully packed rucksack and walking gear taking a photograph of a signal box! This was my final photograph of 1980 taken on New Year's eve.