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[[File:Washout at Victoria Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 552055Eymore_Cutting_20160514.jpg |thumb|300px|right| 2007 washout between Eymore Cutting looking east from near Victoria Bridge and ]]'''Eymore Cutting ''' is situated between [[Bewdley]] and [[Arley]] at the south (Wikimedia CommonsBewdley)end of [[Victoria Bridge]]. It is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

==Eymoor Wood==<gallery mode=packed heights=200px style="text-align:left">OS_Eymore_Cutting.jpg|OS map of 1905 showing Eymore Cutting</gallery>The extract from the OS 6in map above, published in 1905, shows Eymore Cutting is located at and the immediate surrounding area. The railway runs along the southern edge of the ancient wooded area of '''Eymore Wood'''. The cutting begins to the south (Bewdley) end east of Eymore Farm and deepens as it curves and descends towards Victoria Bridge at a [[Gradient profile]] of 1 in 145. The signal post ("S.P.") immediately before Victoria Bridge]]is the distant signal on the approach to Arley station.

[[Trimpley Private Road Bridge]] was constructed when the railway was built in order to provide access to the Wood from Eymore Farm which was situated to the south of the cutting. A stream which runs through the Wood is carried underneath the cutting through a Victorian syphon culvert. This is included as item SVR040* in the [[Wyre Forest District Council Local Heritage List]], which notes it as being an "extremely unusual feature".<ref group="note">The Local Heritage List identifies the location as "Eyemore Cutting". This alternate spelling also occasionally appears elsewhere.</ref> The positions of the road bridge and the stream can both be seen on the map extract.

==Site of Special Scientific Interest The [[Trimpley Reservoirs & Waterworks]] were constructed in 1964 and commissioned in 1967.<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (SSSI1989)==]] p. 95.</ref> The site was declared land south of the Farm buildings is now the main reservoir, with the Waterworks situated on the area of land between the wood and the railway. Water from the reservoir is pumped to the waterworks via [[Trimpley Pipe Bridge]] which now also spans the cutting a SSSI by English Nature due to short distance east of the unusual geology (see below)road bridge.

Geological Conservation Review The pictures of the cutting below are all looking west (GCRtowards Arley) Number 1743and progressively travelling in that direction: <brgallery mode=packed heights=200px style="text-align:left">Name Eymore Railway Cutting <br>Bridge_13_20150528.jpg |Trimpley Pipe Bridge, with the road bridge visible beyond (May 2015)Bridge_14_20150528.jpg| Trimpley Private Road Bridge (May 2015)Culvert 81 Paul Pearson.jpg|The Victorian culvert (Paul Pearson)Eymore_Cutting_20200912.jpg | Approaching Victoria Bridge with Arley distant signal just visibleUnitary Authority Worcestershire <br/gallery>Grid Ref SO767792

On 19 March 1991 Eymore Cutting was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by English Nature (now known as Natural England) due to its unusual geology. The designation summary is as follows:<ref>[http://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/PDFsForWeb/Citation/1002390.pdf Natural England designation]</ref>  <div style="background:#fcfcfc; border-style:solid; border-width:2px; border-color:#895920; margin:20px 10px; padding:5px;">SITE NAME: EYMORE RAILWAY CUTTING<br>DISTRICT: WYRE FOREST<br>SITE REF: 15 WK3<br>Status: Site at Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) notified under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended<br>Local Planning Authority: HEREFORD & WORCESTER COUNTY COUNCIL, WyreForest District Council<br>National Grid Reference: SO 767792<br>Area: 0.26 (ha.) 0.64 (ac.)</div> The cutting is notable as the only available exposure of fossilferous fossiliferous Eymore Farm marine band, a Bolsovian Substage rock.<ref>[https://www.wyreforestdc.gov.uk/media/109002/PD09-sa-scoping-appendix-b-final.pdf] Wyre Forest District Local Development Framework Core StrategyDevelopment Plan Document Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report July 2007 (Retrieved 11 November 2019)</ref><ref>[https://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=AGMB The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units] (Retrieved 11 November 2019)</ref>. It is a rare occurrence of coal-bearing mudstones appearing at surface level, first described in 1946.<ref>C.J. Cleal and B.A. Thomas, British Upper Carboniferous Stratigraphy, Springer Science & Business Media (2013), pp. 139-141 via [https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ew9JCAAAQBAJ&lpg=PA330&ots=0GcB6fqii1&dq=Eyemore%20Cutting&pg=PA140#v=onepage&q=Eyemore%20Cutting&f=false Google books]</ref>

===Geological instability===Unfortunately its the cutting's geology has proved less than stable over the years.

*In summer 1985On 9 March 1861 during construction of the railway, work a [[Railway Navvies of the SVR#Accidents|navvy was deemed necessary to remove some unstable rock. Part of injured in the cutting was strengthened using redundant concrete pads ]] when a 20lb clod of earth fell on him from the former BR yard at Kidderminstera height of 20-40ft. <ref>SVR News 79Berrow's Worcester Journal, reported in [[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 47.</ref>.

*Wet weather in In summer 1985 (before the winter of 2000-2001 resulted in a rockfall on the west side of the cutting. Although the rocks which blocked the line were quickly removedarea was designated as an SSSI), the cutting side remained unstable and English Nature required the SVR to engineer a solution to the problem which would not damage the site. While this work was developed in [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2000-2009#2001 | Spring 2001]] a watchman was permanently on duty on running days deemed necessary to warn approaching trains if necessary<ref>SVR News 135</ref>remove some unstable rock. English Nature rejected the use Part of a retaining wall or additional ‘gabions’ to those already in place, and opted for the cutting wall to be re-profiled was strengthened using redundant concrete pads from the former BR yard at a shallower angleKidderminster.<ref>SVR News 13679</ref>.

*Another rockfall occurred Wet weather in the winter of 2000-2001 resulted in a rock fall on the west side of the cutting. Although the rocks which blocked the line were quickly removed, the cutting side remained unstable and English Nature required the SVR to engineer a solution to the problem which would not damage the site. While this was developed in [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2000-2009#2005 2001 |February 2005Spring 2001]]a watchman was permanently on duty on running days to warn approaching trains if necessary. <ref>SVR News 135</ref> This required further re-profiling English Nature rejected the use of a retaining wall or additional 'gabions' to those already in place, and opted for the cutting wallto be re-profiled at a shallower angle<ref>SVR News 150136</ref>.

*Another rock fall occurred in [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 2000-2009#2005 |February 2005]]. This required further re-profiling of the cutting wall<ref>SVR News 150</ref>. *The ground between Victoria Bridge and the entrance to Eymore Cutting was one of the areas affected the [[2007 Storm Damage | freak storms in June and July 2007]]. The earlier rockfalls occurred in the cutting, just beyond the signal in the picturebelow. <gallery mode=packed heights=200px style="text-align:left">Washout at Victoria Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 552055.jpg | 2007 washout between Victoria Bridge and Eymore Cutting (Wikimedia Commons)</gallery> In 2009 the condition of the SSSI was surveyed and assessed by Natural England as 'Unfavourable'. The assessment noted that "''The features are only visible from the trackbed of the railway line. Vegetation growth has occurred and obscures some features. Rock-netting has been applied to southern cutting wall and obscures views of the features and denies physical contact with, and collecting from, the features on that wall. Small landslips on the northern cutting side are more of a hazard to the line than damaging to the SSSI, unless they result in the installation of further rock-netting.''"<ref>[https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/ReportUnitCondition.aspx?SiteCode=S1002390&ReportTitle=Eymore%20Railway%20Cutting%20SSSI Natural England]</ref>

*[[From The Window]] ==Notes==<references group="note"/>

*[http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4174&gcr=1743 Joint Nature Conservation Committee] [[Category:Featured articles]]