BIRD POO EXPRESS

TOPSHAM | 1861

Peruvian Pelican droppings were once highly sought after.

Guano (bird droppings) was once big business on Topsham Quay’s lost branch line.

Topsham’s Holman Way was previously the branch line to Topsham Quay.

It was 32 chains* long (704 yards or 644m) and opened on 23 September 1861, handling goods to Exeter from ships too large to reach the city by canal. Exmouth Dock did not exist at this time and the London & South Western Railway purchased Steamer Quay and built what became the Town Quay.

*A chain is 22 yards (just over 20m). There are 80 chains in a mile. Railway distances are still officially measured in miles and chains.

The branch had a relatively steep gradient in places and was worked under stringent regulations to avoid vehicles running away. There was only one such incident, around 1924, when five wagons ran into the river and had to be hauled back by a steam crane.

An important early traffic was guano (bird droppings), shipped from South America in 500 ton batches and transported to the nearby Odams’ fertiliser factory. Before developments with ammonia displaced it, guano was highly prized as fertiliser and fortunes were made.

Other traffic included coal, timber and smoked sprats which were sent off from the quay by rail.

The branch closed in 1957 and the rails were lifted in August 1958.

Using the old trackbed for a road was first suggested in 1960 and Holman Way was completed in 1971.

Credits: Colin G Maggs “Railways to Exmouth” (Oakwood Press, 1980), and the Avocet Line Rail Users’ Group