Dawlish News
Brunel railway faces up to the sea
On the bicentenary of the great engineer's birth, exhibitions and re-enactments abound and one or two Isambard Kingdom look-alikes are doing good business.
The diminutive genius didn't mind a row, and it would be intriguing to know what he would make of the controversy surrounding one of his most picturesque creations - the stretch of the Great Western Railway between Exeter and Plymouth.
Running towards Dawlish and Teignmouth, the line passes estuarine mud and sand flats dotted with sea birds and pleasure boats, while on the inland side the track is edged with red sandstone cliffs.
But the line flirts dangerously with the sea.
"The track at Dawlish is increasingly vulnerable, and the government has got to explore alternative tracks," says Anthony Steen, the Conservative MP for the nearby Totnes constituency.
"Global warming is going to be increasingly an issue, but Network Rail has decided it's not imminent enough. There needs to be a new track - full stop."
