Its station business complete, 1318 pulls slowly out of Barcombe Mills heading north as it prepares to negotiate the crossover that will return it to the up line.

Although the scene looks deceptively solid, almost timeless perhaps, within a few weeks, 110 years of regular and convenient rail travel will come to a quite needless end. And yet more traffic will be forced onto local roads -- as Lewes residents, planners and councillors will soon discover.