On the Real Watership Down
Across the Iron Road
Hazel sniffed. In the cool damp, he picked up at once the unnatural smells of metal, coal-smoke and oil. They went forward and in a very short time found themselves looking down from among the bushes and undergrowth on the edge of the railway cutting. All was quiet, but as they paused at the top of the bank, a tussling pack of six or seven sparrows flew down to the line and began to peck about between the sleepers. Somehow the sight was reassuring.
‘Are we to cross, Hazel-rah?’ asked Blackberry.
‘Yes,’ said Hazel, ‘at once. Put it between Efrafa: then we’ll feed.
‘They went rather hesitantly down into the cutting, half-expecting the fiery, thundering angel of Frith to appear out of the twilight: but the silence remained unbroken. Soon they were all feeding in the meadow beyond, too tired to pay attention to concealment or to anything but the resting of their legs and nibbling the grass.
Chapter Thirty Two—Across the Iron Road
With the rabbits journeying to Efrafa on their mission to infiltrate General Woundwort’s warren, Hazel declares his intent to ‘go right round’ their target (Chapter Thirty Two, Across the Iron Road).
Having passed the Efrafan warren, the rabbits continue south and come to the iron road (railway line), which is described by Silver as running in ‘a sort of combe of its own’. They nervously make their way down the slope into the cutting, over the railway line and up the other side. They emerge into a meadow where they hope to rest. However, Kehaar has spotted an Efrafan patrol close to the other side of the ‘iron road’, so Hazel must usher his exhausted companions into nearby woodland.
In the 1978 film, the rabbits are not shown crossing the iron road. Instead, they cross underneath the Great Arch when the Efrafan patrol draws close. The group heads south to the River Test, whilst Bigwig seizes the moment to turn back on himself and come face to face with the patrol.
Image taken facing north. According to Pauline Baynes’ map, the rabbits crossed over the railway from the left half of the central field.
The railway cutting is located halfway between the bridges at Watch Lane, in Freefolk, and Northington Farm. Trespassing onto railway property is a criminal offence, whilst the fields both side of the track are privately owned. During October 2025 I attempted to launch my drone from the footpath running from Efrafa to Northington Farm, but strong winds meant the little thing was buffeted around and unable to do anything but hover. I had given up and was heading back to my vehicle, when for the second time in a year I encountered Jackie, the farmer, out walking her dog. Once again she was kind enough to give me permission to enter her fields. So I headed west along the field boundaries, north of the railway line.
South over the cutting. The rabbits entered the woodland to the right of Overton Rugby Club.
Pauline Baynes’ beautiful map from the Puffin edition of the novel places the rabbit’s crossing point as being just south of Northfield Plantation, a spinney extending from the Harroway Belt of woodland. We don’t know for sure how she reached this conclusion—whether through direct consultation with Richard Adams, or by being left to her own devices—but the details in the text are geographically scant. I’m not going to argue with her over it.
The dense undergrowth alongside the field boundary meant taking a meaningful image of the cutting here was impossible. Fortunately, I was able to get my drone in the air at the crossing point and the wind subsided just enough for me to capture a couple of images. The photo taken facing south (see above) shows the woodland behind Overton Rugby Club. It was just to the west (right) of the pitch where the rabbits passed into the woodland to rest. Mid-1960s Ordnance Survey mapping names this as Home Plantation, woodland to the north of Laverstoke House.
The cutting, a little east of where the rabbits crossed. I took the photo here as the undergrowth at the crossing site was significantly thicker.
Gallery
The cutting is through the trees and bushes on the left.
