Near as I can figure it, through the possibly flawed perceptual filters of my own reality tunnel, the most likely answers this week, seem to me to be:
Q1. Tenterden
Q2. Dungeness National Nature Reserve
The initial clues seem to place us at Tenterden, in the county of Kent. Tenterden appears to be the Northern terminus of the Kent and East Sussex Heritage Railway. The other terminus of the K&ES railway is at Bodiam and from the pictures I saw of it, the castle there is particularly beautiful. The original line closed c 1961 but used to go further north, to Headcorn.
Driving south from Tenterden, on the B2082, would take us through Smallhythe and it was here, according to some of her biographies, that an actress called Ellen Terry (born c 1847), had a house 'Smallhythe Place' . Ellen Terry made her acting debut playing the part of a boy 'Mamillius', in Charles Kean's production of 'The Winters Tale', c 1856.
Continuing South down the B2082, would eventually bring us to Rye, which some sources claim had a steam tramway, called the Rye & Camber Tramway (opened c 1895), that was built to carry passengers to and from Rye Golf Club (opened c 1894). The tramway was around three miles long. Rye golf course, according to their web site, hosts a tournament called 'The Bernard Darwin Salver', which is a good fit for the 'Australian sounding' clue. The engineer who built the tramway was probably Holman Fred Stephens (born c 1868). Some of his biographies claim that he also worked on the Kent & East Sussex Railway.
The hints about shingle, nuclear power stations and chip shops are to the Eastender at least, a huge giveaway, as these words bring to mind the movie director Derek Jarman, who had a beach hut and garden on the shingle next to Dungeness nuclear power station and claimed that the nearby Pilot Inn, provides "simply the finest fish and chips in all England" . The spit of land does seem to have a branch line on it also and travelling East from Rye would bring us into the vicinity of Dungeness.
N.B. Due to the number of people who normally write poison pen letters in green ink posting on his page, the Eastender has moved to moderated comments but rest assured if you have a non abusive comment or quip relating to the puzzle and its solution, he will endeavour to publish it.
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