Category: Lost but not forgotten

Cirencester for its size is unusual as it’s a Cotswold town without any train station serving it today. This is especially odd given that once upon a time, there used to be three stations which served the town. Today, only one of those still survives and is receiving some much needed care and attention. What’s […]

Chesil is an area within Winchester and between 1885 and 1961, Chesil railway station served the area on the now closed Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DNSR). For the first six years after opening the railway, this was actually the terminus of the line, until it was later extended to link with Southampton via the […]

We are in Monmouth today and on the trail of the Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway which was opened in 1857 and saw its passenger services withdrawn in 1955. Like many of the railways which were closed around that period, nature has reclaimed much of the land but there are still clues to the […]

Breamore is the last surviving station on the now closed Salisbury & Dorset Junction Railway. The line was around 20 miles long and ran from Salisbury (Alderbury Junction) to West Moors near the Dorset Coast. The station was built in 1864 and the line itself opened in 1866. The line itself was single track with […]

The Clifton Rocks Railway is probably one of the best kept secrets of the Bristol area. This was an underground funicular railway which linked Clifton at the top with Bristol Harbour at the bottom. The funicular was opened in 1893 and despite a strong start, passenger numbers dwindled quickly and the railway closed in September […]

Warmley station used to be a small station on the Mangotsfield and Bath branch line. The station closed in 1966 due to the Beeching cuts but the station survives to this day as a café, serving refreshments to those who travel along the old railway route. The route has been converted to a cycle trail […]

Tintern station used to be a stop along the Wye Valley Railway and was the closest it’s passengers could get to Tintern Abbey. The station opened in 1876 and was one of four original stations along the line. Although the track has long since been lifted, the station itself and artifacts are now all that […]

Today we’re cycling a section of the North Devon Railway, specifically the Bideford extension railway from Barnstaple to Torrington. Passenger services along this line were withdrawn in 1965 although freight services continued until the eventual complete closure in the 80’s. Fortunately through preservation efforts of volunteers, there is almost something remaining for all stations along […]

The Bishop’s Stortford to Braintree branch line was closed in 1972 and has somewhat of an interesting history. Some argue that the line was simply opened to prevent other train companies of the time from getting a foothold in the east however due to mismanagement and dwindling passenger numbers, the line was eventually absorbed by […]

The Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway closed in 1956 and no longer operates as either a mainline or heritage railway. The majority of the original line has either been lost entirely to housing developments, car parks and woodland, however a few stations remain and some are even undergoing a revival with an aim to run […]