Toddington railway station serves the village of Toddington in Gloucestershire, England. Since 1984 it has been the main base of operations for the heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.
Toddington | |
---|---|
Station on heritage railway | |
General information | |
Location | Toddington, Tewkesbury England |
Coordinates | 51°59′21″N 1°55′41″W / 51.98910°N 1.92813°W |
Grid reference | SP050323 |
Operated by | Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway |
Platforms | 2 |
History | |
Original company | Great Western Railway |
Post-grouping | Great Western Railway Western Region of British Railways |
Key dates | |
1 December 1904 | Opened |
7 March 1960 | Closed to passengers |
2 January 1967 | Goods facilities withdrawn |
22 April 1984 | Reopened |
The station is located on the Honeybourne Line which linked Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon and which was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1906. The station was a centre of fruit and milk traffic, but receipts dwindled after a railwaymen's strike in 1955. The station closed to passengers in 1960, although the line itself remained open for freight and diversionary use until 1976; the track was lifted in 1979-80.
History
editOn 9 July 1859, the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway opened a line from Stratford-upon-Avon to Honeybourne.[1][2] The OW&W became the West Midland Railway in 1860 and was acquired by Great Western Railway in 1883 with a view to combining it with the Birmingham to Stratford Line to create a high-speed route from the Midlands to the South West.[3][4] The GWR obtained authorisation in 1899 for the construction of a double-track line between Honeybourne and Cheltenham and this was completed in stages by 1908.[5]
Toddington station was opened on 1 December 1904.[6] It was built as a railhead for fruit traffic, with a fruit packing shed being provided in the goods yard in addition to the goods shed.[7] The shed was 60 ft (18 m) long and comprised a 0 long tons 30 cwt 0 qr 0 lb (3,360 lb or 1.524 t) goods crane.[8][9] The goods yard was the largest on the line and accommodated three main sidings which were each capable of holding 30 wagons.[10] Two more sidings led into the fruit shed.[10] The fruit was processed in a nearby trading estate established by T W Beach & Sons in 1883, where it was put into tins and shipped out again; coffee was also dealt with in a similar way.[9]
A temporary 29-lever signal box was brought into service to welcome the first train, the 06.43 from Honeybourne which arrived at 07.10.[11] This was replaced in January 1905 at a cost of £236 (or £32,010 in 2023[a]) for the extension of the line to Winchcombe.[12] A footbridge was provided in 1912 to link the two 400 ft (120 m) platforms;[11][8] the main station building stood on the up platform, behind which was a dock from which large quantities of milk were dispatched.[13] Opposite the main building on the down platform was a small passenger waiting shelter and a large water tank which drew its supply from the Stanway Estate.[14][9] The station was lit by acetylene gas lamps until 1917 when calcium carbide became difficult to obtain.[8][15]
The first through passenger excursions to call at Toddington began in August 1906 following the opening of the line through to Cheltenham.[12] Initially, they were a Mondays-only service from Swansea to Leamington Spa and Wolverhampton to Tintern, but became more regular following the opening of the North Warwickshire Line in July 1908.[12] Nearby Stanway House, the residence of the Earl of Wemyss, attracted a number of visitors by rail, one of the most famous of whom being J. M. Barrie.[16] Passenger tickets sold at Toddington fell from 11,580 in 1913 to 6,050 in 1933; during the same period goods forwarded and received dropped from 5414 tons to 1802 tons.[10] Fruit traffic was badly affected by a 1954 strike by railwaymen,[17][9] which turned fruit growers towards road transport.[14]
Toddington closed to passenger traffic on 7 March 1960,[6] leaving the goods yard in use until 2 September 1967[18] after which the weigh house and fruit packing shed were demolished.[19] With the line remaining open to goods and diversionary traffic, the platforms were cut away by April 1968 to facilitate the out-of-gauge loads which used the route.[20] Closure of the line along with the signal box at Toddington came on 22 October 1976 and the track was lifted in 1979-80.[20]
Stationmasters
edit- Thomas Marsden 1904 - 1931[21] (formerly station master at Presthope)
- T.D. Lane 1931 - 1944[22]
- Raymond Breeze 1944 - 1950[23]
- Edgar Archibald Tredwell from 1956[24] (formerly station master at Blockley)
Preceding station | Heritage railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Broadway | Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway | Hayles Abbey Halt | ||
Historical railways | ||||
Laverton Halt Line open, station closed |
Great Western Railway Honeybourne Line |
Hayles Abbey Halt Line open, station open |
Present day
editThe Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway took a lease of Toddington yard from 24 March 1981, with the first working party on site on 28 March.[25] After site clearance, the first track was laid and a compound was built alongside the goods shed which was used by a small business.[25] The signal box was included in the compound, although its lever frame had been purchased and removed by the Gwili Railway a few days earlier just as the lease negotiations were being finalised.[25][26]
Toddington's first locomotive, a Hudswell Clarke D615 0-6-0 diesel shunter, was delivered on 30 May 1981, to be followed by GWR 2800 Class 2807 from Woodham Brothers on 20 June 1981.[27] During the next four years, the station site was transformed with the thorough refurbishment of the station building, reinstatement of the platform and restoration of the signal box with a new frame from Earlswood Lakes.[28] Double track was laid through the station towards Stanway Viaduct to the north and extensive sidings were laid to accommodate a large collection of locomotives and rolling stock.[28] The goods shed was taken over and converted into a workshop and office,[28] whilst a water tower was brought in from Ashford.[29]
The station was inspected by Major Rose of Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate on 21 March 1984 and authorisation was given for operation of a 2-coach push and pull train over a ¼-mile section of track as far as Didbrook Bridge.[30] The official reopening of the station took place on 22 April 1984 when Nicholas Ridley, the local MP, cut the tape on Easter Sunday.[31][32] By 2003, the line had been extended south to Cheltenham Racecourse.[33] In late-2005/early-2006, a start was made to relay track north towards Broadway,[34] and the first 2 miles (3.2 km) of this section, as far as Laverton Halt, re-opened in March 2011.[35]
References
edit- ^ Yorke 2009, p. 82.
- ^ Maggs & Nicholson 1985, p. 7.
- ^ Kingscott 2009, p. 97.
- ^ Oppitz 2004, p. 33.
- ^ Oppitz 2004, pp. 33–35.
- ^ a b Butt 1995, p. 231.
- ^ Maggs & Nicholson 1985, p. 32.
- ^ a b c Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 53.
- ^ a b c d Baker 1994, p. 99.
- ^ a b c Mitchell & Smith 2005, map facing figs. 53/54.
- ^ a b Baker 1994, p. 91.
- ^ a b c Baker 1994, p. 92.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 57.
- ^ a b Yorke 2009, p. 87.
- ^ Baker 1994, pp. 98–99.
- ^ Baker 1994, p. 93.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 58.
- ^ Clinker 1978, p. 136.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 56.
- ^ a b Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 59.
- ^ "Toddington Stationmaster Retires". Cheltenham Chronicle. England. 21 February 1931. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "45 years with the G.W.R.". Evening Despatch. England. 11 April 1944. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Earl's Uncle Elected to R.D.C.". Gloucestershire Echo. England. 28 January 1950. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Mr. E.A. Tredwell transferred". Evesham Standard & West Midland Observer. England. 20 April 1956. Retrieved 25 September 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ a b c Maggs & Nicholson 1985, p. 75.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 60.
- ^ Maggs & Nicholson 1985, pp. 75–77.
- ^ a b c Maggs & Nicholson 1985, p. 79.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 64.
- ^ Maggs & Nicholson 1985, pp. 84, 87.
- ^ Maggs & Nicholson 1985, p. 84.
- ^ Mitchell & Smith 2005, fig. 61.
- ^ Yorke 2009, p. 93.
- ^ Crowder, Ian (2010). "Chronology". Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Archived from the original on 2 August 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ Crowder, Ian (30 March 2011). "Rain doesn't stop play for first train to Laverton". Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
Sources
edit- Baker, Audie (1994). The Stratford on Avon to Cheltenham Railway. Grasscroft, Oldham: Irwell Press. ISBN 978-1-871608-62-5.
- Butt, R.V.J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1-85260-508-1. R508.
- Clinker, C.R. (October 1978). Clinker's Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales 1830-1977. Bristol: Avon-Anglia Publications & Services. ISBN 0-905466-19-5.
- Kingscott, Geoffrey (2009). Lost Railways of Warwickshire. Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-174-6.
- Maggs, Colin G.; Nicholson, Peter (1985). The Honeybourne Line: The continuing story of the Cheltenham to Honeybourne and Stratford upon Avon Railway. Cheltenham, Glos.: Line One Publishing. ISBN 978-0-907036-12-8.
- Mitchell, Victor E.; Smith, Keith (August 2005) [1998]. Stratford upon Avon to Cheltenham. Country Railway Routes. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN 1-901706-25-7.
- Oppitz, Leslie (2004) [2002]. Lost Railways of Herefordshire & Worcestershire. Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-85306-754-9.
- Yorke, Stan (2009). Lost Railways of Gloucestershire. Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books. ISBN 978-1-84674-163-0.