Forgotten Cheltenham Railway to Andoversford
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ค. 2018
- Forgotten Cheltenham to Andoversford Railway. Not only forgotten but lost as well. I went to have a look to see if any remains were left, and was quite surprised at the outcome. This section running through almost the centre of Cheltenham suburbs means that the land it occupies is prime building land. Consequently where the builders could get easy access they have done and no trace remains. Some areas though have difficult embankments or steep cuttings that at the time ruled out economic use, and means that some trace at least can be found. That's not to say it is always easy, and the railway like all abandoned railways, is getting absorbed into the surroundings. There are plans, fully costed up, to reinstate this rail connection between Cheltenham and the Cotswolds, when you watch this and subsequent films, I think you will see that it is a challenging proposition.
Railway sleeper posts are the most consistant remains from these old railways, but being made of wood they will eventually disappear and that will make finding the old railways much harder.
The railway having got to Andoversford, split into two. One branch headed to Notsford. Bourton, Stow, and joined the Oxford line at Kingham, whereas the other branch headed south as the Midland South West Junction Railway, through Swindon and on to Southampton. This then gave the Midlands merchants direct access to the Channel ports without being subject to control by the GWR - บันเทิง
I used to regularly travel on this line to Stow - I haven't forgotten it! Would have made a superb heritage tourist line into the heart of the Cotswolds.
Hi Malc, if only they could have had long term thinking, we would all be better off. Ron
Very intriguing. I happened across the Pilley Bridge section a few days ago. People know about the Honeybourne Line - but not this one.
You saw it here first Chris. LOL. Ron
dont know if i have commented before, but great video, i moved from portsmouth to cheltenham aged 13 in 1963 ish , lived in harrington drive , still in the area, the railway from gos side was in the bottom of our garden and about 20 feet high, from where heron close is now over a bridge past paragon laudry and i walked to andoversford on three occasions, over all the bridges, viaducts and tunnel up by andoversford ,to the station after the first walk i took my bike to have the ride back down the hill by the viaduct. When st james station was around i spotted a spamcan in there one afternoon, it was the northern most station the souther region served, if you go to waitrose where the petrol is thats the location for the st james turntable, happy days and still got the memories, also a sideline, did my apprenticeship at dowtys, they used to have a shop on the prom, next door to the london camera exchange and opposite the milk bar, went in there and asked the chap for a application form, filled it in and took it back a couple of days later.
Love those memories Lawrence, thanks for posting. Ron
The line actually bypassed Lansdown Rd station on the Eastern Side. It ran up to Malvern Rd station where the line split with one branch running the short distance to St. James station, a terminus in Cheltenham with the other branch heading off towards Birmingham. The line to Andoversford went via Leckhampton Station and Charlton Kings.
Thanks for taking the time to update this Graham. Ron
Very good job - well done. What a missed opportunity for the local council to use the old trackbed for a footpath/cycle track right through Cheltenham. Interesting briges. Great film. Thank you
I agree, mind you it would have been a long uphill climb on the escarpment.
As a young boy, I used to live in Naunton Lane in Leckhampton in 1970's. Used to walk 5 mins and be at the nature reserve bit. We used to call it "The Jungle" and loved playing under the bridge and catching Slow Worms and starting small fires, he he! Now all of these left over remnants have a new meaning. Love seeing this and having a 'walk' down memory 'lane'. Thank you!
Happy days indeed. P.W.
Yep, i was at Naunton Park School and spent many hours down the jungle.
Ron! This is the one I've been looking for. When I taught in Cheltenham on a year leave from Canada I lived in a flat in Leckhampton. I used to walk to the bus every morning over the railway bridge you show and wondered what the history was. Thanks to you, now I know. That was in 2004 and everything looks the same there...makes me a bit "homesick"! Thanks Ron.
Ah a tug at the heart strings James, that's what we like!. Ron
A fascinating insight to how things were... Thank you my friend...
Glad you enjoyed it Peter. P.W.
Back in the early ‘80’s I lived near Bourton on the Water, a short walk from the old railway line. I used to regularly walk the track bed as far as Aston Farm, towards Bourton, and in the other direction towards Notgrove. Access was pretty good, back then, and the track bed was pretty clear. I remember the bridge over the Ayleworth road had been demolished, but, there was a plate layers hut in fairly good condition. A very relaxing walk, and I had Notgrove to Andoversford on my to do list, but, never got there.Keep up the good work on your excellent and informative videos😊👍
My aunt and uncle used to live a stones throw from the old line in Bourton, just off Mousetrap Lane. As a kid in the 80s/90s I would run up on the old line all the time when we visited. I once found a large heavy metal plate with GWR on it. We picked it up and took it home, and eventually gave it to the Didcot Railway Centre near where we lived. Just the other week, I walked a lot of the old line out towards Andoversford.
Glad you enjoyed it. P.W.
It’s all but disappeared under new houses. Many’s the time I’ve been down to Andoversford, without finding any trace. Very sad that line wasn’t kept open.
Happens all the time I'm afraid. Ron
Lovely video and super informative. Great job
Glad you enjoyed it Duke.
My home town, grew yp there in the 70's and 80's. The footbridge you went up , i used to go over that to and from school ( Bournside ). The line you are trying to find, went over the Shurdongton road, through Leckhampton and then all the way to the Dowdswell viaduct. Great vid👍
Thanks for that. P.W.
Good detective work.... Walked the Pilley bridge section the other day 👍🏻
That's great, well done. Ron
@@ParkinsonsWalks I'm strangely fascinated by the old railway network around the area 👍🏻
@@rustandoil That's good there is quite a bit about, but it is disappearing fast. Ron
There are remains of a couple of halts, the sidings for the Lime quarries, and the engine shed for the MSWJR and Pilley Bridge. The Cuttings and various artefacts remain to the East of Cheltenham, all overgrown and end in the goods yard in Andoversford.
I'll have another look Peter. P.W.
I enjoyed your video. In the early 50s I attended Naughton Park school and I remember catching a train from the station next to Leckhampton Rd with my parents to go on holiday. As a kid we used to put farthings on the line for the train to turn into useless copper disks, the track might have been fenced but not very well.
Aaah memories memories, how wonderful. P.W.
Lansdown Road bridge. You say this was an old pedestrian bridge, it’s not. It is in fact a bridge to carry HV cables over the railway in the mid 1960s. I know this because my dad was an engineer at MEB. We lived in Harrington Drive right in the centre of the Hatherley loop. I can just remember trains going to Andoversford before the railway bank was removed.
Thanks for the info Stephen, makes sense. Ron
I'm local to the start of the MSWJR in Andover and done quite a bit of filming on it. (You've probably seen on my channel). This is interesting because I know very little about this northern section. 👍
Hi Paul
I subscribed to your channel some time ago. I live near Cheltenham and have been watching you get ever closer to my end. It will be handbags at dawn at this rate
@@ParkinsonsWalks hahaha..... Meet you half way!?... Swindon? 😁
With or without handbags? If I go much further south I'm thinking of filming under cover of darkness. Seriously I would enjoy your take on the MSWJR around here.
@@ParkinsonsWalks let's pencil in a "Collab" (isn't that what the youth of today call it?).... I've got a couple of weeks worth of Scottish videos to get uploaded them I wouldnt mind going up to Chedworth/Foss Cross again with the drone in hand!..
Thanks very much for the offer, I'll have to take a rain check on it at the moment. With my Parkinson's issues its difficult to forward plan, keep in touch.
Hello again. Your fan from Glasgow again.
Thank you for explaining what smoke deflectors are. I've seen them in several places and wondered what they were for. I understand perfectly now how they would work.
On a side point. I see your videos are from 2018.
I hope you are keeping well and healthy.
You are one of the little gems on TH-cam xx
Thanks Alison, I'm hanging in there! P.W.
Hi, met you at over canal a couple of years ago, but only just found this one. I help out at the pilley bridge nature reserve, and whilst you are right that it peters out beyond the ponds, there are a few other little bits that can be seen further on through the outer suburbs.
Hi Aj, nice to hear from you, please spread the word. I filmed a lot of the Hereford Gloucester Canal, you should be able to find them on my channel home page. P.W.
Lovely to see a detailed look at the line. It is funny because at 6:51, my house is just visible being connected to the white house seen a bit away. Also i go to the School that borders the old embankment. Ironic that if the line was in use today, everyone in the are would know that they were next to a train line but now hardly anyone knows and you can only know from little clues you found in the wooded area or someone that remembers the railway.
Sluggerlloyd, It is amazing what still remains after all this time, but for how much longer, who knows. P.W.
Is Bournside the school you go to?
I went there 20 years ago and only found out this line existed a few weeks ago. I used to hang out on the waste ground across the road from the school field before it was turned into allotments and all that time had no idea i was stood on what uses to be the track bed.
I could not be more frustrated to have been there all those years and not known.
I remember asking a teacher what the wall at the back of the field was from and it turns out to be on pictures which I have found of the line still in use.
My mind is absolutely blown to have found out so much about this line which i had no clue even existed.
To think my parents used to use that line and being brought up in a steam obsessed household I really cant believe I didnt know.
Also would like to add that I have been considering doing this myself and these videos have spurred me on to do so and also educate my young children about this beautiful lost railway. (My eldest is now too at Bournside and keen to explore what i can no longer get to. She is going to take pictures for me) Thank you very much for the great vids.
Entirely my pleasure. P.W. @@mkjah22
It blows my mind to think that your parents travelled on this line, what a fabulous link. P.W. @@mkjah22
Well done - this is very interesting indeed as I live close by in Up Hatherley and like you have a curiosity as to the former route through to Andoversford. After Lansdown Road bridge there use to be a signal box in the grounds of Dean Close School where the branch line veered to the left heading towards those "new houses" in Hatherley Road you found. There are photographs of Lansdown Junction showing that signal box?
Thanks GBE I wonder if there are any remains of the signal box. Might be worth a look. P.W.
I went to Dean Close School a few years back - the old signal box is still there, you would get in heaps of trouble if you so much as went near it. It's derelict and I do believe owned by network rail still. I also spent a fair amount of time in the Dean Close archives too and found some old pictures of the operating rail line running through Hatherly. Maybe give them a call?
WOW
Indeed
Like to see Andoversford to Dowdeswell as there was a long tunnel open one end closed Andoversford end. I walked it in the early 70ts. Is it still there?
Hi, yes still there but no longer assessable from either end. Ron
So green and lush in Cheltenham cant believe trains trundled thru such a quiet areas.
Also bet some of that live as a tram or light railway would reduce traffic which blights most towns.
As a Londoner much ofbourvdisused rails has been repurposed for development but a surprising amount of rail has been repurposed for DLR or London Overground because in Docklands there had to be better Transport links before developers would put their hands in their pockets..
It's two different worlds Chris, both have pluses and minus. P.W.
Hi PW,
I'm sure you were but were you aware that on your walk around the village,you were about 200 yards away from Sandywell tunnel? Also, half a mile towards London, just past the petrol station ,there is an old bridge just by the Frogmill public house as the line heads out towards Withington . While watching your firm ,I was so willing you to find the tunnel.
Regards
Phil.
Hi Phil, thanks for that, I may go looking again. P.W.
@@ParkinsonsWalks I'm happy to email you pics if you so desire?
@@philaspinall1817 Phil, are we talking about the one on the Cheltenham side of Andoversford? P.W.
@@ParkinsonsWalks absolutely, between what was the old Dowdeswell viaduct that you looked for and Andoversford village.
The line follows the A40 until it hits the aptly named Tunnel hill.
As the road snakes up the hill the line cuts through it, under a lake and comes out the Private estate of Sandywell Park. From there ,follows the A40 to our village. I think it's about 350 MTRS long but inaccessible to enter . Stunning to look at though.
I also have a pic taken in 1914 of the very same tunnel entrance.
Find me on FB and I'll send you the past and present pics.
I'm currently a poppy in my garden profile pic.
Notgrove - not Notsford !
Thanks Bernie
Pilley Bridge is in good condition because it took 14 years before it was rebuilt after being bombed by the Germans. i think nobody could agree as to who should pay for it.
Sounds about right Terry, thanks for that. Ron