Woodchester railway station
Encyclopedia
Woodchester railway station served the villages of Woodchester
and Amberley
in Gloucestershire
, England
. It was on the 9.3km-long Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway
, later part of the Midland Railway
.
The station opened six months after the railway and its other stations, on 1 July 1867. The delay was allegedly due to resistance from objectors who thought the provision of a station might encourage attendance at a nearby Catholic chapel. When the station was provided, it was given scruffy wooden buildings, unlike the substantial stone-built stations elsewhere on the line, a sign of the influence of the Midland Railway and the financial problems of the Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway.
Woodchester was a busy station with tourists visiting Amberley, which was identified with "Enderley" in the novel John Halifax, Gentleman
. It also had a large volume of goods traffic.
The Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway, along with the rest of the Midland Railway, became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 Grouping
. Passenger services were suspended on the line as an economy measure to save fuel in June 1947, and were officially withdrawn from 8 June 1949. Woodchester remained open for goods traffic until 1964. The line itself closed for goods traffic in 1966. The station buildings at Woodchester have all been demolished, though the station-master's house remains and the line of the track is used as a pedestrian and cycle path between Dudbridge
and Nailsworth
.
Woodchester
Woodchester is a Gloucestershire village in the Nailsworth Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds in England, running southwards from Stroud along the A46 road to Nailsworth....
and Amberley
Amberley, Gloucestershire
Amberley, Gloucestershire is a small village near Stroud in Gloucestershire, England.-Places of interest:*A War memorial to the soldiers who died in World War II*Amberley Church*The Black Horse Pub*The Amberley Inn Hotel-External links:***...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was on the 9.3km-long Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway
Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway
The Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway was a short railway line in the county of Gloucestershire, England, which brought the Cotswold town of Nailsworth into the UK national rail network....
, later part of the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
.
The station opened six months after the railway and its other stations, on 1 July 1867. The delay was allegedly due to resistance from objectors who thought the provision of a station might encourage attendance at a nearby Catholic chapel. When the station was provided, it was given scruffy wooden buildings, unlike the substantial stone-built stations elsewhere on the line, a sign of the influence of the Midland Railway and the financial problems of the Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway.
Woodchester was a busy station with tourists visiting Amberley, which was identified with "Enderley" in the novel John Halifax, Gentleman
John Halifax, Gentleman
John Halifax, Gentleman is a novel by Dinah Craik, first published in 1856. The novel was adapted for television by the BBC in 1974.-Plot summary:...
. It also had a large volume of goods traffic.
The Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway, along with the rest of the Midland Railway, became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway at the 1923 Grouping
Railways Act 1921
The Railways Act 1921, also known as the Grouping Act, was an enactment by the British government of David Lloyd George intended to stem the losses being made by many of the country's 120 railway companies, move the railways away from internal competition, and to retain some of the benefits which...
. Passenger services were suspended on the line as an economy measure to save fuel in June 1947, and were officially withdrawn from 8 June 1949. Woodchester remained open for goods traffic until 1964. The line itself closed for goods traffic in 1966. The station buildings at Woodchester have all been demolished, though the station-master's house remains and the line of the track is used as a pedestrian and cycle path between Dudbridge
Dudbridge railway station
Dudbridge railway station served the Stroud suburb of Dudbridge and the village of Selsley, little more than a mile from Stroud, in Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the 9.3 km-long Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway, later part of the Midland Railway.The station opened as "Dudbridge...
and Nailsworth
Nailsworth
Nailsworth is a town in Gloucestershire, England, lying in one of the Stroud Valleys in the Cotswolds. It has a population of around 6,600 people and lies on the A46 road....
.