Disused Railways Nailsworth Branch Line Gloucestershire
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- Опубліковано 9 вер 2024
- Nailsworth branch railway was opened in the 1860’s as a freight line to transport the many goods being produced in the Nailsworth valley such as cloth timber dyes arms and ammunition as well as general engineering products. The railway was abandoned in the 1960’s, but the passenger service was disused many years before this. There were many private sidings along this short route. It did carry passengers for a while but it carried nearly a ton of goods for every passenger ticket sold. The substantial railway goods yard is still there in use as a car park, and so is the rather grand station, although this is now a private dwelling. As always the engineering of the bridges tunnels and culverts are of a very high standard expected of the Midland Railway and the track bed has been converted to a walking and cycle path. The intermediate stations have all now disappeared but the branch line to Stroud can still be traced. The route from Nailsworth begins in a lovely wooded valley before disappearing under modern housing estates and the bypass road to Stonehouse. It follows the delightful Nailsworth stream and the setting, having been notched into the hillside, makes a very pleasant walk. It must have been a lovely railway to travel on, and before being built over would have made a very special heritage railway.
Towards the end of your excellent video you show the bus stop - which reminds us that it was the bus service that helped put the railway out of business - as far as passengers were concerned the date of closure of the railway was 16th June 1947 - after nationalisation the line continued carrying goods traffic until 1st June 1966 - BR Standard Class 2 locomotives (78xxx) and Midland 4Fs were the order of the day and the upper quadrant signal poles were painted in alternate 'black and white' like the traffic lights and Belisha beacons of the 50s - all gone now - but not forgotten thanks to your good work - and you are right - if this would have survived into the "heritage" age, it would have been a thriving concern possibly with charter trains from Bristol, Cheltenham and Gloucester - but this is now the stuff of dreams. . . .
Thanks Bernie - what might have been with a little forethought. P.W.
Thoroughly enjoyable, I've only managed to walk little pieces. If you haven't yet been there the Inchbrook Est still has rails visible in the ground.
Brilliant Liddy, thank you. P.W.
My old play ground, the cycle path opened it all back up , you missed the sleeper stairway up to Selsley .
Hi Joel, Not sure I'm too disappointed about missing the sleeper stairway, sounds like hard work. Ron
After the closure this was put to good use. I was a army cadet held on Mondays and Fridays at Nailsworth railway station from 1965 until 1968 when we had to move to a hut following its sale as a private dwelling. I remember a huge water tower based in the goods yard. We used to patrol up and down the track and march up and down the long approach road. The old station was a welcome refuge in the cold winters.
Hi Barry, thanks for sharing that memory. I was in the ATC and we did our fair share of marching, I quite enjoyed it actually, and we had some good laughs. Happy days. Ron
Hi Ron. I just did some Christmas shopping in Nailsworth today, and I walked along part of the cycle track to Stroud, and saw the old Nailsworth station (now a private house). I had a look on UA-cam to see what videos were on about it, and discovered yours - one of yours that I had not seen before. Excellent work - very thorough, and a great resource to show what is still currently there. Thank you, Paul.
Hi Paul, glad you enjoyed it. Hope you are coping with the winter gloom, never my best time of year, not enough day light. Keep smiling. Ron
Nice way to wind up Stroud, "You used to be a short branch, off the line to Nailsworth"....;-)Ace vid, I only ever had the vaguest idea what used to be there till I saw this, excellent work Sir!!
You are very kind. Thank you.
Fabulous !!!
Thank you Roger, glad you enjoyed it. Ron
I just about remember the trains on the routes you walked.
Fantastic valuable memories of a lost age. Ron
Another very interesting video from a lovely location. Thanks Mr P.
My pleasure Nigel. Ron
Fantastic walk through. Really appreciate your effort
Some where I pass quite frequently
D
Thank you. P.W.
Amazing video!
Thanks Dan. P.W.
That line used to branch off into Stroud or go along by sainsburys at Redbridge into stonehouse, the iron bridge over the canal at stonehouse is still there
Dudbridge not Redbridge
Now you mention it, I've seen it. Must take another look. P.W.
The bridge at 6:33 now completely demolished, all stonework bulldozed. Great work by the council I imagine destroying all our history.
Such a shame. Ron
According to my records the station at Stroud was called Wallbridge
Thanks Bernie
I’m not sure exactly what, but I think the item at 11:22 is a wartime defence - an emplacement of some sort.
In with a fair chance there Chris. Ron
The station was actually on the opposite side of the road to the Station House, and not on the industrial site as suggested.
Hi Matt, you are correct the station is not on the industrial site, having reviewed the footage I can see how this confusion could occur, thanks for pointing it out. PW
I have a feeling that station in Nailsworth was up for sale in November 2021..
Lots of offers according to the Stroud journal and an asking price of £1.2 million
Not sure if I can post a link but Google old railway station for sale Nailsworth
Thanks Mickey, I'll have a look. Not that I can find 1.2 million any time soon. Ron
Hey, my girlfriend and I stumbled across some concrete structures and a tunnel/storm drain. It's along the stretch of cycle track between Dudbridge and Stroud. I assume this is also part of the old railway. Got a few pics and a little vid you might be interested to see, app.box.com/s/nm7i5xbaktgnx77qzpn4qa0w27ecpjps just wondering if you had any idea what they were used for or where we could look for more info that might detail these features?
Hi Andy, unfortunately my system wont allow me to open the video, but the tunnel is almost certainly a railway culvert with the blue engineering bricks. There are quite a few books on local railways, but you have to hunt them out in old bookshops. P.W.