We’ve been perusing local maps to seek out disused railway lines that we could take walks along or cycle trips, besides the history of such places is deeply fascinating. Berkshire has a lot of interesting history and we are gradually finding out about things of interest.
I came across some details for an old line that used to run between Southampton (almost) and Didcot in Oxfordshire which was closed down during the early 1960s. It was called the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway. Starting in 1882, the line opened in two stages with the second in 1885. The aspiration was to connect the Midlands with Southampton’s bustling port. However the demand never came and the project ran out of money before the company could even complete the construction. The line only went as far as Winchester. If you ever park in Chesil car park when visiting Winchester these days, that was where the line terminated at the time. Evidence of the old railway can still be seen as the old buildings still stand but have since been repurposed.
We parked in the village and were looking for the old railway line when we spotted the bridge over the lane we were walking along. There were no obvious ways of getting up to the top of the bridge. So we pressed on towards the church.
A bench celebrating the work of the NHS during the 2020-2021 covid pandemic.
Taking a look at the OS Map we found a path leading from the church up towards what looked like a railway siding. We followed our instincts and took the path up the hill.
We found the old train station which has been converted into a house although the footpath does pass right across what would have been the old platform and track. Long since filled in with soil and grass, you can clearly see where it would have been though.
