Clevedon Branch Line

Clevedon Branch Line
The bridge where Lampley Road passes over the path of the branch line in Kingston Bridge.

The Clevedon branch line was a 3.5 miles (5.6 km) branch railway line that ran from Yatton railway station on the Bristol to Taunton Line to Clevedon in North Somerset, England, with no intermediate stops.

It was opened on 28 July 1847 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway,[1] which become part of the Great Western Railway in 1876. Initially it was built as broad gauge but was converted to standard gauge in 1879. Due to the increased traffic, fifteen trips a day in the summer, on the line the mainline section near Yatton was quadrupled in 1921[2].

The branch line stayed open until the Beeching Axe, first losing goods traffic on 10 June 1963. At this point, Clevedon station was severely cut back, losing its goods yard and reducing to a single track in 1964. The station was unstaffed from this time as well and referred to in timetables as "Clevedon Halt". Passenger services ceased on 3 October 1966 and the track was lifted soon after.[3]

Mostly the branch was operated as a shuttle from Yatton, although there were a few direct trains from Bristol. Particularly in its final years, the branch was operated by diesel multiple units, and sometimes by a single-car diesel railcar. Even in its declining years, the service was fairly regular: the British Railways Western Region timetable for 1964–1965 shows 24 trains in each direction, with a few more on Saturdays and during the summer, though no Sunday service.

Clevedon station was situated at what is now Queen's Square shopping precinct, built in the 1980s. Originally a wooden structure, it was rebuilt in 1890 in typical Great Western style, much like the nearby stations of Yatton and Weston-super-Mare. It was demolished in 1968.[4] A set of points are preserved and mounted upright as a reminder of the square's history.

All the track bed in Clevedon has long since been built on as the town has expanded. The last original bits of track, around Kingston Seymour, were lifted in the late 1980s. Housing developments in the 1990s are built on some of the track bed in Yatton.

References

  1. ^ Maggs, Colin G (1987). The Clevedon Branch. Didcot: Wild Swan Publications. pp. 1–2. ISBN 0-906867-52-5. 
  2. ^ Searle, MV (1983) Lost Lines: Anthology of Britain's Lost Railways, New Cavendish Books P103
  3. ^ Maggs, Colin G (1987). pp. 65–66. 
  4. ^ Mike Oakley. Somerset Railway Stations (2002 ed.). Dovecote Press. p. 41. 

See also

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