Mangotsfield railway station

Mangotsfield
Mangotsfield railway station in 1973
Location
Place	Mangotsfield
Area	South Gloucestershire
Grid reference	ST665753
Operations
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Platforms	6
History
1 May 1845	Opened
4 August 1869	Rebuilt 805m south
7 March 1966	Closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Taken from the station today, looking towards Bristol on The Bristol & Bath Railway Path

[v · d · e]Bristol Area Railway Map

Legend Cross Country Route Thornbury Branch Line Yate South Wales Main Line New Passage Pier Westerleigh Junction New Passage Halt Cross Hands Halt South Wales Main Line Pilning Severn Beach Coalpit Heath Crooks Marsh Winterbourne Bristol Parkway Grey line represents Patchway boundary of Bristol Ram Hill Colliery Avonmouth Docks Chittening Platform St Andrews Road Henbury Avonmouth (Royal Edward) Hallen Halt Avonmouth (BPRP) Charlton Halt North Filton Platform Avonmouth Docks Westerleigh Goods Depot Avonmouth Filton Junction Avonmouth Light Railway Filton Avonmouth Docks Filton Abbey Wood Shirehampton Horfield Sea Mills Ashley Hill Clifton Down Tunnel Mangotsfield (1845-1869) Clifton Down Mangotsfield (1869-1966) Redland Staple Hill Montpelier Fishponds Hotwells Halt Hotwells Stapleton Road Warmley Lawrence Hill Waste depot Oldland Common Bristol St Philips Temple Meads goods depot St Mary Redcliffe tunnel Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Harbour Railway St Philips Marsh T&RSMD Bedminster Parson Street Bristol Docks (North) Bristol Docks (South) West Depot East Depot Bitton Ashton Gate St Anne's Park Clifton Bridge Brislington Nightingale Valley Halt Long Ashton Ham Green Halt Avon Riverside Pill Keynsham Portbury Shipyard Whitchurch Halt Royal Portbury Dock Kelston Saltford Portbury Portishead (1954-1964) Mangotsfield Branch Line WC&PLR Great Western Main Line Portishead (1879-1954) Bristol & N. Somerset Rly. Portishead Pier Bristol to Exeter Line

[v · d · e]Bristol and Gloucester Railway

Legend MR (Birmingham and Gloucester Railway to Birmingham) SWR (Gloucester to Newport Line to Newport) Gloucester (Interchange) M5 motorway Haresfield (1854-1965) GWR (Golden Valley Line to Swindon) Stonehouse (Bristol Road) (Interchange. Closed 1965) MR (Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway to Nailsworth/Stroud) Frocester (Closed 1961) Cam and Dursley (Opened 1994) Coaley Junction (Interchange. 1856-1965) MR (Dursley and Midland Junction Railway to Dursley) M5 motorway Berkeley Road (Closed 1965) MR (Sharpness Branch Line to Sharpness) M5 motorway Charfield (Closed 1965) Wickwar (Closed 1965) Wickwar tunnel MR (Yate to Thornbury Branch Line to Thornbury) Yate (Interchange. Closed 1965, reopened 1989) Coalpit Heath Sidings GWR (South Wales Main Line to London) Ram Hill Colliery Westerleigh Goods Depot M4 motorway MR (Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line to Bath) Mangotsfield (Interchange. 1845-1966) Staple Hill (1888-1966) Staple Hill Tunnel Bristol Parkway GWR (South Wales Main Line to Swansea) Goods line (To Avonmouth docks) Filton Abbey Wood GWR (Severn Beach Line to Severn Beach via Avonmouth) Fishponds (1866-1966) Avonside Locomotive Works River Frome M32 motorway Stapleton Road Lawrence Hill Waste Depot Goods Depots Bristol St Philips (Terminus. 1870-1953) Bristol Harbour River Avon (To Bath) GWR Temple Meads Goods Depot Bristol Temple Meads (Interchange) Bridge over Victoria Street Tunnel under St Mary Redcliffe churchyard Great Western Main Line to London Bristol Harbour Railway St Philips Marsh (TMD) River Avon (To the sea) GWR (Bristol and North Somerset Railway) GWR (Bristol and Exeter Railway to Taunton and Exeter)

Mangotsfield railway station was a station on the Midland Railway Bristol and Gloucester main line and was situated about five miles to the north east of Bristol in what is now the suburb of Mangotsfield.

The station was the junction for the Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line that led to Bath Green Park railway station and on southwards over the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway to Bournemouth. It had six platforms, including a bay platform used by the passenger service to Clifton Down using the Clifton Extension Railway. The latter services were discontinued in 1940 following the outbreak of war and were never reinstated. Part of the line to Bath now forms the Avon Valley Railway, which has its headquarters at Bitton.

The line to Bath was strengthened in the 1930s so as to take heavier locomotives and the station was very busy until the 1960s, when the Beeching Report recommended closure. The station closed in 1966 when services between Bristol and Bath on the line were withdrawn; stopping services between Bristol and Gloucester on the Midland line had been withdrawn in 1965 and the last regular through passenger train to use the third side of the triangle, which connected Bath and Gloucester but bypassed the station itself and did not have platforms, had ended in 1962 with the re-routing of the Pines Express away from the Midland and Somerset & Dorset lines, though some freight used it later.

Carson's chocolate factory occupied the centre of the triangle (along with its own cricket pitch) and had its own siding which saw chocolate trains until the early 1960s. The station also handled a lot of racing pigeon traffic, the birds being loaded into special vans. The mail train, which in the days of the Travelling Post Office always had to have the mail catcher on the left, was turned every day on the triangle until the mid-1960s.

The station was the inspiration behind Arnold Ridley's play The Ghost Train after Ridley found himself stranded there one evening. The sound of a train on the curve bypassing the station (used by non-stopping trains between Bath and Gloucester) gave the impression of a train approaching, passing and departing but not being seen.

The station is now on the route of the Bristol & Bath Railway Path, part of National Cycle Route 4.

Services

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Staple Hill Line and station closed		Bristol and Gloucester Railway Midland Railway		Yate Line closed
Terminus		Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line Midland Railway		Warmley Line and station closed

References

• Passengers No More, by Gerald Daniels and L A Dench (Ian Allan, 2nd ed, 1974)

External links

• Pictures of Mangotsfield
• History of the Avon Valley Railway

Coordinates: 51°28′33″N 2°28′59″W / 51.4757°N 2.4830°W / 51.4757; -2.4830