50 Years Later - the Winchester to Alton railway

It's unusual for people to remember something that happened exactly 50 years ago, but sometimes as railway enthusiasts we do!

The Winchester-Alton 'Watercress Line' closed on 5 February 1973. I was there on the last day (the 4th) as it was a line quite close to me.

I first travelled on the line a few years earlier, in 1970, to actually visit another line. We were staying in Winchester were we had relatives, and me and my brother took the train from Winchester to Alton, changing there to continue to Bentley. From Bentley we planned to travel to Bordon by bus to visit the Longmoor Military Railway, which had closed the previous year. First problem was it was a bank holiday and the buses were running a Sunday service, which meant NO buses! So we had to walk to Bordon! We found the Longmoor Military Railway there but just an empty trackbed, they'd already lifted the line which was a shame.

This was BC, Before Camera, so no pictures and just vague memories unfortunately. My first photo was taken on 9.7.1971, about a year later.

I then made another trip on a rover ticket AC (after camera) and took a few very misty shots, but I think they captured the gloomy atmosphere of a soon to be closed line very well.

(Two above Alresford 4.1.1973 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

(Winchester Junction 4.1.1973 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

                         (Medstead and Four Marks 4.1.1973 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

On the final day I only travelled to Itchen Abbas, to get some photos there. I felt a built guilty as I couldn't book a ticket directly from Littlehampton to Itchen Abbas, I had to rebook at Winchester but didn't have time to do that as I'd have missed the Alton train! I got some surprisingly good quality photos there on a cheap camera. The light must have been good.

                                         (All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 4.2.1973)

I visited Itchen Abbas a few years later, the station was intact but the line had been lifted. I was on a motorbike back then which was an easy way to visit railways after they'd closed.

                                                      (All copyright Steve Sainsbury 1976)

Medstead and Four Marks, further east, was a wreck with track lifted and junk everywhere. A sadder sight than Itchen Abbas in a way.

                        (Medstead and Four Marks 24.6.1976 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

I visited Alresford a few years later after it had become the site of a heritage railway, track down, steam locos and rolling stock in the platforms and yard. A sign that things were turning round at last. 

I travelled on to Ropley which with track down but no activity was more a haven for wildlife than railway fans!

                                 (All Ropley 24.6.1976 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Now of course the Alresford to Alton stretch is a busy heritage line, a premier league one at that. It's inevitably lost a lot of the atmosphere both the BR line and the deep closure line had, but it's doing a job now and providing a fair amount of employment locally.

                                    (Ropley 18.7.2015 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

The stretch beyond Alresford via Itchen Abbas to Winchester Junction is still lost and although a Winchester connection would tap into possible extra custom from the Southampton area coming up the main line, in reality, at least for now, most visitors come by car anyway, although the Network link at Alton is well used. And there would be the issue of shared track for a couple of kilometres at Winchester not to mention the need for extra capacity at Winchester station. It may well become a hot issue in future decades but for now that part of the line is in deep sleep.

A door opening very slowly ...

(Pic copyright Rail Thing/Steve Sainsbury)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - REVERSING BEECHING

Way back in 2009, when the New Somerset and Dorset Railway was formed, we were living in a very different world! Roads still seemed to be in the ascendant, and rail enthusiasm was still considered a tad eccentric.

Things have changed a lot in 8 years! Rail reopenings are gathering pace and some interesting closed lines are coming into the spotlight. One of course is the S&D!

I got an early morning phone call today from Radio Solent who had got the press release from the government re rail reopenings. I was invited to do a piece for the 11.30 am slot, live! I managed to wing it without stuttering or swearing, the net result being that the New S&D got yet more publicity and I managed to name check all five restoration groups along the route. I also managed to name check all the bigger places en route (Blandford, Sturminster Newton, Wincanton, Midsomer Norton and Radstock), all of which will benefit enormously in so many ways when the line returns.

That door is opening very slowly. Real energy crunches are still a way off, but already the rail restoration movement in all its variety is beginning to move into the mainstream. The important thing is to organise LOCALLY, so your line gets a profile. Most Beeching closures should be reversed over the next few decades, but there will be inevitable shortages of cash, materials and manpower as restoration picks up. 

Please do your bit!

(Pic is Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway back in 1976, now totally restored and transformed ...)

Facebook Spotlight Rail Thing - 70s UK Railscene

Medstead and Four Marks 24.6.1976

313 030 Finsbury Park 19.7.1978

Farncombe 6.7.1977

7724 Balcombe 8.7.1977

Ropley 24.6.1976

(All pics copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - 70s UK RAILSCENE

I'm going to highlight our various Facebook groups over the coming months as there as so many of them - what started as a single Facebook group has blossomed to around 500!

This one currently has 855 members and covers the UK railscene in the 1970s. My very first railway photo was taken on 9.7.1971 so I covered almost this entire decade. I was just 13 at the start of it and just beginning to get a real interest in railways. Holidays at Dawlish Warren spurred this on - the line along the seafront was a real eye opener! It was mainly Westerns back then of course, I even remember maroon coaches, but was still very wet behind the ears then and didn't even realise they were anything special or different! 

So if you've an interest in this transitional decade this is the group for you. There are many active members and you'll see a wide range of pics from around the UK.

Return to Ropley - 39 years on!

 

(All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 'Then' (B&W) are 24.6.1976. 'Now' (Colour) are 18.7.2015)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - MID HANTS RAILWAY

I was lucky enough to visit the Watercress Line on Saturday, though sadly not able to travel on it. For a change I called in at Ropley and Medstead as I've always found the two termini hard to photograph. There were no such problems at the two intermediate stations!

I last visited Ropley in June 1976, before the line was reopened, and it was in deep sleep. The station is completely transformed now, as is the area it sits in, but fortunately there's no housing development and the location is still very rural. The station has of course been totally restored and the up platform and buildings have reappeared. There's a signalbox and also a large locomotive works. All in all a very pleasant spot and still with plenty of railway atmosphere.

I was lucky enough to travel on the line in BR days a few times, and I've also been a couple of times since reopening. I still find it odd that this useful line was closed, serving the large town of Alresford and also providing an excellent alternative route when the main line is closed or blocked. I'm sure the missing link via Itchen Abbas will be rebuilt in the future and the line morph into a community line with a proper 365 day service but with plenty of heritage atmosphere and trains of course!

Mid Hants Railway website

More info (from Wikipedia)

Ropley railway station is a railway station in Ropley, Hampshire, England, which opened on 2 October 1865.

History

The station was opened by the Mid-Hants (Alton Lines) Railway (MHR) on 2 October 1865. The MHR was leased to the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) in August 1880, which fully absorbed the MHR in June 1884. The LSWR amalgamated with other railways to form the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923.

The station was closed by British Rail on 5 February 1973.

Preservation

Ropley railway station was reopened by the Mid Hants Railway (Watercress Line) on 30 April 1977. It is an intermediate station on the preserved Watercress Line, which runs from Alton to New Alresford.

The main locomotive shed and workshops for the Mid Hants Railway are located just to the east of Ropley station.

The station gardens feature notable yew topiary, which has been in situ for over 100 years (an 1898 postcard shows the topiary well established).

A footbridge was added to the western end of the station in 1986. This was recovered from the closed station at North Tawton in Devon in August 1983, restored and installed by volunteers.

Footbridge

In 2012/13, a footbridge, originally located at King's Cross station in London, was dismantled and later re-erected at Ropley station for a new lease of life, above the maintenance shed, where passengers can walk over and view the works below.