Black Dog Halt is a former railway station on the

Chippenham and Calne line The Chippenham and Calne line was a five mile long single-track branch railway line that ran along the valley of the River Marden in Wiltshire, England, from on the Great Western Main Line to , via two intermediate halts. Built by the Calne R ...

in Wiltshire, England. Originally created in 1863 as a private stop for Lord Lansdowne of Bowood House, it became a public

request stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a stop or station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or dropped off. In this way, st ...

after the formation of British Rail. The halt was closed and demolished in 1965, and today it is part of National Cycle Route 403.

History

Black Dog Halt was opened on 3 November 1863 by the Calne Railway company. Lord Lansdowne of Bowood House used the halt as a private station; use by the public was allowed, though it was not common knowledge. Lord Lansdowne had a special compartment in one of the Calne line's autocoaches. Later he was persuaded to allow the halt to be named on the timetable. The Calne Railway company was sold to the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

in 1892. After the formation of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

the halt was turned into a

. In 1965 the halt was closed and soon the buildings were demolished. The tracks were lifted in 1967. Today the site of the halt is being used as part of National Cycle Route 403 which runs from

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village ...

to Calne. The former route of the track is also a popular route for walkers. It is possible to walk to both Calne and Bowood House from here.

References

External links

Black Dog Halt
at a website dedicated to disused railway stations

on navigable 1948 O. S. map
Black Dog Halt station
at Subterranea Britannica
Exploring Bowood Park
at the AA website
Black Dog Halt
at The Ramblers website {{Closed stations Wiltshire Disused railway stations in Wiltshire Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1863 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Beeching closures in England Former Great Western Railway stations