Grove Ferry and Upstreet was a railway station in east

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. It was opened by South Eastern Railway (SER), on the

Ashford to Ramsgate (via Canterbury West) line Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia * Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town * ...

between Sturry station and Minster station.

History

Grove Ferry station opened on 13 April 1846, the rural station was built to serve the village of

Upstreet Upstreet is a village in the civil parish of Chislet in Kent, England. It is in the local government district of Canterbury, and the electoral ward of Marshside. It is about 62 miles away from London. Upstreet is a ribbon development along the A2 ...

and the ferry crossing of the

Great Stour Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

until 1966, when a bridge was built. The nearby "Grove Ferry Inn" owned the rights to the ferry and farmed of

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...

, creating a popular day trip destination up until the Second World War; this is now part of the

Grove Ferry Picnic Area The Grove Ferry Picnic Area is near Upstreet, in Kent, England, on the site of an old hand-drawn ferry that once crossed the River Stour here. The area is maintained and managed by Kent County Council. It is beside the Grove Ferry Public House, ...

. The public

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

and goods sidings leading to the ferry were operated from a small

signal box In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

. The station was renamed Grove Ferry & Upstreet in September 1954. Goods traffic ceased on 30 April 1960, The railway between

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

and was electrified on 9 October 1961. A concrete footbridge was built at the station in preparation for this change. The signal box closed on 14 March 1964, and the level crossing was converted to automatic half barriers on 3 January 1966. The station closed the same day, shortly before the introduction of a bus service over the new Grove Ferry Bridge, which would have undermined the low patronage.

Remains today

The station buildings and up platform have been demolished and only a few traces remain of the down platform. The broad steps leading to the footpath connecting the station to the village, although overgrown, can still be seen. Grove Ferry and Upstreet Station lives on in model form due to the efforts of the Ashford Model Railway Club, with the model occasionally being taken on tour.

References

;Citations ;Sources * {{Closed stations Kent Disused railway stations in Kent Former South Eastern Railway (UK) stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 1846 establishments in England 1966 disestablishments in England