Lord's Bridge was a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the

Varsity Line The Varsity Line (or the Oxford to Cambridge railway line) was the main railway route that once linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway. During World War II the line was ...

which ran between

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Situated in the north of the parish of

Harlton Harlton is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. The village is south-west of Cambridge and neighbours Haslingfield. History The parish of Harlton covers an area of . Its southern border is marked by the ancient tra ...

on the western outskirts of

, it was the penultimate station before the line's eastern terminus at

. The station opened in 1862 and closed more than a century later in 1968. The site is now part of the

Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory The Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (MRAO) is located near Cambridge, UK and is home to a number of the largest and most advanced aperture synthesis radio telescopes in the world, including the One-Mile Telescope, 5-km Ryle Telescope, and ...

, which includes several rail-mounted radio-telescopes.

History

As with the neighbouring Old North Road station, Lord's Bridge was built in open country. It was principally a stop for the local

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

. The station's platforms were lengthened on 17 July 1907 to accommodate the longer trains running on the line. The station was equipped with a LNWR type 4

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'' ...

from which a key could be obtained to unlock the Toft & Kingston

siding Siding may refer to: * Siding (construction), the outer covering or cladding of a house * Siding (rail) A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch l ...

to the west which handled

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and which is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together wi ...

and

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

traffic. The traffic through Lord's Bridge was to change during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when a large ammunition store was built up at the station which brought many new workings to the line including an ex-Midland 2F tank locomotive which was kept permanently there for the purposes of shunting each train into the depot as they arrived and preparing the empties for return. The site included a Forward Filling Depot, FFD4, where bulk

mustard gas Mustard gas or sulfur mustard is a chemical compound belonging to a family of cytotoxic and blister agents known as mustard agents. The name ''mustard gas'' is technically incorrect: the substance, when dispersed, is often not actually a gas, b ...

from

M. S. Factory, Valley The M.S. ( Ministry of Supply) Factory, Valley was a Second World War site in Rhydymwyn, Flintshire, Wales, that was used for the storage and production of mustard gas. It was later also used in the development of the UK's atomic bomb project. M ...

was used to fill bombs and shells.

Present day

Following closure of the line between Bedford and Cambridge on New Year's Eve 1967, a section from Lord's Bridge station towards Cambridge became part of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, which had opened in 1957 on a site to the south of the station. This allowed the construction of the rail-mounted Ryle radio telescope array, moving along a 4.8 km length of track of approximately 20 ft

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

. The

goods shed A goods shed is a railway building designed for storing goods before or after carriage in a train. A typical goods shed will have a track running through it to allow goods wagons to be unloaded under cover, although sometimes they were built ...

remains as does a single length of the eastbound platform.RT02 - Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory
/ref>

References

External links

Lord's Bridge station on navigable 1946 O. S. map
* {{Closed stations Cambridgeshire Disused railway stations in Cambridgeshire Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1862 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1968 1862 establishments in England

History

Present day

See also

References

External links