Clevedon branch line
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Clevedon branch line was a branch railway line that ran from
Yatton railway station Yatton railway station, on the Bristol to Exeter line, is in the village of Yatton in North Somerset, England. It is west of Bristol Temple Meads railway station, and from London Paddington. Its three-letter station code is YAT. It was opened ...
on the
Bristol to Taunton Line Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in S ...
to
Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 ...
in
North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...
, England, with no intermediate stops. It was opened on 28 July 1847 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway. Initially it was built as broad gauge but was converted to standard gauge in 1879.


History

Seaside resorts became fashionable during the early years of the reign of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
. When the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) opened its main line (at first to Bridgwater) in 1841, a station was provided at "Clevedon Road", about distant. In the 1845 the B&ER obtained the necessary Parliamentary sanction to open a branch line to the town.E T MacDermot, ''History of the Great Western Railway'', volume II, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1932 The line was opened on 28 July 1847. Starting from Clevedon Road station, which was renamed at the same time, it was long. Branch trains had a bay platform on the upside with an over-all roof. The line was built to the broad gauge but converted to the standard gauge over the weekend 27 to 29 September 1879.Derek Phillips, ''Steaming Through the Cheddar Valley'', Oxford Publishing Co., Hersham, 2001,


Train services

The branch was mostly operated as a shuttle from Yatton, although there were a few direct trains from . Between 1924 and 1936 a business service from Bristol at 17:15 consisted of a coach slipped at Yatton, which was then taken to Clevedon on a local train. Steam railmotors, auto-trains and diesel
railcar A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a dri ...
s were used on the line at different times. In its final years, the branch was operated by diesel
multiple units A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contro ...
or by a single-car diesel railcar. Even in its declining years the service was fairly frequent: the British Railways, Western Region timetable for 1964–1965 shows 24 trains in each direction, with a few more on Saturdays and during the summer, though no Sunday service.


Clevedon station

Clevedon station was situated at what is now ''Queen's Square'' shopping precinct which was built in the 1980s. A set of points are preserved and mounted upright as a reminder of the square's history. Opened in 1847 it was originally a wooden structure but the single platform terminus was rebuilt in 1890. Clevedon had a signal box until the end of 1916, but from 1 January 1917 the branch was operated "under one engine in steam" arrangements. A ground frame was provided to operate the points in the goods yard at Clevedon which was locked or released by key on the train staff. On 10 June 1963 the goods service was discontinued and the goods sidings and ground frame abolished. The station was demolished in 1968.


Closure

Traffic declined as road usage increased in the years following 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 opposi ...
. The line was closed to general goods traffic on 10 June 1963. The passenger station was unstaffed from this time and was referred to in timetables as "Clevedon Halt". Passenger services ceased on 3 October 1966 and the track was lifted soon after.Maggs, pages 65–66 All the track bed in Clevedon has long since been built on as the town has expanded. The last original bits of track, around
Kingston Seymour Kingston Seymour is a small village and civil parish with royal status in Somerset, England. It is situated within the unitary authority of North Somerset, between Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare on the North Somerset Levels. The parish has a po ...
, were lifted in the late 1980s. Housing developments in the 1990s are built on some of the track bed in Yatton.


References


See also

{{Commons category, Clevedon branch line *
Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Light Railway The Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Light Railway (WC&PR) was a standard gauge light railway in Somerset, England. It was conceived as a tramway in the 1880s, opening between the coastal towns of Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon in 1897 and comp ...

Line on a 1949 OS map
Rail transport in Somerset Closed railway lines in South West England Railway lines opened in 1847 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1966 Beeching closures in England Clevedon 1847 establishments in England