Hampton Loade railway station
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Hampton Loade railway station is a station on the
Severn Valley Railway The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
heritage line, close to the hamlet of
Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...
on the western bank of the
River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...
; Hampton Loade itself is on the eastern bank, and can no longer be reached by the
Hampton Loade Ferry Hampton Loade Ferry was a pedestrian cable ferry linking the villages of Hampton Loade and Hampton across the River Severn in the English county of Shropshire and providing a link to Hampton Loade village from Hampton Loade station on the her ...
across the river as this has ceased operation.


History

Hampton Loade station opened as part of the Severn Valley Line on 1 February 1862, appearing as 'Hampton' in the public timetable. It was originally built with one platform and siding; a passing-loop and second platform being added in 1883. There was also a weighbridge located on the river side of the site at one point. The station is actually on the west side of the River Severn in the hamlet of Hampton but was renamed within a month of opening after Hampton Loade, the larger hamlet on the eastern side of the river. Due to the presence of Hampton Loade station in Hampton most residents now refer to their hamlet as Hampton Loade. Most of the local passenger traffic came from the eastern side of the river using the current operated foot
reaction ferry A reaction ferry is a cable ferry that uses the reaction of the current of a river against a fixed tether to propel the vessel across the water. Such ferries operate faster and more effectively in rivers with strong currents. Some reaction ferri ...
to get to the station. The station was always popular with anglers due to the easy access to the river. The station was host to a GWR camp coach in 1939. Although closed by
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 ...
during the implementation of the
Beeching Axe The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Development of the ...
in 1963, plans for its closure had already been made before Beeching's report was published. Following closure all signalling equipment was removed from Hampton Loade, and the signal box was almost completely demolished after purchase from BR by the residents of Station House for use as a chicken coop.


Preservation

From 1970 to 1974, Hampton Loade was the southern terminus of the SVR, just 4 miles from
Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...
. Although at the time the SVR was said to go from "somewhere" to "nowhere" the terminus was a quaint and peaceful place to end services. When preservationists first arrived at Hampton Loade from Bridgnorth, signalling was reinstated as a priority during the early days, mainly using equipment from the closed Stourport-on-Severn station. A legacy of Hampton Loade's former guise as the SVR's southern terminus is the now rarely used down starting signal No. 13 at the north end of the up loop. The platforms at Hampton Loade can only accommodate around four coaches at a time, this or less being the norm in GWR and BR days. As the SVR's trains are longer than this plans have been mooted to extend the platforms. The current Station Master is Lee Whittaker. Retired railwayman Steve Dockerty is Chief Booking Clerk. The station is operated entirely by a volunteer workforce. There are a number of items of rolling stock in the sidings at Hampton Loade. These include British Railways built no. 3467; a 'fruit D' goods van designed by the GWR and built at
Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...
in 1955. It is owned by the Hampton Loade Station Fund and is in use as the station fund shop, known on the SVR as a 'treasure trove' for railwayana and books. It is currently painted in GWR freight grey and lettered with the words 'return to Helston'. It later had a number of W3467W and was preserved in 1973. The oldest carriage on the line, the ex-GWR Churchward third coac
2426
of 1910, was used for staff accommodation at Hampton Loade for 28 years before being moved to Kidderminster in September 2016 for overhaul. Its place has been taken by GWR Riding Van 55 built in 1908. The station takes part in the annual SVR's 1940s weekends, held over a week with two weekends in June/July. The weekends are a light-hearted look back at the 1940s and also underline the important part Britain's railways played in 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 ...
. For this event the station has a 'Dig for Victory' allotment,
Bren gun The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also use ...
, an ARP warden's post, unexploded bombs, R.T.O. Office and several period vehicles along with a standard 'blast tape and sandbags' appearance. Since being reopened in SVR preservation the station has also become home to several relocated corrugated huts of typical GWR design. These being a lamp room from
Cleobury Mortimer Cleobury Mortimer (, ) is a market town and civil parish in southeast Shropshire, England, which had a population of 3,036 at the 2011 census. It was granted a market charter by Henry III in 1226.''Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi ...
, a larger hut from Bearley and another from Kingham. All are painted in the GWR Stone colours. Also on the down platform is a larger hut original to the station, being installed by the GWR at sometime in the 1920s.


Signalling

Hampton Loade signal box controls three points, two distant signals, three starter signals, three home signals, and a set of catch points with related "Dummy" signal. Two of the points are located at either end of the station, controlling the exits to the loop, the third set of points controls the entrance to the siding, and are protected by the "Dummy" signal and its catch points. There are starter signals on the end of the down and up platforms, as well as an extra starter signal on the Brignorth end of the up platform which permits down trains starting at Hampton Loade to be despatched from the up platform. The home signals are located just before the loop entrance points that they protect, in the up direction a bracket carries two homes controlling entrance to the loop and main line, in the down direction a single home controls entry to the main line. In both directions working distant signals protect the homes.


The Paddock Railway

The station is also the home of the 32mm gauge (1:19 scale) model/garden Paddock Railway, which celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2013.


Barry Railway Coach No163

Hampton Loade remains the home of
Barry Railway The Barry Railway Company was a railway and docks company in South Wales, first incorporated as the ''Barry Dock and Railway Company'' in 1884. It arose out of frustration among Rhondda coal owners at congestion and high charges at Cardiff Dock ...
coach 163 undergoing restoration for over two decades. An 1895 6-wheel, 5 compartment first and second class composite built at Ashburys in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, it was scrapped at Swindon on Saturday 24 November 1928, (at that time the Great Western Railway would write off its account assets on Saturdays). The body went to the
Clent Hills The Clent Hills lie south-west of Birmingham city centre in Clent, Worcestershire, England. The closest towns are Stourbridge and Halesowen, both in the West Midlands conurbation (and also historically in Worcestershire). The Clent Hills rang ...
near
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
becoming a holiday home, where it remained until 1992. Re-wheeled onto a 4-wheel ex-Southern Railway Van C underframe on 16 August 2003 some 75 years after being scrapped, it has been in the final stages of restoration back to its opulent Barry Railway condition for several years.


Film and television

The station has been used as the filming location for many films and TV programmes, including ''
The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain ''The Englishman who Went up a Hill but Came down a Mountain'' is a 1995 romantic comedy film with a story by Ifor David Monger and Ivor Monger, written and directed by Christopher Monger. It was entered into the 19th Moscow International Film F ...
'', '' Mad Dogs'' and the 1970s TV series
Carrie's War ''Carrie's War'' is a 1973 English children's novel by Nina Bawden set during the World War II, Second World War. It follows two young London Evacuations of civilians in Britain during World War II, evacuees, Carrie and her younger brother Nick, ...
.


References

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Further reading

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External links


Visitor Guide to SVR Hampton Loade

Panoramamic view of the station

Severn Valley Railway Official Site

Hampton Loade Ferry Site

Aerial view of the Station
{{Shropshire railway stations Heritage railway stations in Shropshire Former Great Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1862 Severn Valley Railway Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1963 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1970 1862 establishments in England