The Ledbury and Gloucester Railway (also known as the Daffodil Line), was a railway line in

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, running between

Ledbury Ledbury is a market town and civil parish in the county of Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and west of the Malvern Hills. It has a significant number of timber-framed structures, in particular along Church Lane and High Street ...

and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. It opened in 1885 and closed in 1964.

History

Most of the line was built over the route of the southern section of the

Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal (sometimes known as the Hereford and Gloucester Canal) is a canal in the west of England, which ran from Hereford to Gloucester, where it linked to the River Severn. It was opened in two phases in 1798 ...

, which had opened in 1798.

Construction and opening

After a period of financial struggle the canal was leased 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 ...

(GWR) in 1863 and in 1881 work started on conversion to a railway. The railway was built by two companies, the Newent Railway and the Ross and Ledbury Railway. The line was inspected by Colonel F. H. Rich in July 1885 and opened on 27 July. It was operated by the GWR with which both of the smaller companies were

amalgamated Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan ama ...

in 1892.

Closure

The line closed to passenger traffic in 1959, with the Dymock to Gloucester section remaining open to goods traffic until 1964.

Route

The line followed a south and then south-easterly route between

Ledbury railway station Ledbury railway station is a railway station on the outskirts of the town of Ledbury on the Worcester to Hereford line in the English Midlands. It has regular services to Birmingham plus several direct trains a day to London Paddington. Histor ...

and Gloucester Central railway station, it joined the

Gloucester to Newport Line Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of the ...

at Over Junction.Stan Yorke, ''Lost Railways of Gloucestershire'', 2009, Stations were constructed at Ledbury Town Halt, Greenway Halt,

Dymock Dymock is a village and civil parish in the Forest of Dean district of Gloucestershire, England, about four miles south of Ledbury. In 2014 the parish had an estimated population of 1,205. Dymock is the origin of the Dymock Red, a cider apple ...

, Four Oaks Halt,

Newent Newent (; originally called "Noent") is a market town and civil parish about 10½ miles (17 km) north-west of Gloucester, England. Its population was 5,073 at the 2001 census, rising to 5,207 in 2011, The population was 6,777 at the 2021 Census. ...

, Malswick Halt and Barbers Bridge. An interesting

skew bridge A skew arch (also known as an oblique arch) is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and its ...

that carried the line across Hereford Road in Ledbury remains in use as part of the Ledbury Town Trail footpath. Passenger services are now provided by the 132 bus which follows the course of the railway for much of its route.

References

{{Transport in Gloucestershire Rail transport in Gloucestershire Rail transport in Herefordshire Great Western Railway constituents Railway lines opened in 1885 Railway lines closed in 1964