Ledbury and Gloucester Railway

The Ledbury and Gloucester Railway (also known as the Daffodil Line), was a railway line in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, England, running between Ledbury and Gloucester. It opened in 1885 and closed in 1964.[1]

A bridge carrying a minor road over the railway trackbed near Rudford church.

History

Most of the line was built over the route of the southern section of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal, which had opened in 1798.

Construction and opening

After a period of financial struggle the canal was leased to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1863 and in 1881 work started on conversion to a railway.[2] 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.[3] It was operated by the GWR with which both of the smaller companies were amalgamated in 1892.[4]

Closure

The line closed to passenger traffic in 1959, with the Dymock to Gloucester section remaining open to goods traffic until 1964.[2]

Route

The line followed a south and then south-easterly route between Ledbury railway station and Gloucester Central railway station, it joined the Gloucester to Newport Line at Over Junction.[5] Stations were constructed at Ledbury Town Halt, Greenway Halt, Dymock, Four Oaks Halt, Newent, Malswick Halt and Barbers Bridge. An interesting skew bridge that carried the line across Hereford Road in Ledbury remains in use as part of the Ledbury Town Trail footpath.[6][7] Passenger services are now provided by the 132 bus which follows the course of the railway for much of its route.[8]

References
  1. "Gloucester and Ledbury Branch Railway". Pastscape. Historic England. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  2. "Ledbury Transport History". Barry harples. Archived from the original on 19 June 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. "The Gloucester to Ledbury Branch". www.steamindex.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  4. MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway. 2 (1863-1921) (1 ed.). London: Great Western Railway.
  5. Stan Yorke, Lost Railways of Gloucestershire, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84674-163-0
  6. "SO7038 : Old railway bridge, Ledbury". Geograph. Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  7. "Photo by D. J. Norton, Ledbury". Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
  8. "132 Bus Route & Timetable: LEDBURY - GLOUCESTER". Stagecoach. Retrieved 9 June 2017.

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