The Railway comes to Thornbury
The Railway comes to Thornbury
Plans for the Railway. A Society of Thornbury Folk Bulletin (number 21 published in October 1953) explained that as far back as 1861 a public meeting, presided over by MR H H Lloyd, the Mayor, had been convened to discuss linking the town with a railway line from Bristol via a junction at Patchway or Pilning. The former route was steep and tunnels were necessary; the latter along the marsh was cheaper and more easily constructed. The Midland Railway had already talked about a link for 10 years but nothing had been done.
There were many locally who were resistant to the idea of a railway at all. Sir George Jenkinson said that objections had been raised on the grounds that a railway would be prejudicial to hunting. Although he himself was fond of hunting, he was prepared to balance that against the general good. Sir George Banks Jenkinson was a major property owner and his family lived at Eastwood Park.
In November 1863 another meeting was held, this time at The Swan Hotel in the High Street, to promote the project of a railway line to Thornbury. This time there were five different possibilities being investigated by the South Wales Union Railway.
1) The Grovesend Line of 7.5 miles which would cost £58,400 - if the line could be built without a tunnel
2) The same line via Grovesend with the tunnel which would cost £90,000
Both of these lines would present problems because of the steep gradient.
3) Priest's-pool line which would run 6.5 miles and cost £35,000
4) The Ship line 6.25 miles to Bull's Lane which would cost £90,000
5) The Greenhill line 6.25 miles which would cost £110,000 This line it was said would present difficulties as it was "an awkward country, and would interfere with good property."
None of these estimates included the cost of acquiring the land, the stations, or the parliamentary and legal expenses. The routes appear to be linking either Grovesend to Thornbury where the railway is now or coming through Alveston (hence the references to the Ship and Greenhill). This is a steeper route and so the costs would have been greater and the land appears to be more valuable.
The report of the discussion at this meeting shows how many aspects there were to these plans and gives an indication of why so little was actually achieved. It was clear from the surveys alone that the geography of Thornbury would be a problem - it was at the bottom of a hill and trains could not cope with hills. The report of the survey also alludes to another issue; the people with the most influence in the town owned the surrounding land and obviously some did not want the line to be built at any cost and others would want a lot of compensation - the line had somehow to avoid "good property". It becomes clear in this account of the meeting that one of the most staunch objectors was Mr Howard (this would be Henry Howard, Lord of the Manor and the major landowner on the area). However Mr J. Crowther Gwynn defended Mr Howard, saying that he had only been given a rough sketch of a plan which showed that the line would go through eight or ten of his meadows, a portion of his park and would run three-quarters of a mile through his property.
The other complication was in the nature of the railways at this time. This was before nationalisation and there were many railway companies competing against each other and they all had shareholders to consider. The Great Western Railway Company would be willing to work the line from Pilning to Thornbury at 55% of the gross receipts. The Union Railway Company had also expressed an interest and would assist the new railway to the extent of £5,000 (possibly even £10,000 and would be willing to charge for 14 miles of rail in their fares to Bristol instead of 16 miles which would be the true fare. The Midland Railway had also expressed an interest but had not yet made an offer.
The first speaker, Sir George Jenkinson, declared that he had nothing to gain personally and so claimed to be impartial. He seemed to be very hostile to the Midland Railway Company which admittedly was being rather slow to commit itself to a proposal and he drew the meeting's attention to yet another factor in this decision - the various railway companies used different gauge track! Great Western Railway which was engineered by the great Isambard Kingdom Brunel favoured broad gauge track which was originally seven feet and one quarter inch wide. Midland Railway used the standard gauge of four feet and eight and half inches.
This discussion took place at an interesting time. The "gauge wars" were still being fought by the different railway companies." At this time (1863) there were actually more miles of broad gauge track than there were of the standard narrower gauge. It was a battle that the Great Western Company was already beginning to lose and by the mid 1870's standard gauge and mixed gauge track were being used even in the West of England which was the heartland of the Great Western and broad gauge. However at this time it was felt that if the committee accepted a proposal backed by the Great Western Company the train could run from Thornbury all the way to London because the gauge would be the same. The Midland Railway company used a narrower gauge and so there would have to be a break somewhere for a change over.
The meeting seemed to come close to accepting to pledging its support for the project for a line from Pilning via Priest's pool to "some point in Kington Lane" providing that the South Wales Union Railway pledged £10,000 towards the costs and this proposal was made and seconded. However a statement made by Mr Owen seems to have swayed the mood of the meeting.
Mr Owen was manager of the Frampton Iron Mines and he was a supporter of a scheme that involved Midland Railway. This scheme would link his mines to Yate and Mr Owen said the mineral traffic alone would make the line profitable. The meeting at first seemed doubtful about this because it is not clear why the line would then need to go on from Yate to Thornbury. Mr Owen claimed because the line would be profitable the Midland Railway Company had offered only the other day to make the line at their own cost. This statement received applause, even though the problem of why the company would even consider extending the line to Thornbury was never actually addressed.
The meeting ended with a resolution to adjourn until the Midland Railway Company had met and determined a scheme that could be laid before the inhabitants of Thornbury.
Building the Railway. A newspaper report of 8th October 1864 reported that Mr Rendall CE (this may indicate that he was County Engineer) was "taking levels" in the Thornbury area. Presumably this was the beginning of actually surveying the ground for what was an ambitious project. At this stage the railway was being planned "from the mouth of the Wye, crossing the Severn at Old Passage, from thence by Cote Farm through Elberton to Thornbury on to Wickwar, and to London via Swindon." This scheme was being proposed by "influential gentlemen" of Newport connected with the coal and iron works of South Wales. Thornbury's history from this point could have been very different.
On the 26th November 1864 the proposed methods for crossing the Severn were
outlined in some detail in the Bristol Times. The favoured method
appeared to be branching from the South Wales Railway and crossing the
Severn by a bridge which finished two miles above Aust (presumably somewhere
near Oldbury) and which passed through Thornbury Cromhall Wickwar and
Malmesbury to Wootton Bassett on the Great Western Railway. Click
on the thumbnail image to read the full details of the various schemes.
According to another Society of Thornbury Folk newsletter (1966), the "Thornbury Journal" of 1869 reported on the progress of the railway, which sounds very slow. The tunnel at Grovesend was finally under construction. The scheme of a bridge over the Severn, which had been authorised by Parliament in 1865, had been abandoned and the suggestion of a tunnel under the river was now being canvassed. A newspaper report of 20th May 1869 explains that a subway was to be built between the dock at Lydney and the intended basin of the Gloucester Canal at Berkeley. An "iron tube" was to be sunk in the bed of the river so that the line could be connected to the Midland Railway at Thornbury, the South Wales Union Railway at Pilning and the Bristol Port and Pier of Avonmouth.
The bridge project would have been for its time a sensational piece of engineering and the cost quite enormous. It would have been over a mile long and the central arch would have had to be high enough for a ship of a thousand tons to bring corn and timber to Gloucester. A newspaper report of 22nd May 1869 gives more background on why the plan for the bridge was abandoned. The plan had been passed although the authorities at Gloucester felt the bridge would have been ruinous for the port. However "Black Friday" and the subsequent monetary depression followed and the plan was shelved.
When the railway began to be built at long last there were different problems. A newspaper report of 1st December 1869 was headlined "Serious Devastation of Game Preserves at Thornbury." The report states that poaching ("with the exception of one or two poachers") was not a problem in Thornbury, which is surprising in view of the frequency of newspaper reports of poaching and the trials of poachers. The newspaper refers rather sneeringly to railway workers as the "gentlemen of the line" and said that there had been wholesale destruction of game with landowners afraid or unable to make arrests. Not one navvy had been apprehended but seventeen of them had been discharged from work on suspicion of poaching.
"Navvies" as they were called caused many other concerns amongst a population used to a quiet rural existence, which is not surprising as one newspaper report of 1869 says that there were 800 of them working on the line and this must have made quite an impact on the small communities in the area of the railway. On 11th December 1869 there was a rather scandalised report of a navvy causing a minor disturbance in Tytherington Parish Church by walking up to the pulpit during the sermon, hold of the clergyman's surplice and telling him to read louder!
A report of 13th November 1869 gives a rather flowery and long winded description of the railway network but also has some rather interesting information about the progress of the line towards Thornbury. It says that
"The intended South Wales line which is now in rapid progression, leaves the main (line) at Yate, a distance of a little over five miles from Mangotsfield, and passing through some heavy cuttings, alights on a large village of some antiquity, named Iron Acton. ...From this village a short branch is made to Frampton Iron Works, from which, when in full working, a good mineral traffic will emanate. The line on leaving Acton passes over several bridges.... and arrives at Tytherington. Mineral traffic can now be carried on from this village to Bristol, London and the Midland counties."
This description sounds very like the idea put forward by Mr Owen, the manager of the Frampton Iron Mines six years earlier in the meeting of November 1863. Mr Owen said then that the Midland Railway would find it profitable because of the mineral trade but failed to explain why the railway should then be extended to Thornbury. It is not surprising then to read that the work had been discontinued because of the "immense costs" of cuttings and tunnels to take the line further. "Two months ago" (presumably in September 1869) work had been resumed and on leaving Tytherington the line now crossed an iron bridge and passed into a deep cutting. Half a mile on from Tytherington the first tunnel had been commenced at the brow of Castle Hill and when completed it would reach over a mile and then pass along an embankment ranging in height from ten to twenty feet high to reach Thornbury.
All this work to make the tunnel and to build up the embankment would of course be done by men rather than machines and the work must have been incredibly hard and dangerous. The mortality rate amongst navvies generally was high, for example in 1841 one hundred men were killed while constructing Brunel's famous Box Hill tunnel which linked Bath and Chippenham. In Thornbury the fatality rate seem to have been mercifully fairly low and so far we have found only one inquest on an excavator whose foot was crushed by a stone and who died from blood poisoning after an operation to amputate it. The man was called William Jervis.
In November 1871 the cutting at Grovesend was completed and the contractor's waggons could pass between Thornbury station yard and Tytherington to convey the building materials for the new station. A newspaper article that month confidently said that that the station would soon be finished.
However progress must have slowed yet again. Towards the end of December 1871 a meeting at The Swan Hotel was called to "facilitate the opening of the new railway." The mayor, Mr J Crowther Gwynn, was of the opinion that the directors of the Midland Railway should be asked to complete the station and open it. He said they should be reminded that Thornbury was the centre of an agricultural district and so the line would pay when the farmers could take advantage of the railway to transport their goods. His last letter to the Secretary of the Midland Railway Company had only produced the reply that they were proceeding as fast as they could but they could not say when the station would be open.
The railway was eventually built with the station to the north of what was then Richard Scarlett's house (Thornbury Villa) at the top of the town near where the Midland Way trading estate is now and not far from the Tesco's supermarket. Click here to see photographs illustrating this. The picture below left is from a photograph of Thornbury railway station by Mike Edwards. The water tower in the centre distance of the photograph played a surprising role in supplying Thornbury with water. Click here to read more.
The Day the Train Came. The first public train ran from
Bristol to Thornbury on 2nd September
1872 and set down about 100 passengers at Thornbury while 53 were booked on the
first train from Thornbury to Bristol. John Cr
owther
Gwynn, solicitor and Mayor of Thornbury, left Bristol by the first train and
was welcomed to his town by a
brass band (Note this was the Tockington Band playing 'See the conquering
hero comes', according to the Society of Thornbury Folk Bulletin). On
alighting from the train, the Bristol Times and Mirror reported; “He was
handed into a carriage and drawn in triumph by the inhabitants to The Swan
Hotel where his worship received the congratulations of some of the
principal inhabitants of the town." It seems that just to
travel by train seemed brave and worthy of respect.
His speech is quoted in the Society of Thornbury Folk Bulletin - “Fellow townsmen, this is a red-letter day in the annals of Thornbury. This town is the centre of a large and wealthy agricultural district and I do not doubt that the markets will be greatly increased and before long we shall have a connection with South Wales.”
The Bristol Times and Mercury observed that the Midland Railway directors and leading officials were not at the opening and seemed not to like the branch. It also commented that if they (the directors) had attended, a celebratory luncheon would have been held.
The article in the Bristol Times and Mercury itself had reservations about the advantages of the railway. After pointing out that hitherto passengers to Thornbury had to travel on the Bristol and South Wales Union Railway from Bristol to Patchway and then catch a bus it continued ;
“Unless time is an object it is very probable that this (travelling by bus and then train) will continue to be a favourite route for it is not only a pleasanter but cheaper journey”. The Midland Railway fare for Bristol to Thornbury was 1s 5½d third class, 2s 4d second and 4s 0d first class return, whereas the rail fares from Bristol to Patchway were only 6d, 9d and 1s 3d respectively, with a horse bus return fare of 8d outside and 10d inside. Furthermore, the article said travelling by bus "would have thrown in one of the most charming drives to be found in this part of the country; for it will be acknowledged that the woodland and Severn scenery from Almondsbury to Thornbury is of the most picturesque kind."
Despite the lack of enthusiasm displayed by both the directors and the Times and Mirror, Thornbury was en fete. The article in the Society of Thornbury Folk bulletin says that the inhabitants were up before day break erecting arches, flags and other devices, “bearing mottoes such as “Welcome” and “Science still her march keep on” - the latter along the double frontage of Mr Michael wine and spirit merchant.”
The Society of Thornbury Folk article says that the Tockington Band in its uniform led a ”large concourse” of people up the High Street from "The Swan" to welcome the first train at 10am. The Times and Mirror grew more enthusiastic later in its report.
“At the railway station scarcely standing room could be obtained, so great was the crush of people, several thousands of persons having assembled there await the arrival of the first train from Bristol. Most shops closed at 11.30 am; streets were decorated with flags and arches; while bells rang from the parish church. At 1.30 pm 725 school children from the Church of England, Dissenting and Union schools accompanied by their teachers and The Alveston Band, travelled in an 18 coach train to Yate at 4d return per head, the cost being defrayed by public subscription. When they arrived back at Thornbury, the children were let out for a run near the station in fields lent by Mr R Scarlett solicitor. Here they sat down to a substantial tea, the cake provided by Mr Vowles, the Thornbury baker."
An extract from the Western Daily Press 3rd September 1872 said;
“Many of the residents in Thornbury illuminated their dwellings at night, gas stars and other brilliant devices being apparent on every hand; while to add to the other attractions, Mr Pendley, pyrotechnist, of Wotton under Edge, made a display of fireworks. The last train that left Thornbury for Yate was densely crowded by persons, who went to the junction and back again for the novelty of the ride by rail, and numbers of rustics showed by their exclamations that they had not until yesterday seen a locomotive. A little inconvenience was experienced on account of the rush of passengers, but Mr Brant, the station master and his assistants proved equal to the emergency, and the arrangements on a less exacting occasion may be expected to work smoothly. Simply for an excursion, a trip along the new route would repay the traveller, as in the locality of Tytherington the scenery is very bold and romantic, and similar in character to that at the Peak in Derbyshire, which is perhaps unequalled in England.”
The Society of Thornbury Folk Bulletin number 6 of September 1948 mentions that Mr F H Burchell gave an address about the opening of the line and in the discussion that followed it was recalled that when the railway first opened in 1872 Edgar Pitcher was one of the people to get a free ride in the train.
Operating the Railway. The report on the opening of the railway said that the train timetable was merely experimental and for the time being two trains a day would run between Bristol and Thornbury, morning and evening. A timetable had been published on 31st July 1872 and showed that on weekdays a train would leave Yate at 9.40am and arrive in Thornbury at 10.10am and one would leave Thornbury at 8.10am and arrive at Yate at 8.40am. In the afternoon the train would leave Yate at 5.25pm and arrive at 5.55pm and one would leave Thornbury at 4.35pm and arrive in Yate at 5.05pm. The trains would have accommodation for first, second and third class passengers!
Newspaper reports soon showed that there were still problems with the railway. On 2nd November 1872 there was an article about a land slip in the cutting between Thornbury and Tytherington stations. The land slip was said to be very extensive and so although upwards of a 150 men were allegedly working day and night it was likely to be at least a fortnight before the service could resume. Another, smaller, land slip was reported on 7th December 1872.
In 1884 on 28th November there was the report of a minor accident to the train which had left Thornbury for Yate the morning before. Part of the train was derailed but no one was hurt. The report mentions that there were 20 passengers on the train in two carriages and several goods trucks that were empty at the time. It does not sound as though the line was very busy.
The railway was able to take advantage of the excitement caused by the Littleton Whale. On 26th January 1885 an advertisement appeared for a cheap excursion train for Thornbury (the nearest station to Littleton) to go and see the whale which was washed up on the pill there. The train would leave Bristol at 1.30pm and Fishponds at 1.35 returning at 6.20pm. The fare there and back was 1s 3d third class.
The train service was always problematic. The service never seemed adequate. There are many reports in the newspaper of dissatisfaction, including that of 15th November 1899 in which the council voted to ask the Midland Railway Company to run an extra train from Thornbury between 1 and 2pm. This request seems to have gone unheeded. It was never very convenient to travel from Thornbury to Bristol via Yate. The railway did not serve the wider area around Thornbury as well as a bus service could. The beginning of the end for the trains came with the motor buses. In 1904 Alveston Parish Council asked the Great Western Railway Company to provide a motor car service between Thornbury and Patchway. The first motor bus service from Thornbury, provided by the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company, began in February 1906. It ran to Horfield, where the Bristol trams ended. A year later the bus service terminated at Filton, for the trams had been extended to that growing suburb. Some buses ran through Thornbury to Berkeley. The buses ran approximately every hour and the fare from Filton to Thornbury was 6d.
As late as 1918 the Gazette of the 9th March was still suggesting that there could be a bright future for the railway line. The article said that "a large staff of engineers are at present at Thornbury planning out a light railway in continuation of the Midland Railway from Yate to the River Severn for the purpose of conveying stone from the huge quarries at Tytherington ...... to the banks of the River Severn at Littleton."
The extension never came.
Click here to read about the closure of the Railway line
This page was last updated: 05/03/2010