Helmdon railway station

Last updated

Helmdon
Helmdon for Sulgrave railway station (1963).jpg
General information
Location Helmdon, West Northamptonshire
England
Grid reference SP586430
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Great Central Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Central Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
15 March 1899Opened as Helmdon
1928Renamed Helmdon for Sulgrave
4 March 1963station closed
1966line closed

Helmdon railway station served the village and civil parish of Helmdon in Northamptonshire on the former Great Central Main Line (GCR). It was the second of two stations in the parish, the first being Helmdon Village on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway.

Contents

History

A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Helmdon (lower centre, in pink labelled "G.C.") Banbury, Blisworth, Cockley Brake, Fenny Compton, Northampton, Ravenstone Wood,Roade, Stratford on Avon, Towcester, & Woodford & Hinton RJD 2.jpg
A 1911 Railway Clearing House map of railways in the vicinity of Helmdon (lower centre, in pink labelled "G.C.")

The GCR main line was the last main line to be built from northern England to London. [1] It opened for passenger services on 15 March 1899 and for goods services in April. [2] The station, originally named "Helmdon", opened with the line on 15 March 1899. [3]

From the station the line ran northwards on an embankment before crossing the valley on the nine-arch Helmdon Viaduct [4] over the River Tove.

Helmdon was the nearest station for Sulgrave Manor, which had been the home of George Washington's ancestors in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 1920s the house was restored and opened as a museum, and due to this connection the LNER renamed Helmdon station "Helmdon for Sulgrave" in 1928. [3]

British Railways closed the station to passengers on 4 March 1963 [3] and to goods on 2 November 1964. [5] In 1966 BR closed the line and the station was demolished. The platforms remain albeit largely hidden in the undergrowth. [6] The viaduct remains.

Route

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Brackley Central
Line and station closed
  Great Central Railway
London Extension
  Culworth
Line and station closed

See also

Notes

  1. Dow 1962, p. 339.
  2. Dow 1962, p. 340.
  3. 1 2 3 Butt 1995, p. 118.
  4. Dow 1962, p. 322.
  5. Mitchell & Smith 2006, fig. 83.
  6. Mitchell & Smith 2006, fig. 84.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmdon</span> Human settlement in England

Helmdon is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Brackley in West Northamptonshire, England. The village is on the River Tove, which is flanked by meadows that separate the village into two. The parish includes the hamlets of Astwell and Falcutt and covers more than 1,550 acres (630 ha). The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 899.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heswall railway station</span> Railway station in Merseyside, England

Heswall railway station is a railway station on the eastern edge of the town of Heswall on the Wirral Peninsula in England. It is on the Borderlands Line. The station and all trains serving it are operated by Transport for Wales. In 2008 the station was refurbished. The station was previously known as Heswall Hills, as there was previously another station serving Heswall, on the Birkenhead Railway's branch line from West Kirby to Hooton, that is now a footpath known as the Wirral Way.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folkestone Harbour railway station</span> Railway station in England

Folkestone Harbour station was one of four railway stations in Folkestone, Kent. It served Folkestone Harbour with connecting boat train services across the English Channel to Calais and Boulogne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toddington railway station</span> Heritage railway station in England

Toddington railway station serves the village of Toddington in Gloucestershire, England. Since 1984 it has been the main base of operations for the heritage Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Central Main Line</span> Former railway line in the United Kingdom

The Great Central Main Line (GCML), also known as the London Extension of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), is a former railway line in the United Kingdom. The line was opened in 1899 and built by the Great Central Railway running from Sheffield in the North of England, southwards through Nottingham and Leicester to Marylebone in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nottingham Arkwright Street railway station</span> Former railway station in Nottingham, England

Nottingham Arkwright Street was a railway station in Nottingham on the former Great Central Main Line which ran from Manchester Piccadilly to London Marylebone. The station opened with the line in 1899 and closed in 1963 as part of rationalisation; it reopened four years later upon the closure of Nottingham Victoria railway station, only to close in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bulwell Common railway station</span> Former railway station in Nottinghamshire, England

Bulwell Common railway station was a station in Nottingham on the Great Central Railway main line, the last main line to be built from the north of England to London. The station opened with the line on 15 March 1899.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Partington railway station</span> Former railway station in Scotland

Partington railway station was situated on the Cheshire Lines Committee route between Warrington and Stockport. It served the locality between 1874 and 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olney railway station (England)</span> Former railway station in England

Olney was a railway station on the former Bedford to Northampton Line and Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway which served the town of Olney in Buckinghamshire, England. It was situated on a busy section of line between Towcester and Ravenstone Wood junction which saw heavy use by freight services running between Wales and north-east England. The station closed for passengers in 1962 and completely in 1964, the various connecting routes to the line having closed one by one from the 1950s onwards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairford railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Fairford railway station served the town of Fairford in Gloucestershire. It was the western terminus of the Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway between Oxford and Fairford. It had one platform, and a stone-built station building.

Wappenham was a railway station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJ) which served the Northamptonshire village of Wappenham between 1872 and 1951. Serving a relatively rural area, the station saw considerable goods traffic generated by local farming communities, but passenger traffic was low which ultimately led to its closure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helmdon Village railway station</span> Former railway station in Northamptonshire, England

Helmdon Village railway station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJ) served the Northamptonshire village of Helmdon between 1872 and 1951. It was one of two stations serving the lightly populated rural area, the other being Helmdon railway station on the Great Central Main Line, and its closure marked the beginning of the years of decline for the SMJ line.

Morton Pinkney was a railway station on the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway (SMJ) which served the Northamptonshire village of Moreton Pinkney between 1873 and 1952. It was situated not far from Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of George Washington's family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broom Junction railway station</span> Former railway station in Warwickshire, England

Broom Junction was a railway station serving the village of Broom in Warwickshire, England. It was an interchange for both the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway and the Barnt Green to Ashchurch line.

Wotton was a railway station at Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire, on the Great Central Railway's link line between Calvert and Ashendon Junction.

Cheltenham High Street railway station was built by the Midland Railway to serve the north-western part of Cheltenham.

The Banbury to Verney Junction branch line was a railway branch line constructed by the Buckinghamshire Railway which connected the Oxfordshire market town of Banbury with the former Oxford/Cambridge Varsity line and the former Metropolitan Railway at Verney Junction, a distance of 21 miles 39 chains. Onward routes from there ran to the West Coast Main Line at Bletchley via Brackley and Buckingham and thence to Cambridge, or to Aylesbury for London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gretton Halt railway station</span> Former railway station in Scotland

Gretton Halt railway station was a halt opened by the Great Western Railway on the Honeybourne Line from Honeybourne to Cheltenham which served the small village of Gretton in Gloucestershire between 1906 and 1960. The line through the site of the station was reinstated in 1997 by the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, although no new halt was provided.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Helens Central railway station (Great Central Railway)</span> Former railway station in England

St Helens Central (GCR) railway station served the town of St Helens, England with passenger traffic between 1900 and 1952 and goods traffic until 1965. It was the terminus of a branch line from Lowton St Mary's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturton railway station</span> Former English railway station

Sturton railway station was an intermediate stop on the eastern main line of the Great Central Railway, opened in 1849. Besides the village of Sturton le Steeple in Nottinghamshire, England, it also served the villages of North Wheatley and South Wheatley, both also being in Nottinghamshire. It closed in 1959.

References

52°04′58″N1°08′45″W / 52.0828°N 1.1459°W / 52.0828; -1.1459