St Mary's Halt | |
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Station on heritage railway | |
Pannier 9681 rushes through St Mary's Halt towards Norchard. | |
Location | Lydney, Forest of Dean England |
Coordinates | 51°43′12″N2°31′51″W / 51.72°N 2.5308°W Coordinates: 51°43′12″N2°31′51″W / 51.72°N 2.5308°W |
Grid reference | SO633024 |
Operated by | Dean Forest Railway |
Platforms | 1 |
History | |
Original company | Dean Forest Railway |
Key dates | |
8 September 1991 | Opened |
1 January 2014 | Closed |
Railway lines in Lydney | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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St. Mary's Halt was a small railway station halt on the Dean Forest Railway. It served the local park and lake, both near the station, and was the original southern terminus of the DFR from 1991 to 1995.
The halt was not an original station of the Severn and Wye Railway and was opened by the Dean Forest Railway on 8 September 1991. It was originally named Lydney Lakeside, taking its name from the lake behind the platform. From 1991 to 1995 it was the original southern terminus of the Dean Forest Railway prior to the reopening of Lydney Junction in 1995. It was later renamed St Mary's Halt in 1995 - which takes its name from St. Mary's Church, located opposite the platform. The halt was closed to passengers after the 2013 season, but was still used for the operation of the Bypass crossing until January 2016, when the crossing was automated. It will be removed within the foreseeable future for re-use elsewhere on the line.
The Lakeside Extension, which involved the opening of Lydney Lakeside (now St Mary's Halt) was the first major extension that was undertaken by the Dean Forest Railway. The railway had been previously constrained to the Norchard site. To mark this event City of Truro visited the line, only one of two occasions that this has occurred at the DFR (the other in 2010 to mark the 200th anniversary of the Severn and Wye Railway).
This section of the railway still retains some original features; mainly the cast iron lattice bridge, opened on 26 September 1892.
Services would always call when travelling to Lydney Junction (a necessity to operate the Bypass Level Crossing). After 2009 however services only called only on request heading towards Norchard, Lydney Town, Whitecroft, and Parkend until closure.
In 1993, five services would operate each running day between April and October (a later service would run on Sundays, Bank Holidays, and other selected days). The first train would depart at 11:00 from the then new Norchard Low Level platform, with a journey time of 10 minutes to the Lakeside. A complete roundtrip would take 35 minutes.
Special services would also run to the halt to provide access to Carol services at St Mary's Church opposite the halt. The train would wait in the platform to take the passengers back from the services, which always proved popular for the Dean Forest Railway.
Preceding station | Following station | |||
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Lydney Junction | Dean Forest Railway | Lydney Town |
Lydney is a town and civil parish in the English county of Gloucestershire. It is on the west bank of the River Severn, in the Forest of Dean District, and is 16 miles (25 km) southwest of Gloucester as the crow flies. The town has been bypassed since 1995 by the A48 road. The population was about 8,960 in the 2001 census, reducing to 8,766 at the 2011 census.
The A48 is a trunk road in Great Britain running from the A40 at Highnam, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Gloucester, England, to the A40 at Carmarthen, Wales. Before the Severn Bridge opened on 8 September 1966, it was a major route between England and South Wales. For most of its route, it runs almost parallel to the M4 motorway. During times of high winds at the Severn Bridge, the A48 is used as part of the diversion route and is still marked as a Holiday Route.
The Dean Forest Railway is a 4 1⁄4-mile (6.8 km) long heritage railway that runs between Lydney and Parkend in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.
Lydney railway station is a railway station serving the town of Lydney in Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the Gloucester-Newport line. The station is located a mile south of Lydney, and was originally called Lydney Junction, which is now the name of the nearby station on the preserved Dean Forest Railway.
Lydney Junction railway station is a railway station near Lydney in Gloucestershire. The station is now the southern terminus of the Dean Forest Railway. It is located to the south of Lydney, near the A48 road.
Norchard is a railway station on the Dean Forest Railway, near Lydney in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.
Lydney Town railway station is a railway station on the Dean Forest Railway in Lydney in Gloucestershire.
Parkend railway station is located in the village of Parkend, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. It is currently the northern terminus of the Dean Forest (heritage) Railway.
The Severn and Wye Railway began as an early tramroad network established in the Forest of Dean to facilitate the carriage of minerals to watercourses for onward conveyance. It was based on Lydney, where a small harbour was constructed, and opened its line to Parkend in 1810. It was progressively extended northwards, and a second line, the Mineral Loop was opened to connect newly opened mineral workings.
The Wye Valley Railway was a standard gauge railway that ran for nearly 15 miles (24 km) along the Lower Wye Valley between the towns of Chepstow and Monmouth, crossing several times between Wales and England. Opened on 1 November 1876, it was leased to, and worked by, the Great Western Railway (GWR), before being fully absorbed by the GWR in 1905.
The Forest of Dean Railway was a railway company operating in Gloucestershire, England. It was formed in 1826 when the moribund Bullo Pill Railway and a connected private railway failed, and they were purchased by the new company. At this stage it was a horse-drawn plateway, charging a toll for private hauliers to use it with horse traction. The traffic was chiefly minerals from the Forest of Dean, in the Whimsey and Churchway areas, near modern-day Cinderford, for onward conveyance from Bullo Pill at first, and later by the Great Western Railway.
Berkeley railway station served the town of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, England. The station was on the Sharpness Branch Line, part of the Midland Railway (MR), which connected the Bristol and Gloucester Railway main line at Berkeley Road station with the docks at Sharpness.
Sharpness railway station served the village of Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England.
The Coleford, Monmouth, Usk & Pontypool Railway (CMU&PR) was a standard gauge railway of 16 miles (26 km) which ran from Monmouth to Little Mill, near Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales. It was intended to convey the mineral products of the Forest of Dean to the ironworks of South Wales, by connecting to the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway at Little Mill Junction. The NAHR made the onward connection over its Taff Vale Extension line. The CMU&PR intended to acquire the Monmouth Railway, actually a horse-operated plateway, and convert it to locomotive operation.
The Ross and Monmouth Railway was a standard gauge railway of 13 miles (21 km) which ran between Ross-on-Wye, in Herefordshire, England and Monmouth, Wales.
The Severn Bridge Railway was a railway company which constructed a railway from Lydney to Sharpness in Gloucestershire, England. It was intended chiefly to give access for minerals in the Forest of Dean to Sharpness Docks, and the company built a long bridge, 1,387 yards (1,268 m) in length, over the River Severn. The line opened in 1879.
Lydbrook Junction railway station is a disused railway station in England opened by the Ross and Monmouth Railway in 1873, it remained open for 91 years until 1964 when the line finally closed to freight, though passenger services ceased in 1959. The station was constructed in the hamlet of Stowfield approximately half a mile from Lydbrook and its viaduct on the Severn and Wye Railway. It was located approximately 4 miles and 34 chains along the railway from Ross-on-Wye station. In 1874 the Severn and Wye Railway opened a branch from Serridge Junction and Cinderford, passenger services commenced in 1875. All passenger trains along the S&W branch were withdrawn from 1929.
Tufts Junction was a junction on the Severn and Wye Railway between Lydney Town and Whitecroft. The junction is now on the Dean Forest Railway between Norchard and Whitecroft.
Speech House Road railway station is a disused railway station opened by the former Severn and Wye Railway in 1875, it remained open for 88 years until the line, north of Parkend, closed to freight in 1963. Passenger trains on the Severn and Wye Railway, north of Lydney, were withdrawn from 1929.
Cinderford New railway station is a disused railway station that was opened by the former Severn and Wye Railway to serve the mining town of Cinderford.
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