Ledbury and Gloucester Railway

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

Ledbury and Gloucester Railway

Legend For canal icons used below, please refer to waterways legend instead. Cotswold Line Ledbury Ledbury Tunnel Hereford Road Skew Bridge Ledbury Town Halt A449 River Leadon Greenway Halt Preston Brook B4215 Dymock Four Oaks Halt Ell Brook Newent B4215 Malswick Halt B4215 Barbers Bridge Gloucester to Newport Line Over Junction River Severn Alney Island Gloucester Docks Branch River Severn Gloucester and Sharpness Canal Gloucester Cathedral Gloucester Central Gloucester Eastgate Tuffley Loop Cross Country Route (to Bristol) Cross Country Route (to York)

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]

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 only 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 TO LEDBURY (GWR)". disused-rlys. 29 March 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
2. Ledbury Transport History
3. "The Gloucester to Ledbury Branch". www.steamindex.com. 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. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
7. "Photo by D. J. Norton, Ledbury". Retrieved 18 September 2009.
8. "132 - Gloucester - Highnam - Newent - Dymock - Ledbury – Bus Times". bustimes.org.uk. Retrieved 20 December 2015.

Coordinates: 51°56′36″N 2°26′00″W / 51.9434°N 2.4333°W