Weston-super-Mare railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Weston-super-Mare
National Rail
Weston-super-Mare railway station exterior 02.jpg
LocationWeston-super-Mare, North Somerset
England
Coordinates51°20′41″N 2°58′18″W / 51.3446°N 2.9716°W / 51.3446; -2.9716Coordinates: 51°20′41″N 2°58′18″W / 51.3446°N 2.9716°W / 51.3446; -2.9716
Grid referenceST324610
Managed byGreat Western Railway
Platforms2
Other information
Station codeWSM
ClassificationDfT category C2
History
Original companyBristol and Exeter Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
1841Terminus opened
1866Replaced by second station
1884Replaced by present station
1972Branch line singled
Passengers
2016/17Increase 1.148 million
2017/18Decrease 1.145 million
2018/19Increase 1.161 million
2019/20Decrease 1.160 million
 Interchange 11,693
2020/21Decrease 0.307 million
 Interchange Decrease 3,295
Listed Building – Grade II
FeatureWeston-super-Mare Railway Station
Designated20 November 2017
Reference no.1448779[1]
Notes
Passenger statistics from the Office of Rail and Road

Weston-super-Mare railway station serves the seaside town of Weston-super-Mare in North Somerset, England. It is situated on a loop off the main Bristol to Taunton Line, 137 miles 33 chains (221.1 km) from London Paddington via Bristol Temple Meads.

The station is operated by Great Western Railway. It consists of two platforms linked by a covered footbridge which is also used as a public footpath between roads on either side of the station. Trains may use either platform in either direction, and many services are booked to pass each other at the station.

History[]

1841 station[]

A replica of the locomotive North Star at the site of the first station

The Bristol and Exeter Railway arrived in Weston-super-Mare on 14 June 1841. This was not the route that serves today's station, but rather a single-track branch line from Weston Junction railway station, midway between the present-day Worle and Uphill junctions, which terminated at a small station in Regent Street close to the High Street.[2]

The trains on this first branch line were made up of two or three small carriages which were hauled by a team of three horses. It was reported that, when a strong wind was blowing towards the train, passengers sometimes got out and walked as it could be quicker! By 1850 a limited number of trains were being worked by steam locomotives, but horses continued to be used on certain trains until 31 March 1851.[3]

The station had a train shed that covered two tracks, although only one passenger platform was provided. Between this and the High Street was the Railway Hotel; in the other direction a level crossing was provided to carry the line across Locking Road, the eastwards continuation of Regent Street. A small engine shed was eventually provided here to house the steam locomotive.

After closure, the land was eventually gifted to the town and planted with trees, giving rise to its unofficial name of "The Plantation". A floral clock was built on the site of the station building. Although the mechanism has not worked for many years, the raised flower bed is still planted each year to commemorate a local or national event. Next to this is a scale replica of North Star, the first locomotive to run on the Great Western Railway. It was erected in 2006 to commemorate to 200th anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer who designed this first station. The Railway Hotel is currently known as Tavern Inn the Town.

1866 station[]

The old signal box

New goods facilities were opened on the junction side of Locking Road in 1862; the first goods dispatched were three truck loads of flower pots from the nearby . On 20 July 1866, a large passenger station was opened adjacent to this, which allowed the closure of Brunel's 1841 terminus and the elimination of the Locking Road level crossing, although a second one across Devonshire Road remained. The branch was given a second track at the same time.

The new station again featured a train shed which covered the platforms.[2] This was designed by the railway's engineer, Francis Fox, and was similar to the one built by him at about the same time at Exeter. The two platforms were supplemented by an excursion platform next to the goods depot.[3] A new Bristol and Exeter Hotel was opened to serve the new station; it is now known as The Town Crier.

Until now the branch had been part of Brunel's 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge network, but on 1 July 1875 a third rail was added to each line which allowed 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) gauge trains to also reach the town. From 1879 no broad gauge trains were timetabled along the branch, although they continued to operate on the main line until 20 May 1892. In the meantime, the Bristol and Exeter Railway had been amalgamated into the Great Western Railway on 1 January 1876.

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Weston Junction railway station   Bristol and Exeter Railway   Terminus

1884 station[]

A Class 31 with a local service to Bristol before the canopy was cut back

The Bristol and Exeter Railway had obtained an Act of Parliament in 1875 to construct a new loop line through the town, which would allow trains to serve the town and then continue along the main line. No action was taken on this for many years which led to a planning blight along the proposed route. An 1880 court case forced the Great Western Railway to pay 5% interest to the affected property owners, which prompted the railway company into action.[3]

The new line and station were opened on 1 March 1884.[2] This was not the end of the old branch line as for several years a trolley was taken along the old tracks to collect mail from a postal train at the old Junction station each night.[4] There was also a need to serve the town's gas works until 1972, and this was done along a short section of the old branch including the level crossing over Devonshire Road which had a roundabout built on it after the remainder of the branch became Winterstoke Road.

Map of the various stations in Weston

The new station consisted of three platforms – two through platforms and an east-facing terminal bay – and was given hipped glass and iron canopies to keep the weather off passengers.[3] A carriage siding was provided between the two main platforms and some more were built on land to the south of the station.[5] Yet more sidings and an engine shed were on the north side of the line near the 1866 station which quickly found itself being reopened for goods traffic until final closure on 30 June 1966.

A new terminal station was opened in 1914 to deal with excursion traffic, being known as Locking Road station, while the main station was known as Weston-super-Mare General.[3] Locking Road closed on 6 September 1964. The area once used by the 1866 and Locking Road stations, along with the sidings, has now been replaced by a Tesco store and a large car and coach park. The only surviving railway building is the old signal box; originally controlling the 1866 station, it shows signs of a later extension to allow extra signal levers for the larger station.

The loop line was singled on 31 January 1972.[5] Most of the sidings were removed at this time and the bay platform (Platform 3) was reduced to the status of a siding. Two signal boxes – one at each end of the station – were closed and new colour light signals provided. These are controlled from a Panel Signal Box at Bristol Temple Meads, but an emergency panel is situated in the Station Supervisors office that can be used to control the line from Puxton Signal Box to Uphill Junction along both the loop line and avoiding line when there are problems with the normal signalling system.

The station itself was refurbished in 1986 with a new booking office.[3] A few years later the canopy was renewed. This saw the removal of a few bays of the canopy at the east end of the station, and the replacement of the hipped canopy by a simpler modern design, although the original cast iron columns support this. Some hipped bays remain on the road side of the station entrance as a reminder of how it all once looked.

The station was listed at Grade II by Historic England on 20 November 2017.[1]

Stationmasters[]

  • William Mears from 1841 (later station master at Exeter St Davids)
  • John Frazer ca. 1856 - 1884
  • William George Creswell Powell 1884 - 1887[6]
  • Charles Edwards 1887 - 1902[7] (afterwards station master at Bath)
  • J.C. Neville 1902[8] - 1907 (afterwards station master at Dorchester)
  • William Wilcox 1907 - 1915[9]
  • E. Martin until 1926
  • Archie R.V. Brown 1926 - 1934[10]
  • John Pitman Burgoyne 1934[11] - 1945
  • R.T. Thick from 1945[12]
  • Leonard J. Saunders 1955 - 1956[13] (afterwards station master at Westbury)
  • G.L. Richings ca. 1963

Services[]

A First Great Western service to Cardiff Central departs from Platform 2.

The core timetable consists of local services from Bristol Parkway that call at almost every station and then terminate at Weston-super-Mare, and semi-fast services calling at fewer stations between Cardiff Central and Taunton. These two routes combine to give two trains each hour between Bristol Temple Meads and Weston-super-Mare for most of the day during the week.[14] Sunday trains are less frequent and mainly start or terminate at Bristol Temple Meads.

Additional services superimposed on these local trains include through services to London Paddington,[15] while CrossCountry operate some daily services between Paignton and Manchester Piccadilly. This links Weston-super-Mare with destinations to the north, such as Birmingham New Street and Stafford, without needing to change trains at Bristol Temple Meads.[16]

On summer Saturdays the number of long distance trains operated by both Great Western Railway and CrossCountry is significantly increased. Summer Sundays sees a call by the steam-hauled Torbay Express to Kingswear.

CrossCountry unit 220014 departs with a service for Manchester Piccadilly.

Buses operate from the railway station to Axbridge, Cheddar, Wells, Burnham-on-Sea, and Bristol Airport, as well as most parts of the town.

Preceding station National Rail National Rail Following station
Weston Milton or Worle   Great Western Railway
London/Cardiff to Taunton 		  Highbridge and Burnham
Weston Milton   Great Western Railway
Bristol Parkway to Weston-super-Mare 		  Terminus
Bristol Temple Meads   CrossCountry
Scotland and Manchester to Devon and Cornwall 		  Taunton

See also[]

  • Other railway stations in Weston-super-Mare
  • Disused railway stations (Bristol to Exeter Line)
    • Puxton and Worle railway station
    • Weston Junction railway station
    • Bleadon and Uphill railway station
  • Weston, Clevedon and Portishead Railway

References[]

  1. ^ a b Historic England. "Weston-super-Mare Railway Station, Neva Road, Weston-Super-Mare, BS23 3QY (Grade II) (1448779)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway, volume II 1863–1921. London: Great Western Railway.
  3. ^ a b c d e f District of Woodspring (1991). Steam to the Seaside. Weston-super-Mare: Woodspring Museum Service.
  4. ^ Sheppard, Geof (2001). "The Bristol and Exeter Mails". Broadsheet (46): 7–11.
  5. ^ a b Cooke, RA (1979). Track Layout Diagrams of the GWR and BR WR, Section 16: West Somerset. Harwell: RA Cooke.
  6. ^ "An Exeter Official". Western Times. England. 18 June 1912. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ^ "Bath and County Notes". Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette. England. 19 June 1902. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ^ "Interesting Presentation". Ealing Gazette and West Middlesex Observer. England. 29 November 1902. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. ^ "Mr. W. Wilcox". Western Daily Press. England. 16 January 1915. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Tributes to Weston Stationmaster". Western Daily Press. England. 19 February 1934. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "Devon". Western Morning News. England. 27 January 1934. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "New Stationmaster at Weston". Western Daily Press. England. 8 November 1945. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Stationmaster Appointed". Wiltshire Times and Trowbridge Advertiser. England. 13 October 1956. Retrieved 28 June 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ Table 134 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  15. ^ Table 125 National Rail timetable, May 2016
  16. ^ Table 51 National Rail timetable, May 2016
Retrieved from ""