Rediscovering the Banbury & Verney Junction Branch Line
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- Опубликовано: 30 сен 2024
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A journey along the alignment of the former railway between Banbury and Verney Junction to see what remains of this lost line.
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CREDITS
The copyright of the station photographs belongs to the following:
Banbury Merton Street - Ben Brooksbank en.wikipedia.o...
Farthinghoe - 'Lamberhurst' en.wikipedia.o...
Brackley - Paul Myatt www.disused-sta...
Fulwell & Westbury - W.A. Camwell www.disused-sta...
Water Stratford Halt - John Smith www.disused-sta...
Radclive Halt - W.A. Camwell www.disused-sta...
Buckingham - The John Mann Collection www.disused-sta...
Padbury - Unknown en.wikipedia.o...
Verney Junction - Unknown www.disused-sta...
As always a beautiful video and appropriate music that tells another tragic story and reminds us just what previous generations gave us.
I can fully understand why BR stopped running so many services in the '60s as people turned to affordable cars and to me Beeching was not the villain. It was the Barbara Castles and others who committed what amounted to criminal vandalism when they tore up thousands of miles of rail track and simply gave up railway rights. For what benefit? Was BR THAT short of track panels? Thousands of miles of routes that had been hacked out of rock by hard men with picks and shovels that were beautifully finished with style were just butchered.
It was this vandalism I fought so hard to replace as Project Officer for the East West Rail Consortium years ago (and succeeded). I walked so many miles of wasted railway routes it was actually heartbreaking. For the want of basic visual track maintenance we would still have so many route opportunities now that people are prepared to leave their cars and demand rail services. Would that all we had to do now was replace track and refurbish drainage!
Typical political shortsightedness just 40 odd years ago and we are paying the price now. Please excuse the rant but I actually know and used this route personally - born in Oxford and had family in Buckingham and Banbury. The last part closed 3 months before my 20th birthday.
Very glad you enjoyed the film!
I have to agree but many short-sighted politicians are to blame, they treated it differently as to what it should have been - infrastructure. Imagine filling in the channel tunnel? Or tearing up motorways because resurfacing costs too much?
@@agilchrist73 Politicians are never "short-sighted", far from it: at best, they are crooked hirelings of the powerful, each with a 'stay-out-of-jail' card.
Another gift to us with the affliction of pondering what used to be. It still amazes me that Beeching was empowered to destroy infrastructure, but when could the government ever make sensible decisions? Like others, I constantly see remnants of the former network, even in road names such as Station Road or the Old Station House, places where trains haven't run since the 60s, even when looking at Google Earth, one can spot alignments and tends to follow their path to see the extent of the line. The one thing that you state that rings loudly, this lines served the British people for 116 years, one can't help wishing that they all still did. Imagine the convenience of a functioning connected rail network.....
Glad to hear you enjoyed the film.
I really enjoy these explorations of disused lines. I have a weakness myself for spotting embankments, abutments, trees growing in straight lines across an empty field and the other odd signs that a railway once past this way. Keep up the good work.
I suffer under the same ailment!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Me too. There's no cure , thank goodness.
Yep And me!
And me I'm glad to say!!!
I have lost many hours looking on Google Maps/Earth at disused lines after spotting abutments, embankments etc whilst out and about. Glad I’m not the only one.
Economics is one thing, but Beeching was far too heavy-handed with his cuts. He was the wrong man for the job.
I think many on here would agree with your assessment
@@RediscoveringLostRailways It's difficult to see into the future, but Beeching seems to have been particularly bad at it as a number of his recommended closures would be considered madness today. He also failed to consider the social and environmental benefits of railways. However, Ernest Marples, Minister of Transport at the time, owned a construction company, Marples Ridgway, which built a number of early motorways. This was clearly a conflict of interest and must have fuelled suspicions that his actions in implementing Beeching's report in full were done for reasons of personal ambition and self interest, rather than the good of the country. This has never been proved or dispelled of course. Another factor would be that a lot of research on passenger usage would have been carried out in the dreadful winter of 1962 - 63, when passenger numbers would have been down on account of the bad weather.
@@skin150263 Beeching's data was collected in one week from a team that would stand on a platform and count numbers. 1 week worth of data. Just imagine if that was all you had to go on! And what if that data was fabricated? Today this would have been monitored and matriculated over years' of data with complex forecasts. It smacks of self interest and personal ambition, where there's smoke there's fire....
I remember Verney Junction with its garden displays, whitewashed stones and mermaid statuettes...The old curve off to the Met Railway was used as a store for carriages.
I've seen pictures of this things you describe. It was a curiously busy junction for so quiet a place!
Thank you for another wonderful look at what we've lost in the name of 'progress'. Most enjoyable! Mike
Thanks Mike. I can imagine that it would make a delightful heritage line today!
What I like about these videos is that everything about them is excellent.
The production, cinematography, music, research done etc is absolutely superb!
For me one of the saddest sights is to see a railway alignment converted into a road, madness!!
Look forward to the next video. 👍🙂
Thanks for your very complimentary remarks! Many more films to come in 2020!
What I find sad is when there was a housing development built which obliterates any remains.
My Mum: "When I was working on a farm near Buckingham we took the train almost next to the farm". Me: "mum, you couldn't have, there's no train station in Buckingham!" Mum:"Oh yes there was, anyway we took it!". Me, shaking my head condescendingly, "Yes dear...". She was right all along! Thank you for this wonderful vid and for proving my mum was right after all!.
Excellent! Yes I agree - never argue with one's mum - they're usually right!
A superbly made and well researched film. How much easier it is to dislike, demolish and destruct rather than create or care for. I enjoy your films very much.
Thank you very much and I agree with your assessment!
Such a pity that you lost so many railways in the pursuit of so called progress,our road system cannot and will not cope with the volume of traffic we have now,bring back our lost railways.
It is a great shame they're gone
It would take 'HS2'-level expenditure to reinstate dead lines like this one: they would have to be built from scratch, with land having to be repurchased at sky-high prices, all bridges replaced, with modern signalling and motive-power and without navvies working for peanuts.
After watching these films of lost railways God do I hate this so called modern world of progress.life has become nothing more than a rat. race
As an American, I have an odd attachment to these lost railway videos and the unmistakably British music. I know your history is not my history, but it feels like it at times. :)
I'm always happy to have an American cousin aboard - our shared history goes way back beyond the founding of the railways! I'm glad you feel some affinity for the film and that you enjoyed it.
The platform at Fulwell and Westbury was recovered in the early 1990's and forms part of the reinstated platform at Chinnor Station.
That's right, I remember reading this. Visited Chinnor recently and completely forgot this fact!
How ironic that the track bed was once refered to as the permenant way,if only!
Yes, just so!
Thank you for your time and effort.Kind regards.
It's a shame some of the more substantial station buildings couldn't have been kept, but I suppose at the time of closure it was easier to remove as much as possible to save on maintenance.
Yes, I agree
Thank you. I think that these recordings will become historicaly important in the future.
Very kind of you to say so, thank you
These videos are little gems. How magic is the lovely sounding Cockley Break Junction, what a lovely job the Signalman must have had, out in the middle of nowhere in a warm cosy environment…..just nature and a few trains for company. I was a Signalman for 46 years, I would have loved to have worked here for a while. If they were unable to survive as rail lines, they should have all been preserved as walking and cycling trails, we could have had the green routes of the U.K. all ready made for us. 😢. Thanks. 🚂🚴♂️👣🇺🇦
Thank you - yes, I have wistful daydreams about what it must've been like to have been posted at signalboxes such as this - and with no experiences as a railwayman it is easy to embroider romantic visions of what it must've been like!
I grew up in the Buckingham area and remember this line well. I actually had my wedding reception in the Verney Arms Hotel in Verney Junction.
Fabulous! I fear the hotel is now closed, though I could be mistaken...
What a lovely start to the year, many thanks, this railway has always been a fascination for me ever since I was at school near Buckingham in the late 1960s.
I'm so glad you enjoyed the film!
I grew up at the bottom of Bridge Street in Brackley - we played under the bridge, in the old station buildings and sheds and on the platforms, and roamed the embankments and bridges for miles (on both lines that went through Brackley). Really sad to see it now all gone.
Thanks for your evocative memories
remember fondly riding on the two car DMU Derby Lightweight Bletchley to Banbury early 60s sitting at the front pretending I was driving ....seems so depressing its ALL gone. Thanks so much for sharing.
My pleasure and thank you for your memories of this line
The people who lost their "branch lines" were the same people, wanting tax-cuts, who were eager to elect to high office the very politicians who 'wielded the axe'.
My Grandfather was a Bletchley based driver who worked this branch for many years. My mother told me that it was one of his favourites as he coukd sink a few pints of Mitchell & Butlers in a pub by Merton Street station, before his return working! M&B being one of his favourites and not available in Bletchley Railway Club. Myself, I can remember when Merton Street station site was a Midlands B.R.S. depot and my ex wife had a clerical job there. At that time a very busy place working for General Foods, Automotive Products and any general haulage. Now, just fading memories!
It's memories such as these that bring these railways back to life in a way my films never can!
Another atmospheric film. At least Verney Junction should be getting trains again.
Yes, just so! I've another Verney Junction related film to be released later this year.
Another enjoyable journey, capturing images of some very robust Victorian architecture in the shape of the viaducts at Buckingham. Great choice of appropriate accompanying music! Thank you.
My pleasure, glad you enjoyed the film.
Another fantastic journey been to Verney junction a couple of times with other lines but not done this one so many thanks
I'm glad you enjoyed the film and that it showed you a line previously unexplored!
Excellent,well made video and alongside the very apt music it certainly was a pleasure to watch,thank you as always..🚂👍
Thank you for your comment and kind words about my film!
Im so glad I trecked this line in stages....back in 1979--1980...........it looks totally different in your photos
It really is incredible how much has changed!
This video does you huge credit. Superb work, emotive, poignant, rather sad really!
Very kind of you to say so, thank you. Many more films to come in 2020 so do subscribe if you've not already done so!
I came across this gem at the direction of RUclips's not so random generator - and very glad I was as well! Not only that but to the accompanyment of Dr. Ralph's wonderful music.
Bliss
M
So glad you found this film and my channel. Do enjoy all the films on offer. There are many more to come!
So how important was Verney Junction between Winslow and Steeple Claydon?
There were so many lines passing through here or terminating here yet its just hamlet.
I would have thought that Winslow would have been more suitable as a railway town.
I think it was a wealthy landowner who wanted the station situated in his property, but I could be mistaken. But I think you sum up the contrast - its a busy junction in an otherwise quiet and strategically 'unimportant' area.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I wonder if the junction is a bit more strategic. There was large scale Ironstone quarrying in Northamptonshire (Blisworth & Gayton) thesmjr.ning.com/page/how-the-smjr-was-linked-to-gayton-and-blisworth-ironstone-quarrie that needed rail links down to the South Wales Iron and Steel works. This was achievable via the Green Norton and Verney Junctions and onto Wales via Banbury .
Do you know if the Verney's had interests in the quarrying?
I was about to remark that if it weren`t for the odd bridge you`d never know and lo, we get to the junction and 2 derelict platforms and some line! Thank goodness, thought we were never going to see anything. Very good video as usual.
Thank you - it was good fun exploring this line!
Another great video! I did walk a section of this old line at Brackley a few years ago. I'll have to go back see a bit more of it!
It really is a delightful route to walk - glad you enjoyed this entry!
Excellent video and the music really helped to convey a sense of nostalgia.
I'm glad that you thinks so and that you enjoyed the film!
Happy New Year and thank you for fascinating video. Really enjoyed it. Thank you.
And to you too! So glad you like the film!
So sad, yet another railway gone, always wonder if it was still there would it get used?
Yes, I wonder such things too...
Yet another wonderful look back at our railway past with some beautifully accompanying music. Such a nice escape from this mad world we're living in right now.
Thank you! I intend for this channel to be a stay against the noise of the madding crowd.
What a superb video thank you so much for making and sharing very evocative !
Thank you for your comment and kind words about my film
A lovely little film. I am heartened to have read that there may be plans to restore some of Beeching's axed lines. So many lost though....
Glad you enjoyed the film. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series!
They won't be reopening this line anytime soon
Lovely, and some fantastic old photos there too!
Yes, I'm so grateful that they had the foresight to take them!
A lovely video. What a shame there is so little to be seen.
Glad you enjoyed the film. Yes, this would've made for a lovely heritage line!
Brings back memories of my drives on the A422 between Banbury and Brackley on my way to RAF Croughton, where I was working from 94 to 96.
Thanks for your comment. I'm glad you found the film evocative!
Simply awesome. Thank you for your hard work.
Thank you and my absolute pleasure!
Greetings from USA, I have never been to England but I've been thoroughly enjoying your videos. Exceptional photography, editing, music. I really enjoy seeing " what was" and " what is" now. Keep up the great work!
Always delighted to hear from an American cousin. So glad you approve of these films and enjoy them. I thoroughly enjoy the process involved and I guess that shows. Now... Let me get my hands on some of your lost railways stateside!
Viewed this video for the first time this morning. Very well put together
I hope you have plans to keep adding to your collection, as they make excellent viewing
I would wholeheartedly recommend a visit to my native Northumberland, which has a lot of railway history about it
Keep up the good work 🙂👍
Many more films available on my channel and many more to come. Thanks ever so much!
Lovely video. It does miss out the remains of what I believe was called 'Skew Bridge' just west of Brackley where Banbury road went over (under?) the railway. The embankment is still very visible from the road and if you go over it and look to the left there are the remains of brick construction.
Thank you - it is my intention o remake this to a higher standard, so I will be sure not to miss it again!
Thank you & Happy New Decade Mike! Thoroughly enjoyed finding & charting this one on Google Maps BEFORE watching the video, then diving into the NLS collection to find the old OS maps of the line. Look forward to the next one. Are you on Twitter or Facebook?
Hi, I've got a Facebook page, but it just repeats my content here. I do have an Instagram account which you might like...
I travelled this line on 22-09-62 on an enthusiast’s railtour from Luton(Bute St.) to Banbury (Merton St.). It seemed to work in two sections,Bletchley to Buckingham & Buckingham to Banbury ,the railcars working to Buckingham & a push-pull set with a 2MT 2-6-2T from there to Banbury. Having spent many hours trainspotting at Bletchley I cannot recall seeing a push-pull set arrive from that direction. The trip itself was uneventful, however it was interesting to travel a line destined to last not much longer
Wonderful memories, thanks for sharing 👍
Nice little video and very unexpected today. Lovely.
I normally post one every two months, but thought that it might be nice to begin in January nevertheless!
I’ve been a subscriber for a couple of years. Great effort must go into your videos and I’m sure many people fully appreciate that.
@@b4mouse thank you - a great deal of effort is made, but I enjoy it ever so much!
I recently found channel and really enjoyed your coverages of many lines down south. Do you plan on finishing the great Central mainline between Nottingham and Sheffield via Chesterfield
Welcome aboard! Glad you found my channel. In the long term I would like to do this, so watch this space!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways great stuff... I'll tip you off just two brief points. 1. Chesterfield and Staveley Central are now main roads so apart from Staveley which can be viewed. Chesterfield Central is really hard to access unless you drive or walk down a side path but could be hard to replicate the photo entirely. 2. The trackbed between Nottingham and Chesterfield has been built over as I saw in your coverage of the line. There was also a branch line at Staveley to Grassmoor named the Chesterfield Loop. There is still a part of it in use between Sheffield and Deepcar for steel freight or at least it was. The rest was then joined onto the notable Woodhead Line and then Manchester Lines to Manchester and Salford
Superb scenery great to a number of walks and nature reserve but sad for the residents who I commute by car or are trapped thus adding to traffic in local towns and perhaps missing out on opportunities as new industry always follows new infrastructure and Transport link Think London Docklands Salford Quays etc
We also need to look how supply transport for more out of the way areas and think the unthinkable
Bus guided
Trams Overhead or battery or hydrogen
Light Rail like DLR
MIXED Suburban Light Rail
Or full standard rail service
Yes, some imagination and innovation would both go a long way indeed!
Thanks. I look forward to more in 2020. From what I have seen the last two years, there are plenty more to go.
A general comment. So many lines operating for 100 years + or -, then torn out. Then, just a few decades later, population growth and traffic congestion reinvigorating the need for them. I guess the automobile was the solution then, and the problem now.
Another general comment. I'm digging your narrated videos. You have a most pleasing, soothing voice. I could listen all day.
I think your assessment is a fair one. And thank you for you kind remarks!
One of my favourite channels.
Excellent work.
Thank you very much indeed
Nice music again! "I heard the voice of Jesus say!" the tune known as "Kingsfold" made into the hymn tune . I do not live that far away and my work takes me to some of the villages such as Padbury.
So many railways round your way have gone - glad you enjoyed the film and the music!
Like your commentary videos but love to relax and dream with these.❤
Glad you like them and that they still hold up!
Yet another excellent video!!
Very kind of you to say so, thank you
Lovely! What is the music please?
It's Ralph Vaughan Williams and the piece is Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Thankyou.
Brilliant, some great shots of our railways heritage.Ssuch a shame now gone and nearly forgotten, but not quite. Thank you for keeping it alive.
I enjoy making these films ever so much so there are many more to come!
Watched again: Banbury was and is well connected, but how amazing that Buckingham didn't rebel against the loss of a connection to MK and Cambridge. Since MK is largely in Bucks., I would as a CC never have consented to its development without the link. Amazing, what they (as historic county town) missed. PS I'm not a Kabbalist, but my "LIKE" was Nr. 163, now we're at 316 - weird.
Yes it is odd that this town should be bereft of any rail connection!
@@tmb8807 Yes indeed, but having said which, as this excellent channel points out (with this and one previous "rediscovery"), the railway did in fact come to Buckingham in the days when it was still (quite rightly) a proud and historic county town and MK was a railways repair shed in Wolverton.
@@tmb8807 In truth I think the London and Birmingham Railway (= I believe from memory the constructors of this bit of the WCML) were thanking their lucky stars that instead of the topographically difficult terrain to Buckingham (Chiltern foothills), they could stay in the Grand Junction rift valley and save pots of cash. The thing (WCML) would have been built out of "obviousness" anyway. So your original point rings true. But also mine: Buckinghamshire was in 1953 the planning authority. They THEN had a good railway connection. So the "railway" argument was - at least - "difficult".
@@tmb8807 I come from a county which had to fight doggedly for its existence, lost it, and much later regained it. It would always have been this sort of feisty-political "not with us", since given the nature of the terrain, the WCML would always have arisen where it did. The trajectory of the Great Central a little to the west is the final proof that Buckingham would never have been a town on a major railway artery, whatever the feelings of the local aristocracy.
Brilliant video as ever and well researched which must take some time. Keep it up, love the photos of lost stations and how the site looks now.
A great deal of time and effort, but I enjoy it all! Really pleased you enjoyed this film.
I wonder how long it would take to cover the entire UK network of lost railways? You do a superb job, but Lincolnshire needs you; there sure is plenty to rediscover!
If I had the money and time I'd make it my full time job! Happy to come up to Lincolnshire and to accept any recommendations!
Which would be best for rediscovering? East Lincs Spalding -Grimsby, sure the stretch from Boston to Firsby and preserved part at Ludborough remain, majority now just farmland. Or Boston - Lincoln, Grantham - Lincoln, Louth - Bardney, Willoughby - Mabelthorpe - Louth loop, Bourne - Sleaford, MGNJ Bourne - Kings Lynn. And one close to my heart, Firsby - Spilsby. Yes, I know, more than enough!
@@michaelbutler3552 I'm planning on making a film about all of the MGNJ, so that might be the place to start! Thanks for the information!
Nice work,thank you
Thank you for saying so
Another little gem.Very enjoyable.Thanks
Very kind of you to say so, thank you
The music is magnificent, and a wonderful accompaniment.
Thank you, or rather, thanks Ralph Vaughan Williams!
I completely concur with Ian R. Very well done
Very kind of you to say so
Kingsfold hymn tune ! Good choice
It is a beautiful piece of music
thanks for sharing this, how easy is it to walk these
Yes, some more than others, that's for sure! Thanks for your comment and subscription.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways we are actually based in brackley. Hoping to find some of these as my great great grandad helped to bulid the linev
Do check out my Rediscovering the Great Central Main Line Part 1 film which also went through your fine home town!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways thanks will do
Brilliant keep them coming.
I will, you have my word!
Which railway company ran this?
LNWR followed by LMS
@@RediscoveringLostRailways
The *Reverend Peter Denny* built a magnificent *Great Central* terminus in *Buckingham.*
It's a pity that it was a model.
Great video RLR. I always enjoy "then and now" (railway) videos.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the film
It really doesn't do me any good watching videos like this. Too many memories...
Where is the track going 2
How do you mean?
No mention of Bacon's house level crossing?
I suppose not. But these films are meant to be illustrative rather than comprehensive. I hope you enjoyed it otherwise.
@@RediscoveringLostRailways Yes, forgot to say I enjoyed seeing your lovely video too.
@@dvddale111 glad to hear it. Do subscribe if you've not already done so and enjoy my other films in the series.
You captioned "A mile later..." rather than "A mile further": that'll be one demerit, lol!
Whoops!
Excellent!
Thank you! Cheers!
I really appreciate riding in your handlebars basket, also the drone shots are beautiful. I was surprised that the new East-West Railway obviously hasn't reached Verney yet, they need to get their skates on. Also I assume that at some stage, Buckingham will want to be reconnected to that, so so much for letting good infrastructure go to seed. PS I got Nr. 163 thumbs up, which is a lucky number for me.
Always happy to hear from you! I made this film in December 2018, so things might've changed since then. I agree, I think Buckingham won't want to miss out on a decent railway connection. Alas I don't own a drone, but I'm looking into getting one. Pleased you got your lucky number!
Why don't you use period maps to show the routes and not today's maps? These give a misleading view of the areas these lost lines pass through. If you pop onto the Disused Stations website (www.disused-stations.org.uk) from Buckingham you can see just how small the town was on the 1961 1 inch to the mile map. You also never state just how many trains ran on this line on a daily basis: 9 per day each way (Monday to Saturday, the Sunday service was withdrawn in the late 1940s) introduced with the DMUs in 1956 and increase from the 4 trains each way per day prior to this. Yes passenger figures grew by 400%, but the number of services increased by 225%.
The point of using the modern day maps is to show where the route can be traced today - you're the first to tell me that they feel mislead by them. There are many more details I could include, like passenger numbers or technical data of another kind, but these films are meant to be illustrative rather than comprehensive.
NOT COCKLEY BREAK, BUT IT IS COCKLEY BRAKE !!!.
No need to shout, a quiet word is often more effective!
@@RediscoveringLostRailways I can't hear you with all this shouting.
Another excellent video of what we have lost and will never regain,thanks for nothing beeching/marples
Yes I think many would agree with your assessment!
porno6361 the country was broke by the mid-1960s. Lines that could pay had to go, otherwise we'd have no rail network, NHS or schools.
Neil Dahlgaard-Sigsworth most of the surveys done as regards to passenger numbers were done during off peak travel,they were manipulated to show that they were rarely used services,if they’d been done correctly a lot of the lines would never have closed,marples had a conflict of interest and should never have held his position,the guy was an out and out crook
Smashing! Another great little video from you, thank you. Happy New Year!
Thank you, and to you too!