Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway – Then & Now Part 1 – Then Peter Towey In the first part of this article, we shall look at some of the history behind the Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway, followed in Part 2, by a résumé of a walk along its trackbed that was undertaken in 2020. While it is a fairly long article, it does cover the history of a abandoned line and looks at it from two contrasting angles. It is hoped that we may be able to publish more of these articles in the future (to all budding authors, please get walking!) - Ed The origins of the B&CDR stem from the desire to include much of the Cotswolds rural areas of Gloucestershire into the national rail network, which otherwise would remain incredibly isolated from the rest of the country. Upon completion of the railway line, it was also envisaged that a direct link would be created between North Oxfordshire’s iron ore fields and the Coalfield of South Wales thus making it possible for the carriage of important minerals and valuable traffic along the proposed route. The overall route was created in stages by various railway companies all of which eventually became a part of the Great Western Railway company. The Banbury and Cheltenham Direct Railway once completed, would eventually connect the two towns via junctions at either end – one at Lansdown in Cheltenham and the other at Kings Sutton, just south of Banbury. The use of existing main lines would prove pivotal in the completion of this cross-country south west, north east route, which was to pass over some of the highest hills in the Cotswolds escarpment by way of many deep cuttings, high embankments, bridges, viaducts, and tunnels.
Main Towns and Cities
The 1st part of the route to be opened that would eventually be used by the B&CDR was the spur between Cheltenham’s Lansdown station on the main Midland Line to Cheltenham’s St. James station which was more central to the town. This was first opened on October 23rd 1847 by the GWR, who had taken over operations from the line’s original proposer the Cheltenham and Great Western Union Railway. At the far north eastern end of what would become the route of the B&CDR, the Oxford and Rugby Railway opened between Oxford and Banbury on September 2nd 1850 which, albeit unknowingly at the time, created the 2nd section of the line that would be traversed by the B&CDR between Kings Sutton and Banbury. The next piece of the B&CDR jigsaw to fall into place was when the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) opened fully on June 4th 1853 providing through passage between Oxford to Worcester and on to Wolverhampton. Filling the Gaps – The Branch Lines With these major railway lines now having been constructed connecting the larger towns and centres, thought was given over time to the fact that the more minor and peripheral communities and villages across the Cotswolds region would be missing out on an important link to what had become the national rail network. To that end, a series of branch lines were considered that would join these more lightly populated, countrified areas with the rail network. The first of these to come to fruition was the
(Route map of the B&CDR – The Railway Magazine August 1955) 94
GREAT WESTERN STAR MAGAZINE
Spring 2021
