Taken 02/11/14; The preserved Avon Valley Railway is a short section of the otherwise-dismantled former Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line, which was closed during the late 1960s as a result of the Beeching cuts and due mainly to a former Great Western Railway route being just a few miles to the south, which also connected Bristol and Bath.
The railway is perhaps best known for connecting the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), whose northern terminus was at Bath Green Park station, with the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). The Midland Railway lines along the Avon Valley thus opened up the S&D lines to travellers from the British industrial Midlands. This was particularly so during summer Saturdays when families flocked south to the beaches of Dorset and the English south coast. Many extra trains thus had to be added to the schedule to accommodate this increased demand. Although owned and run by the Midland Railway, many S&D locomotives were often seen working trains along this line.
In 2000 the northern section of the trackbed from Mangotsfield to Warmley was used to build a dual carriage development of the A4174 road, although both station sites presently still exist. The remainder of the line was passed from the British Railways Board to Sustrans, who in co-operation with the local councils developed the Bristol & Bath Railway Path. Further development of the preservation railway, which currently runs from Oldland Common through Bitton to Avon Riverside, is wholly dependent on a usage agreement with Sustrans.
Tags: Avon Valley Railway Bitton Bitton Station
Taken 02/09/15 on a mid-week non-operating day at the Avon Valley Railway; I called in at Bitton on the way home, it is worth remembering that primarily due to the Bath to Bristol cycle path passing the Station, the AVR café is open every day but Christmas Day.
Incidentally I'll take that sky and light any day of the week!
Tags: Bitton Station