Monkton Combe Halt railway station

Monkton Combe Halt railway station was a railway station in Monkton Combe, Somerset, England. It was built by the Great Western Railway in 1910, on the Camerton branch of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway line.

Monkton Combe Halt
Site of the station in 2001
General information
LocationMonkton Combe, Bath and North East Somerset
England
Coordinates51°21′21″N 2°19′33″W / 51.35595°N 2.32595°W / 51.35595; -2.32595
Grid referenceST774619
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyGreat Western Railway
Pre-groupingGreat Western Railway
Post-groupingGreat Western Railway
Key dates
1910 (1910)Opened
1915Passenger services suspended
1923Passenger services resumed
1925Closed to passengers
15 February 1951 (1951-02-15)Line closed
Bristol and
North Somerset Railway
Bristol Temple Meads
Brislington
Whitchurch Halt
Pensford
Clutton
Camerton branch
Hallatrow
Farrington Gurney Halt
Paulton Halt
Radford and Timsbury Halt
Camerton
Dunkerton Colliery Halt
Dunkerton
Combe Hay Halt
Midsomer Norton and Welton
Radstock West
Midford Halt
Monkton Combe Halt
Limpley Stoke
Mells Road
Westbury
Frome

Operation

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The Camerton branch had been built in 1882 from Hallatrow to Camerton, and extended in 1910 through Monkton Combe, where the station and level-crossing were built, to Limpley Stoke railway station, where it joined up with the line from Bath to Bradford-on-Avon railway station.[1][2]

Passenger services started in 1910 and were suspended during the First World War on 22 March 1915; they resumed on 9 July 1923 (though Midford Halt never reopened) but were withdrawn entirely two years later on 21 September 1925.[1][2] Passenger services ran five times a day and used GWR steam rail motors, and the station was run by one man who was also responsible for the level crossing, the signals, and maintaining the gardens.[2]

After the end of regular passenger services, traffic included coal trains, some goods wagons to the mill, and a special train, with covered wagons for luggage, delivered or collected the boys from Monkton Combe School at the beginning and end of school terms.[2]

Closure

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The goods services between Limpley Stoke and Camerton continued until Camerton Pit, the last working coal mine in the Cam Valley, ended production in 1950 and the line closed on 15 February 1951.

In 1952, the station was used as "Titfield" station in the Ealing comedy film The Titfield Thunderbolt.[1] Many of the scenes of the village of "Titfield" were shot in the nearby village of Freshford.[3] The same station location was also used in the 1931 version of The Ghost Train film.[4]

The station was demolished in 1958.[3]


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Midford Halt
Line and station closed
  Great Western Railway
Bristol and North Somerset Railway
  Limpley Stoke
Line and station closed

References

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  1. ^ a b c Browning, Michael. "The Railway comes to Hallatrow" (PDF). High Littleton & Hallatrow History and Parish Records. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Monkton Combe Women's Institute (November 2000). Railways. Retrieved 2 September 2016. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ^ a b Broadhead, Sheena. "Titfield Thunderbolt". Freshford Website. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  4. ^ The Ghost Train (1931)