A short history of the Lambourn Valley Railway

Pictured in gallery above:

• Lambourn Railway Station inaugural opening 1898
• Lambourn Railway Station c-1950s looking SE
• Image from George Bodman's Membury Book
• Image from George Bodman's Membury Book
• Welford Station and the sidings
• Welford Station looking East
• Welford Station and the spur
• Welford Station looking West

In 1873, an idea was put forward for a tramway from Newbury to Lambourn. However, financial difficulties by 1876, meant that the project had only reached Donnington. By 1881, though, more interest had been generated, but it took until 1888 on the 18th of June, that the first sod was turned in a field opposite Welford Park Estate. By 1890, the best part of nine miles of track had been laid.
But many disputes created a lull in the proceedings, and it wasn’t until 1897 that work began in earnest to complete the line. On the 2nd of April 1898, the inaugural train came into Lambourn amid great rejoicing. In 1905 though, due to more financial difficulties, the Great Western Railway agreed to take over control and therefore brought in many improvements, particularly the new station at Lambourn. Through the 1920s, the line was profitable, and the racehorse transport was busy. However, the onset of the bus and lorry began to change the fortunes. WWII though helped the line with heavy continuous traffic due to the nearby airfields of Welford and Membury. But manpower was at a premium during this time, as many staff had gone to join the services.

In 1937, a diesel railcar had been brought in to reduce costs of the steam trains, but the railcar was underpowered and at times, was not man enough to pull an extra carriage and horse boxes on race days.

The line had been good for the villages as coal was now able to be brought in more cheaply than before, and Lambourn Engineering was using it to send out some of their products as well. A well-stocked coal yard in Lambourn, run by Lewis Bodman, then his son George, made sure that no one went without heat.

In 1948 though, the GWR became British Railways and then scrutinization of the line became apparent with the talk of closure in 1951. However, RAF Welford had become available to the USAAF who had designs on an ammunition storage facility there and through 1952/4 construction of substantial sidings at Welford Park station took place.

The line, though, was basically still losing money and British Rail began cutting costs by closing some small stations. Due to bad weather, the construction of the line was delayed, and it wasn’t until the 25th of October that the spur line from Welford Park to the USAAF base was completed, apart from some tidying up in places.

On January the 4th 1960, the death nell came for the line from Welford to Lambourn and it was closed. The last train which left Newbury carried 59 passengers but increased to 126 by the time Lambourn was reached. 73 passengers made the return journey, but due to the communication cord being pulled, it was nearly an hour and a half late reaching Newbury!

Traffic continued to Welford for coal supplies to be collected and for the USAAF, but closure was on the cards, particularly when the M4 opened in December 1971. The last train using the line was believed to be in June 1972.

On Saturday the 3rd of November 1973, four enthusiasts specials ran for the last time from Newbury to Welford and on the 3rd of July 1975, authorisation was given for the removal of the track.

With grateful thanks this article is courtesy of Mick Dowdswell with pictures courtesy of George Bodman and Charlie Marshall.

For a comprehensive history of the Lambourn Valley Railway, seek out Kevin Robertson and Roger Simmonds’ book ‘The Lambourn Branch’.

[Ed. My sister and brother-in-law were on one of those ‘specials’ in 1973. I have a copy of the book if anyone is interested in browsing through it.]