11. Avon Valley to Bath-16.06.79

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1979 > 11. Avon Valley to Bath-16.06.79

As a further piece of research for my Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme written piece I undertook a photographic survey of the the Avon Valley from Limpley Stoke to Bath. I walked the distance on a lovely June afternoon catching the bus home from Bath. I was still using a roll of black and white film in the Zenith camera.

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Images 1-14 of 14 displayed.

47060, down tanker train, Limpley Stoke
47060 opens up to leave smoke screen in the Avon Valley at Limpley Stoke. The picture is taken standing in the old station car park looking over the railings and using my Helios 135mm zoom lens. 47060 was a Bristol Bath Road locomotive at this time and it kept this number until it was selected to become 57006 in December 1999. After use with Freightliner it became a DRS locomotive being used for railhead and nuclear flask work. At the time of writing, it future is uncertain as it remains stored.
Keywords: 47060 down tanker train Limpley Stoke

47077, unidentified up working, Limpley Stoke
A smart looking 47077 'North Star' passes the old station building at Limpley Stoke deep in the Avon valley. Close examination of the locomotive reveals that it is carrying its GWR style plates as worn by a small number of the class. Note the odd white circles applied to the front of the loco. If anybody can advise as to what the purpose of these were, that were also seen on some other class 47s at this time, please let me know. 47060 is still with us today preserved on the West Somerset Railway as D1661. It also has little bit of celebrity status as being the locomotive, along with 47847, that hauled the final locomotive hauled service train from Penzance in August 2002, the 08:46 1M56 to Manchester Piccadilly.
Keywords: 47077 up working, Limpley Stoke

Barrow, Bathampton Junction
Bathampton station closed on 03.10.66 and by 1979 there were was little trace of it. However, as can be seen here there was still a platform barrow sitting almost the weeds with the GWML in the background. The barrow still looks salvageable; I wonder if it was 'acquired' by somebody before the elements consumed it?
Keywords: Barrow Bathampton Junction

Remains of platform, former Bathampton station
As the undergrowth takes over, the remains of a section of platform can be seen at the former Bathampton station. Rather than being part of the passenger platforms, I believe that this was part of a loading bay slightly away from the main platforms as these were destroyed when extensive improvements were made to the tracks of the mainline and the junctions itself that lead down the Avon valley. There were a number of sidings at Bathampton associated with the sawmill and woodyard.
Keywords: Remains of platform former Bathampton station

Entrance to former Bathampton station
The entrance to the former Bathampton station still has the gate wide open as if it is still in operation! There is also a cast GWR sign still standing next to the gate. Unbelievably, the gate is still there and in the same position today with the entrance road leading down to a couple of houses and some small storage units on the site of the old sidings. Unfortunately, the cast sign is no longer there and I suspect that the 1971/72 Mk. III Ford Cortina parked on Churchill Close is also long-gone; there is no record of it on the DVLA's site.
Keywords: Entrance to former Bathampton station

253027, unidentified up working, Bathampton ST769662
With the beautiful city of Bath in the background, 253027 accelerates away from it with an unidentified up working for London Paddington. The picture is taken from an occupation bridge a short distance west of Bathampton. This power car is going to be one of 43054 or 43055, both of which are still in operation in 2019 on the MML. 2024 Update.....43055 is still in mainline operation now as part of the charter market operated by LSL as one of their Blue Pullman power cars.
Keywords: 253027 up working Bathampton ST769662 HST

253019, unidentified down working, Bathampton ST769662
HST set 253019 approaches Bath from the east with an unidentified down working. The picture is taken from an occupation bridge near Bathampton that is in the distance behind the trees. The Bathampton loop is seen on the left that has been shortened a little; it used to extend a further under the bridge on which I am standing with the points opposite the closed Bathampton West signal box. This loop is still in use today now being passed by class 800 IETs that have recently replaced the HSTs.
Keywords: 253019 down working Bathampton ST769662

Class 47, unidentified Portsmouth Harbour working, Bathampton ST769662
Taken by standing (quite illegally it has to be said!) on the base of the old Bathampton West signal box a class 47 takes a Portsmouth Harbour train along the GWML towards Bathampton Junction. In about a mile or so, the train will take the Avon Valley line off to the south. Notice the large area of white paint on the bridge that was used to aid sighting of some semaphores that would have been placed just in front of it. Looking at the size of the painted area, I suspect that it would have been a bracket signal protecting the up main and the loop that is just off to the left.
Keywords: Class 47 Portsmouth Harbour working Bathampton ST769662

Base of former Bathampton West signal box
The brick base of the former Bathampton West signal box. The box closed on 21.09.56 along with the East signal box to be replaced by a single box on the end of the up platform at the station. This is a relatively remote spot despite being close to the city of Bath, behind the greenery at the top of the photograph is the kennet and Avon Canal.
Keywords: Bathampton West signal box

31286, up parcels, Hampton Row footbridge ST761658
Taken a little into the sun from Hampton Row footbridge to eastern end of Bath 31286 is seen accelerating away from the city with an up parcels working. The huge stone and brick retaining wall to the left has the Kennet and Avon Canal running along the top of it. 31286 was a local locomotive being based at Bristol Bath Road surviving in service until December 1991.
Keywords: 31286 up parcels Hampton Row footbridge ST761658

31286, up parcels & 33042, 08.30 Brighton-Bristol Temple Meads (1V23), Hampton Row footbridge ST761658
As 31286 heads west with an up parcels working, 33042 brings a Bristol Temple Meads working past Hampton Row to the east of Bath. Note that the 33 is carrying a 99 headcode rather than the more usual 89 as carried on this line. So, judging by the length of the train and the time of day (lunchtime) I think that this was probably the 1V23 08.30 Brighton to Bristol Temple Meads via Southampton and Salisbury service. The picture is taken from a small wrought iron footbridge built for the long closed Hampton Row Halt that was only open for ten years between 1907 and 1917. The footbridge still exists today as do the derelict houses to the left of the photograph. They were compulsory purchased during the 1960s as a road was planned to pass through the area to the left as part of the Buchanan plan for Bath (and many other cities). Thankfully, the plan was quietly shelved but, astonishingly, fifty years later the terraced row of of five lovely houses are still derelict and heavily vandalised. They do not create a great impression as visitors arrive and depart from the city of Bath by train!
Keywords: 31286 up parcels 33042 Portsmouth Harbour-Bristol Temple Meads working, Hampton Row footbridge ST761658

B462, unidentified Weymouth-Bristol Temple Meads working, Beckford Gardens ST758654
With the front end just catching the summer sunshine, a class 118 DMU set B462 approaches Bath from the east with an unidentified Weymouth to Bristol Temple Meads working. Behind the trees above the huge stone and brick retaining wall is the Kennet and Avon Canal. Notice in the background the derelict houses of Hampton Row, a scene that has blighted this part of the beautiful city of Bath for many years. Quite why nobody has been able to grasp the nettle and re-develop these houses and turn them back into the fine properties that they once were and that are worthy of the Bath is beyond me!
Keywords: B462 Weymouth-Bristol Temple Meads working Beckford Gardens ST758654

Ex GWR cast sign, Sydney Gardens
A former GWR cast sign in Bath's Sydney Gardens. In common with most of these signs, the Great Western part of the title has been painted over in black paint leaving the Railway word left, rather incongruously, to the extreme right. On reading the sign there appears to be a quite a mismatch between the fine of forty shillings and the one months imprisonment. Today, forty shillings would be about £2.
Keywords: GWR cast sign Sydney Gardens

253008, unidentified up working, Sydney Gardens
A short distance east of Bath station is the superb Sydney Gardens, The GWML passes through the gardens in close proximity to the general public and the beautifully manicured lawns! Here, HST set 253008 (43016 and 43017) passes through the gardens with an unidentified up working for Paddington. During the planning of the GWML electrification programme, the issue of how to wire the section of line through Sydney Gardens caused a huge debate with suggestions that this should be a neutral section of the line free from wiring. In the end, the problem was solved by the decision to terminate the wiring at Thingley Junction some ten miles east of here but not before expensive preparations had been completed including the lowering of the track.
Keywords: 253008 up working Sydney Gardens

Images 1-14 of 14 displayed.