Great Shefford is the
one Station on the old line that holds special memories for
me personally. I grew up here and as a consequence used
the rail facilities quite regularly, in fact, right up until
the the blight of closure was inflicted on us by the short-sighted
government of the day. The Station itself was situated
in the village
just north of centre. Formally called 'West
Shefford', it under went a name
change in November 1900.
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Looking
North in the direction of Lambourn, this early view of the refurbished
GWR Station shows that the original wooden LVR office at the
far end of the platform, had been extended to effectively double
it's size. This new building was constructed by the GWR between
1908 and 1911. The
post and wire platform fencng remained intact until closure
in 1960. At rest in the loading
dock, a privately owned horse-box, most likely one of three
belonging to R.C.Dawson of Whatcombe Stables |
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Viewed
from the Lambourn end, the Station looks resplendent with it's
new coat of paint. In this picture the variation to the extended
wooden office becomes apparent, no windows and only plain, non-patterned
barge boards. Built on marshy ground the station handled a considerable
amount of traffic, far more than the other intermediate stations.
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In
view of this, The original configuration of a single loop siding
was enhanced by the GWR in 1910 as part of the line's general
upgrading process. An 80 ft horse loading dock was constructed
with rail access from the Lambourn end by means of a scissors
crossover. An additional dead end siding was installed to serve
this newly built Loading dock.
The scissors crossover was controlled
from a ground frame (south) with 3 levers incorporating point
discs. Access to the opposite end of the yard was gained via
a 2 lever frame (north). |
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The total cost of
this upgrade to the line was listed as being £1,284, this
included the raising of the platform and the erection of the
now mandatory, GWR pagoda waiting shelter.
Traffic at Great Shefford gained rapid momentum from the early
1900s. It's location being ideally suited to the many local
farmers. The transference of milk from the surrounding area
was a major factor, one farm alone being responsible for the
despatch, in large churns, of more than 200 gallons of milk
daily. Hay and corn were also dealt with in large quantities.
Bales of straw would be dispatched to Swanwick during the strawberry
season, Swanwick of course being the main strawberry growing
area of Hampshire. Tail
traffic was well supported both in and out or the station.
The transportation of Cattle and Sheep along with the occasional
race meeting contender made up the bulk of the content for this
form of traffic. |
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Coal
was stored in the yard under the business control of W Sayers.
Messrs. Gear also traded from the here. Business was increasing
to such an extent that as early as 1914 the GWR found it neccessary
to employ an additional porter to augment the duties with the
existing man. The Two Porters operated shifts that had a considerable
amount of overlap built in to them. The reason for this measure
was to alleviate the need for the early shift porter to return
to the station to deal with the early evening train to Lambourn. |
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Looking
South towards Newbury, The station as it was in 1919. |
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Local man, Arthur Smith,
was porter at Great Shefford for as long as I can remember.
He was an extremely kind and patient man who always had time
for people, regardless of their age or background. The
trains were a draw to most of us village children and Arthur
would always allow us to watch the comings and goings from
an area he defined as safe. Two other long serving members
of staff here were Reg Hatter and Sid Alexander. Bert Nimms
was also a well known, much respected member of the railway
staff.
In 1923, to facilitate
the handling of larger, heavier loads, a 64 ton capacity crane
was installed in the Station Yard at a cost of £179.
It was mainly used for dealing with timber. Travis & Arnold
were handling supplies here arround that period. The lorry
parked at the rear of the crane belonged to Mr. Bates' a local
carrier.
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The station
furniture is superbly depicted in this photo
from the 1930s
Two platform
hand trucks were provided both clearly marked 'G.W.R. Lambourn'.
The office accommodation, was in line
with the other intermediate stations, and could, at best be
described as Adequate.
A bench seat ran along the back wall of
the building with a counter and fixed shelf at one end. A ticket
rack was mounted on the wall over a second bench at the other
end. A desk, a cupboard and A tortoise
stove were provided along with a wall-mounted lamp.
In the early 1940s, a passing engine set alight the thatched
roof that is just visible to the rear the pagoda shelter, resulting
in it's complete replacement. |
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Churns can be seen on the platform awaiting collection for onward
transmission. From the late 1920s, approximately twenty of these
churns were being loaded daily for the outward journey. Sundays
were no exception with farmers stacking their own churns on
the platform to await collection. |
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| Approaching
Great Shefford Station from the Newbury Direction. The crossing
in the foreground doubled as a foot crossing and an access track
for a local farm. |
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Engine
9791 photographed in April 1959 arriving from Newbury. I have
it on good authority that the three children shown in the picture
are Ian Wilson, by the fence. Anne Wilson in the doorway and
Pauline Wilson in full flight. |
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GWR provided a 12 ton capacity weighbridge consisting of a 12'
x 8' bridge table and a brick office which can he seen here
at the rear of the Horse loading Dock |
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A Staff meeting
alongside a Newbury bound Diesel railcar photographed in 1951 |
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here leaving Great Shefford, bound for Lambourn, the Diesel
railcar was a common sight on the branch from 1937. ...This
one is of a later batch of cars built at Swindon from 1938 onwards,
on a chassis assembled by AEC at Southall.
...(above right) A two coach train awaits departure
to East Garston. The rear most coach is a former "Toplight"
slip vehicle, now down graded for branch line use. |
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Circa
1952 and photographed from the Northern end of the goods yard,
this delightful study of a "Dean Goods" gaining speed
as it heads for East Garston. Just to the right of the picture,
the afore mentioned crane and beyond the goods wagons, two height
gauges. On a personal note, the black nissan type building behind
the arched height guage was rented from a local farmer by my
Dad and used for the purpose of growing his own mushrooms. Yard
maintenance was not at a premium in 1952, as can clearly be
seen in the foreground. |
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