Handborough inspiration
Lying six miles north-west of Oxford, Handborough station was on the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway, and is the first station after Oxford on the now Cotswold Line, following the closure in 1916 of Wolvercot, (spelled without the ‘e’ to avoid confusion with Wolvercote Halt on the London and North Western Railway’s Varsity line), and of Yarnton in 1962. Handborough was opened in June 1853 and served the two villages of Long Hanborough and Church Hanborough, being used as a junction for a service to Euston on the LNWR line from Yarnton. The station name was changed to ‘Hanborough’ in 1992. The residents of Long Hanborough were principally dependant on the Woodstock glove trade in the mid-19th century, but the arrival of the railway alongside the quarry and brickworks provided alternative employment for the working men of the parish. In the 1861 census, 24 were recorded as railway employees, including the stationmaster, an inspector and two porters. As the closest station to his final resting place at Bladon, the nation’s eyes focused on Handborough on the afternoon of January 30 1965 as Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral train, hauled by No. 34051 Winston Churchill pulled into the station, ahead of his burial later that day. The former Down platform is no longer used since part of the Cotswold line is now single track, including the ten miles between Wolvercote Junction and Charlbury, just north of Oxford. The station now serves as part of the London Paddington to Hereford route. Although this photograph was taken 30 years ago, Hanborough station hasn’t changed much from this April 25 1982 view as 50036 Victorious powers south with a Herefordlondon train.