CLEARING THE WAY TO CRICKLADE
Having reached the outskirts of the first town in its name, the Swindon & Cricklade Railway is extending north to Cricklade in a £2.5 million project. Volunteers have begun clearing the former Midland & South Western Junction Railway trackbed from the current northern railhead of South Meadow Lane and scraping it back down to the original ballast level. The extension is to be undertaken in two stages, the initial target being Farfield Lane, half a mile from South Meadow Lane, at an estimated cost of £250,000. Sleepers have been obtained from Network Rail, although further track materials will be needed to complete this section by September 2018, to mark the SCR’s 40th anniversary. To begin the second phase, the railway will need to rebuild a bridge that was blown up in a military exercise in the 1970s before it can construct a platform and run-round loop, as the cutting on the south side of the bridge is too narrow. After this, a further 1¼ miles remain to the planned site of the new Cricklade terminus. Including the recently opened southern extension to Taw Valley Halt, this will make the line four miles long. It is hoped this can be achieved in two years, depending on fund-raising. The £2.5m cost includes provision for extra carriages and a building to house them. Donations can be made to the following account: Swindon & Cricklade Railway, sort code 30-98-41, account no. 03629644, quoting reference ‘Going North Fund’, or sent to Blunsdon Station, Tadpole Lane, Swindon SN25 2DA. SCR spokesman Adrian Thompson said: “We are really excited by the possibility of running trains from Swindon to Cricklade. We have the ambition and the drive to complete this challenge – all we need now are funds and offers of help. Like everything else in the world, this challenge will be done faster with increased financial assistance.” In the longer term, the railway plans to extend a further half-mile southwards from Taw Valley Halt to Mouldon Hill Country Park, and the ultimate aspiration is to reach a proposed main line interchange station at Sparcells on the Swindon-Gloucester route, another half-mile away.