PREPARING FOR A PARTY
The Avon Valley Railway’s Media and Communications trustee ADAM ASHFORD looks forward to holding a much bigger celebration than it had when it was first opened.
The Avon Valley Railway is gearing up to celebrate its 150th anniversary
Acentury and a half ago, the Midland Railway’s line between Mangotsfield and Bath Green Park opened with both a bang (quite literally) and then with something of a whimper.
Now in 2019, we at the Avon Valley Railway are preparing much bigger celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the railway’s opening and, with new events alongside some of our main attractions, we hope to show that we can punch above our weight when it comes to providing a preserved railway experience.
The line opened on August 4 1869, but it nearly didn’t! The day before, a workman at Bath Green Park station caused an explosion when he accidentally ignited gas that was escaping from a leaking pipe. No one was hurt in the incident, but the blast was strong enough to blow out some windows and force a door off its hinges.
On the opening day itself, there was little celebration; indeed, the only clue that anything was happening was Mr J. Stone’s porter stores at the bottom of Charles Street being adorned with flags and a scroll wishing ‘Success to the Midland Railway’!
The first train was timed to depart Bath at 7.40am, and consisted of (to quote the Bath Chronicle) “a powerful engine, nine carriages… and a carriage truck on which was a small phaeton [a light four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage].” Many of the passengers on that first train only booked tickets as far as the first stop, at Weston, simply so they could say that they had travelled on the first train on a new line.
The train departed eight minutes late at 7.48am, and the passengers gave only a faint cheer as it left the station. At 8.05am, a train from Bristol (which was ten minutes late) arrived in Bath, conveying many of the passengers who had departed less than 20 minutes earlier!
GONE WESTERN
Passing from the Midland Railway to the London Midland & Scottish Railway, and finally to British Railways, the line was originally part of the London Midland Region, before being absorbed into the Western Region in 1958. Passenger services ended and the connecting Somerset & Dorset route from Bath Green Park was closed in March 1966; the Mangotsfield line finally closed altogether in May 1971.
The Bristol Suburban Railway Society was formed in 1972 with the initial aim of reinstating commuter services on the line, though this soon changed to simply preserving the line for the benefit of the public. The first trains ran along 100 yards of track from Bitton towards Oldland Common in 1974. By 1991, what was now named Bitton Railway Company Ltd was operating trains from Bitton to a run-round loop at Oldland Common, and the following year work began on the extension south towards Bath.
By the new millennium, and with the line now titled the Avon Valley Railway, a new platform had been built at Oldland Common, enabling passengers to disembark there for the first
time since BR days. Plans were
THE 2019 CALENDAR IS FAR MORE VARIED THAN IN PREVIOUS YEARS
now also at an advanced stage to build an all-new station at the southern end of the line by the River Avon bridge.
This new station, Avon Riverside, opened in 2004 and its run-round loop meant that, for the first time in the railway’s history, trains did not have to run in ‘top-and-tailed’ formation on the section south of Bitton.
Developments at Bitton itself have included the construction of a new buffet building, locomotive inspection pit and, most recently, a canopy to replace the marquee that had been in place on the former cattle dock for some time.
Our ambition for the future is still to extend the railway to Newbridge on the edge of Bath, giving a great opportunity for those wishing to visit this great city to do so behind steam. There are also plans for a new maintenance facility at Bitton, which will allow many of our restoration projects to move under cover and not have to withstand the elements. Add to this the further developments of the station site and we hope we’ll be able to give passengers an improved Midland Railway experience in the years to come.
The 2019 calendar is far more varied than in previous years and it includes new events, as well as long-standing and popular attractions.
In April, a piece of local railway history will return to action, when the Sentinel locomotive that worked at the nearby Fry’s chocolate factory in Keynsham is launched back into traffic following an extensive restoration.
SPRINGING TO LIFE
In the same month, the first of our new events takes place, ‘Fire & Water’, where you can take a trip down memory lane and meet the characters from the 1980s children’s TV show Tugs.
We will be holding our 16th Bitton Beer Festival at the end of May, and our Midsummer Wine Festival returns in June. Our successful 1940s Weekend also makes another appearance on the calendar, with a variety of wartime vehicles on display alongside musical acts.
However, the biggest event of the year will be our celebration of 150 years since the opening of our line, which takes place on the exact anniversary over the weekend of August 3/4. Planning is already well under way to make sure that it has an extra special atmosphere.
We hope that you can join us for what will be a significant year in the life of the Avon Valley Railway, and we look forward to what the future brings to our line.