Blandford Forum railway station
Blandford Forum railway station was a station on the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway which served the town of Blandford Forum.
Blandford Forum | |
|---|---|
 Blandford Forum railway station in April 1963 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Blandford Forum, North Dorset England |
| Grid reference | ST888067 |
| Platforms | 2 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Original company | Dorset Central Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway |
| Post-grouping | Southern Region of British Railways |
| Key dates | |
| 31 August 1863 | Opened as Blandford |
| 21 September 1953 | Renamed Blandford Forum |
| 7 March 1966 | Closed for passengers |
| 1969 | closed for goods |
History
Originally part of the Dorset Central Railway, the line to Blandford opened on 1 November 1860 to a station at Blandford St Mary, to the south of the River Stour.[1] The Dorset Central merged with the Somerset Central Railway in 1862, and a new extension connecting the two railways was built. The extension, requiring a bridge over the Stour, and a newly relocated Blandford Forum station to the north of the Stour, opened on 31 August 1863.[2]
The station remained open until 7 March 1966, when the entire line from Bath to Bournemouth closed to passengers. Goods traffic continued for a further three years, but the station was finally fully closed, and the track lifted, in 1969.[3]
The impending closure of the station was lamented by musical duo Flanders & Swann, being one of some 30 stations mentioned in their 1964 song Slow Train ("No more will I go to Blandford Forum …"). The song was written in the wake of the first Beeching report, published in 1963, and was written as a tribute to the lines and stations that were to be closed.[4]
A working model of Blandford station, and its environs, is in the process of being built in 1/76th scale in the Blandford Museum, Bere's Yard, Market Place, in Blandford town centre.[5]
The site of the station now lies within a housing estate.[6]
References
- Atthill, Robin; Nock, O.S. (1967). The Somerset & Dorset Railway. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4312-2.
- Atthill, Robin (1964). Old Mendip. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5171-0.
- "Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Blandford Forum" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- "The Musical Slow Train". BBC Cambridgeshire. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- "Railway Club". Blandford Town Museum. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- "Blandford Forum". After Closure: The Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
Further reading
- Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
- Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
- Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
External links
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlton Marshall Line and station closed |
Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway LSWR & Midland Railways |
Stourpaine & Durweston Halt Line and station closed |