Bude railway station
Bude Porthbud | |
---|---|
Southern Railway Western Region of British Railways | |
Key dates | |
11 August 1898 | Opened |
7 September 1964 | Closed to freight |
3 October 1966 | Closed to passengers |
Bude railway station (
History
The opening of Bude station in 1898 marked the completion of the LSWR's branch line from
The LSWR took up their offer and the Holsworthy and Bude Railway Act (c.ccii) was passed on 20 August 1883. However, apart from a ceremonial cutting of the first sod, no works were commenced on the extension and the deadline for completion of the line by October 1891 was looking unlikely to be met, resulting in the LSWR asking for an extra year to complete the works. Nevertheless, since by the end of 1891 no progress had been made, a further bill was promoted seeking the abandonment of the line; the Act, the Holsworthy and Bude Rly. Abandonment Act (c.xx), was passed on 20 May 1892. This did not deter the residents of Stratton and Bude who, in 1894, successfully lobbied the LSWR to promote a second bill. The Act was passed on 6 July 1895 and authorised a somewhat different route than that set out in the first Act.[1]
The LSWR was, at the time, investing heavily in the construction of the North Cornwall Line and adopted a more direct route to Bude which reduced the projected costs by some £10,000 avoiding the construction of a viaduct, but also avoiding Stratton altogether. To construct the line, the LSWR hired John Aird & Co. who were later involved in the Welsh Highland Railway.[1]
Stationmasters
- Thomas Furze 1898 - 1924[2] (formerly station master at Holsworthy)
- R.J. Trigger 1924 - 1938[3] (formerly station master at Callington, afterwards station master at Bideford)
- Arthur M. White ca. 1939
- R. England 1947[4] - ca. 1950 (formerly station master at Pinhoe)
The Station
Bude station was deliberately sited on the outskirts of the town in order to please the residents of Stratton whose, at the time, larger town had been bypassed by the railway company. It was solidly constructed of local stone, with a refreshment room and a large bay-windowed house for the Stationmaster. From the station, a short branch was laid to the canal basin to tap the commercial traffic in sand which was used in construction, as well as to facilitate the distribution of coal which arrived in sloops from South Wales. Although traffic was heavy in the early days, the decline set in during the interwar period with the introduction of chemical fertilisers and competition from road haulage services; freight facilities were eventually withdrawn in 1964, but in reality the station saw very little traffic in its latter years. The station did not see many changes during its 68-year life, but the track layout was modified somewhat in April/May 1939 to accommodate twelve coach trains. Longer trains comprising fifteen coaches or more were handled by dividing the train between the two platforms.[5]
Passenger services were never very frequent to Bude, although there were several useful daily through-coaches to London, with whole trains operating during Summer weekends. In addition, there was the
Bude's last direct link with London ended in Summer 1965 when the through-trains from Waterloo were diverted to
The station's closure in 1966 left residents of Bude and the surrounding area with Okehampton station, some 30 miles (48 km) away, as their nearest connection to the railway. This increased to 33 miles (53 km) in January 1972 when Okehampton itself closed, leaving Barnstaple as the nearest railhead.
The Station today
Nothing remains of Bude Station today, except for one brick entrance pillar covered in ivy, as the site has been built over with low-cost housing, leaving the railway bridge over the
Services
Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Whitstone and Bridgerule | Bude Branch
|
Terminus |
References
- ^ a b c Southern E-Group, "Bude"
- ^ "At the end of May". Hartland and West Country Chronicle. England. 18 June 1924. Retrieved 18 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Bude Presentation". Western Times. England. 7 January 1938. Retrieved 18 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Another Promotion". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. England. 6 June 1947. Retrieved 18 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ ISBN 0-86093-016-5.
- ^ Southern E-Group, "Bude"