Horsebridge railway station

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[edit] Horsebridge Railway Station

Located 6 miles North of Romsey in Hampshire UK. One of the stations along the South Western Railway Spratt and Winkle Line that ran from Redbridge in Southampton to Andover. Closed in 1965.

Horsebridge Railway Station sits alongside the river Test in the Test Valley in Hampshire, UK. It is one of the many rural stations that were closed by Beeching in 1965. However, Horsebridge station has some historical significance, particularly its use as a staging post for the provision of war materials for the Great War of 1914 – 1918. During this time the whole valley from Horsebridge down to Romsey some 6 miles away was used to assemble men, munitions, equipment, and of course the many thousands of horses that hauled the material to France. The Sprat and Winkle railway line was built over the filled in Redbridge to Andover canal and both the canal and the railway line broke the backs of many investment companies that attempted the project. The line was finally opened in 1865. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Way http://www.hants.gov.uk/walking/testway/

[edit] A personal account by the current owners

who restored the station after it was derelict for 20 years. The following is an article from http://www.thisishampshire.net that follows the history from 1965 after the station was closed.

Standing on the platform at Horsebridge Station, it's not difficult to imagine crowds of Victorian women in their long dresses, and men in formal coats with top hats and sticks, lining the track as a steam train chugs into view. I can easily picture the guards standing at the ready, and the stationmaster leaning against the open door of the parcel office, watching as little children fill with excitement at the sound of the train's high-pitched whistle, and the sight of clouds of silver-grey smoke billowing upwards to mask the sky on a sunny spring morning.

But this idyllic picture of a busy Victorian station must have been hard for Val and Tony Charrington to imagine, when they decided to buy the building in 1985. In the 20 years since the Charringtons moved in, the station, which was built in 1865, has been lovingly and sympathetically restored into any rail fanatic's dream home. Complete with signal box, waiting room, parcel room and carriage, the station is an immaculately kept Victorian and to hear Val, a former cabaret singer in London, talk with so much affection about her home, it seems quite incredible that neither she nor Tony, are railway buffs themselves. They bought the house from Hampshire County Council because Val had a friend and an aunt in Horsebridge and knew the area well.

In 1965 the station fell to Dr Beeching's axe, see [Southern Region of British Railways. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Southern_Region_of_British_Railways&oldid=96521259]

The station - which closed in 1965 - was originally owned by the London and South Western Railway company and later by Southern Railways. In its heyday the line, which linked Redbridge with Andover, was known as the "Sprat and Winkle", presumably because sprats and winkles were transported from Southampton to the north of England along the route. Sadly, as the station fell into disrepair, the original signal box, signals, track and station signs disappeared, and all that was left of the original station were the two platforms and canopies. So when Val and Tony, and their then-teenage daughters Jo and Susie, moved in, they began an exhaustive search for replacements. It took a year and many thousands of pounds to restore the house, and another year to plant the grounds into paddock and gardens, as the land was originally railway sidings. The original station comprised the three front rooms - which were the office, booking hall and waiting room while the rest of the building formed the living quarters for the stationmaster, with two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen, but no bathroom. Val recalls: "Everything in the house had to be replaced - windows, doors, the roof, and the kitchen, which had to be rebuilt because it was so rundown. When we bought the house there was a notice outside which said `Danger - keep out', and the local fire brigade used the building to practise falling down through the floor!

"Once we'd moved in we thought about what we could add to get the character of the place back to its original state. We needed things from Southern Rail so it would be authentic."

Track was bought from Eastleigh coach works, while British Rail regularly sent details of stock it was selling off. Gradually, the Charringtons managed to buy a signal box which was originally from Yalding in Kent, and a 1922 London and South Western corridor coach, which had latterly been used as a canteen for workers repairing the line in the Bournemouth area. The signal box and 60ft, 35-ton carriage were delivered to Horsebridge by road on a specialist low-loader lorry, after which restoration of the iron-clad carriage was carried out by railway workers from Eastleigh over several months. When British Rail began electrifying the south Hampshire and Dorset line, Val and Tony bought two signals from Weymouth Station. "This completed the restoration as far as we could go, apart from platform paraphernalia like trolleys, lamps, old signs and bicycles, etc, which we've bought over the years whenever the opportunity arose," says Val.

"I suppose once we started we began adding all the time, and people who had bits of railway armour used to bring them to us and say, `Would you like some old bicycles or signs?' The local auctioneer would phone me up if he had bits and pieces to sell, so gradually we collected quite a few things, including a wonderful station bench from Basingstoke." In about 1991, once the carriage and the rest of the station had been restored to its former glory, Val started offering the parcel room and carriage as holiday accommodation, as well as a venue for dinner parties, weddings and other special occasions. Val has many happy memories of summer parties - some railway themed - with bands playing on the platform and everyone dancing on the track.

From the archive http://www.thisishampshire.net © Newsquest Media Group 2002

pictures of the station in use, during its derelict period and as it is today can be seen at http://www.horsebridgestation.co.uk/history.htm