Kelston railway station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kelston was a small railway station about four miles west of Bath on the Midland Railway Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line. It lies across the fields from the village of Kelston and nearer the village of Saltford on the other side of the River Avon, to which it was connected by a footpath that ran alongside the railway on the bridge over the river. The station was known for many years as "Kelston (for Saltford)", though Saltford had its own station on the Great Western Main Line.

It was opened in 1869 when the Midland Railway's Bath branch was opened. It was served by stopping trains to Mangotsfield and the Midland Railway terminus at Bristol St Philips or Bristol Temple Meads, via Bitton and Oldland Common. The station generated little traffic apart from racedays at Bath racecourse, which could be reached by a three-mile trek over the fields, mostly uphill, or regatta days at Saltford. It closed at the end of 1948, though the line itself remained opened for passenger traffic until March 1966 and for goods to Bath gasworks until 1971.

[edit] References

• Somerset Railway stations by Mike Oakley, Dovecote Press, Wimborne, 2002.

[edit] Services

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Bitton Line closed; station open		Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line Midland Railway		Weston (Bath) Line and station closed