Twyning Farm, Shuthonger

This week's blog post takes us to Twyning Farm near Tewkesbury to see a selection of Ben Brooksbank's photographs of the section of railway that bisected the farm there. Ben lived at the farm from 1926 until 1944 and was a frequent visitor in the years thereafter, putting him in the perfect place to get some fantastic shots of the small tank engines as they passed through the area. Of particular interest is the third picture, a nicely composed view of a locomotive approaching the gentle westward curve north of Shuthonger with a single carriage in tow. I think that this picture, perhaps more than any other on this site, captures the essence of this small country railway perfectly.

'LMS Stanier 3MT 2-6-2T on Ashchurch - Great Malvern line. View NW, towards Great Malvern from the bottom of the track from Twyning Farm.' Used courtesy of Ben Brooksbank via Creative Commons.

'Ashchurch - Great Malvern Railway.' Used courtesy of Ben Brooksbank via Creative Commons.

'The Little Ashchurch - Great Malvern train seen from Twyning Farm.' Used courtesy of Ben Brooksbank via Creative Commons.

Mythe Road

Upon leaving the Mythe Tunnel, situated below the eponymous house, the Ashchurch railway crossed the floodplain west of Tewkesbury by means of an embankment built sufficiently high to hold the line away from the floodplain of the River Avon. This embankment comprised several small bridges to enable cattle to pass under it, and ran for some 400 metres across open country.

The embankment was removed in 2013 as part of landscaping works designed to reduce the perennial risk of flooding in Tewkesbury. Those of you with better memories will recall that the news of this work was one of the triggers for my starting this project, determined as I was to photograph the remaining relics of the railway before any more of them were removed.

Pictures of the Mythe Tunnel are quite rare, and this excellent shot from Roger Smith shows the last train to leave Tewkesbury as it approaches the southern portal in 1961. Roger was in the prime location to take this photo, leaning out of a window at the rear of the leading carriage as it was pushed towards Ripple. Looking closely at the picture, it is also possible to see the small bridges in the embankment which were demolished in 2013, more of which below.

'Last train to Upton-on-Severn entering Mythe Tunnel', 14th August 1961

The pictures below are not my own, but come from Philip Halling's excellent blog post over on Geograph. The shots show the embankment in 2013, just before it was demolished, and give an idea of its original scope and scale. Whether or not the work has reduced the risk of flooding in Tewkesbury I cannot say, but along with the simultaneous removal of the M50 bridge at Ripple, the destruction of the embankment is a sad loss to local history which I was unfortunately too late to document.

'Railway Embankment at Tewkesbury', March 2013. Used courtesy of Philip Halling via Creative Commons.

'Bridge Parapets on a Disused Railway', March 2013. Used courtesy of Philip Halling via Creative Commons.

'Bridge Parapet on a Dismantled Railway', March 2013. Used courtesy of Philip Halling via Creative Commons.

'Old Railway Bridge', March 2013. Used courtesy of Philip Halling via Creative Commons.

'View towards Tewkesbury along a Disused Railway Embankment', March 2013. Used courtesy of Philip Halling via Creative Commons.

Tewkesbury Quay Branch Line

Another oddity of the Malvern-Ashchurch branch line was that it itself incorporated another small spur, namely the remnants of the original line that ran through Tewkesbury down to the quayside on the River Avon. The Tewkesbury Quay branch had been built in 1844 as an extension of the original line constructed from Ashchurch to Tewkesbury's first station four years previously. The first station stood on Station Street in the middle of town, as opposed to the second station which stood on Station Lane further north. For a town now without a station, the reminders of Tewkesbury's industrial past are everywhere.

Today, the Quay branch line has been all but completely removed, with the mill buildings on the quay ironically having long outlived the railway that served them. The clearest relic of the line's past can only be seen from the air - looking to the east of Tewkesbury, the tree line gives away the Y-shaped junction at which the Quay branch split away from the Malvern-Ashchurch railway.

The pictures below show the junction of the Quay branch (right) which spurred into Tewkesbury away from the Malvern line (left). Note the numerous sidings as well as the large engine shed, which appears in some of the pictures below.

This shot shows how the scene at the junction looked on the ground, with a signal box covering the access to the sidings complex behind the photographer on the right hand side:

'Tewkesbury (shed branch right)' 1st May, 1956.

Moving further down the Quay branch into Tewkesbury town with this aerial shot, we see the large engine shed which was built on Station Street. The shed was a popular location for photographers and provided some of the most evocative pictures I have seen of Tewkesbury as an industrial town. Note the street-level running section in the final shot from Richard Casserley.

'Tewkesbury, 5th May, 1945'

'Tewkesbury Shed' 1st May, 1956.

'Tewkesbury Old Station', February 1953.

The Quayside Today

Tewkesbury today still retains many of the old waterfront buildings which gave the riverside 'Back of Avon' area its industrial look. Heading down to the river, we pass Abbey Mill and the sluice gate built to form a weir and regulate river depth upstream.

Walking along the western bank of the Avon we carry on up the Severn Way until we cross a bridge back into town. This leads us the Quay Street, the terminus of the eponymous branch line. Several of the old warehouse buildings remain intact on this road, although the railway crossing across the High Street at the top has long since been removed and the path of the railway blocked by a string of shops.

The Quay branch used to pass directly in front of here.

Easily the most impressive structure in this area, however, is the old Healing's flour mill which operated from 1865 until 2006. The formidable building sits tall alongside the narrow stream and provides an obvious answer as to why this area of town would need its own railway branch. The bridge shown in front of the mill is the one used to cross back over into town from the Ham.

Mythe Railway Bridge

One of the most impressive pieces of architecture on the Malvern-Ashchurch branch line was the brick arch bridge which crossed the River Avon just north of Tewkesbury. Upon exiting the Mythe Tunnel west of the town, the line rose on a gentle embankment to reach the bridge, which flew over the river via a small spit in the centre of the waterway.

The bridge itself can be seen in the bottom right corner of this picture from 1947, albeit with the western section cut off from the edge of the shot. The railway line can also be seen as it crosses the north of Tewkesbury town to arrive at the second station built in the town in 1864. Further back can be seen the original station on the Quays branch line, built in 1840.

The embankment and several small bridges leading up to the main river crossing were removed in 2013 as part of a package of works designed to reduce the likelihood of flooding in Tewkesbury, but a few important remnants of the original bridge remain today. The western section of the brick bridge still stands, and the buttresses on either end of the 'town' side section also remain intact, albeit now linked only by a metal frame. Meanwhile, the spit itself is now the property of Tewkesbury Marina, placing the bridge on private land.

Approaching Tewkesbury along the A38 Mythe Road, an earthern ramp appears along the northern side of the roadway. This is the remaining section of embankment which was left by the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water after their demolition of the embankment in 2013. Luckily, the chilly Boxing Day weather was enough to keep away the clouds and provide a good light to see across the field!

The remaining section of embankment, north-west of Tewkesbury.

The embankment from further along the Mythe Road.

Looking eastwards across the field towards Tewkesbury, the arches of the original brick bridge become visible in the distance. We continue our walk down Mythe Road, heading on to the road bridge that connects Tewkesbury with Worcestershire.

The bridge arches in the distance.

The bridge closer up.

The western bridge section, 1/2.

The clearest view of the western bridge section, 2/2.

This next picture shows the entire span of the former bridge in context: the western section on the left remains intact, while the 'town' section to the east has been dismembered. Stanchard House, part of Tewkesbury Marina, is clearly visible on the central spit.

A view of the entire river.

Looking closely at the eastern section of the old bridge, we see that all everything but the buttresses on either bank have been dismantled. Nonetheless, even these relics give an idea of what the original bridge must have looked like.

The buttresses supporting what was the eastern section of the bridge.

The buttress on the spit.

The 'town' side buttress on the eastern bank.

The view from King John's Bridge.

Tewkesbury Station

Built in 1864, the Midland station in Tewkesbury was actually the second station constructed in the town, replacing the 1840 stop built by the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. It lay at the northern side of Station Lane, to the west of a junction with the Tewkesbury Quay branch line, a small spur which connected the Malvern-Aschurch railway with the landing stage and docks at the junction of the Avon and Severn Rivers.

Today, little is left of the old railway, although some of its bridges do remain standing. Additionally, the path of the old line is very noticeable in the way that it still separates the houses north of Tewkesbury marina from the rest of the town.

These pictures from Britain From Above show the old gas works which sat alongside the railway embankment as it crossed Bredon Road. The top of High Street is also visible, as is the countryside north of the town.

Back on the ground, these photos show the railway line in Tewkesbury in great detail, including the station itself from both the forecourt and platforms.

Tewkesbury Station, 10th July, 1959.

'Tewkesbury, 58071 with 8.35 from Ashchurch' 1st May, 1956.

'Tewkesbury, 43337 with 6.20 from Ashchurch. Coach 20444' 1oth July, 1959.

'Tewkesbury, 46401 with 8.53 to Ashchurch', 24th April, 1958.

'NW view from Tewkesbury Station, towards bridge over River Avon'. Used courtesy of Ben Brooksbank via Creative Commons.