Standing in the garden this week, I was struck by a sudden prolonged rumble cutting through the gentle birdsong. Stretching over the bank at the back of the house and peering through the bare trees, I saw the culprit; a freight train. The old railway line between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead had been closed for quite a few years, but the line up to Heathfield reopened for freight in 2011, bringing with it the occasional engine. Of course, it's all a far cry from the good old days, where passenger trains plied this route and the village of Teigngrace was connected to the great national rail network, but hearing the freight roll past certainly got my imagination going.
The station at Teigngrace came about under interesting circumstances. Initially it was decided that, due to the village's population, no station would be required. However, one of the conditions of the sale of the land to the Moretonhampstead and South Devon Railway was that the land owner, The Duke of Somerset, had the right to stop any train at the village when he wished to travel. it seemed sensible, therefore, to provide the village with a station, which opened in 1867.
Teigngrace Station had a 200-foot platform with a booking office and a lavatory, and remained in uninterrupted use until World War I, when it was closed as a cost-saving measure. It reopened after the war, but was demoted to a Halt in 1939, when a decision was taken to make it unstaffed. The halt was closed to passengers for good in 1959, and closed completely in 1962, a year before Doctor Beeching's report, The Reshaping of the British Railways, was published.
Below are some fascinating photographs of Teigngrace Station/Halt from its heyday, from the brilliant website Disused Stations (http://www.disused-stations.org.uk). I doubt I'm alone when I say I would love to see the halt operational again.
Teigngrace Halt in 1921
A steam train pulls into the Halt (unknown date)
Teigngrace Halt in 1965, after closure
The last special passenger train at Teigngrace in 1970
Teigngrace Halt in 2005, a shadow of its former self
Cor..wouldn't we all love to see Teigngrace Halt re-opened! I love walking around to the railway line and escaping to the land of the Railway Children. I'm sure I can smell the that old steam train as it rumbles along past me and into the distance. Imagine being able to nip around and jump on a train to Exeter. I don't suppose that will ever happen and it wouldn't be steam...but one can dream! Mind you,steam was dirty, grimey and filthy and not as charming we all imagine...I know that, as that's what my Grandad used to say. ;-)
ReplyDelete