Flax Bourton railway station

The first sections of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, those between Bristol and {{rws|Bridgwater}} and the branch to {{rws|Weston-super-Mare}}, opened on 14 June 1841. The station was first opened in 1860 as Bourton {{nowrap|({{coord|51.4243|-2.6954|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline|name=Bourton Station}}),}} roughly half a mile from the village of Flax Bourton in Somerset. Located in a deep cutting by the B3130 road from Bristol to Nailsea, just west of the short tunnel at the summit of the climb from Bristol, it was {{convert|124|mi|0|chain|km|2}} from the Great Western Railway terminus at Paddington in London and {{convert|5|mi|49|chain|km|2}} from the B&E's northern terminus at Bristol Temple Meads.{{cite web|url=http://www.railwaycodes.org.uk/ELRs/_mileages/M/MLN1.txt|title=Engineers' Line References: MLN1 Paddington to North Road Junction|accessdate=11 April 2012|author=Deaves, Phil}}Railways in the United Kingdom are, for historical reasons, measured in miles and chains. There are 80 chains to the mile. When it opened it was the first station out of Bristol, taking the claim from {{rws|Nailsea and Backwell}}, and remained so until {{rws|Bedminster}} opened in 1871.{{cite book|title=Bristol Railway Stations 1840–2005|publisher=Redcliffe|author=Oakley, Mike|year=2006|isbn=1-904537-54-5|pages=6, 49, 86}} The station was renamed Flax Bourton on 1 September 1888.

The line, engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, was built as {{RailGauge|7ft}} broad gauge. The line had been reconstructed as a mixed gauge line to accommodate local {{RailGauge|ussg}} gauge traffic by 1 June 1875, and broad gauge trains ceased operation on 20 May 1892.{{cite book |last= MacDermot |first=E.T. |title= History of the Great Western Railway |volume=II 1863–1921 |publisher=Great Western Railway |year=1931 |location= London }}

The original station's main building was at the Bristol (east) end of the eastbound platform, built of wood. A signal box was towards the centre of the platform. The platforms were accessed by paths from both north and south, linked by a timber footbridge on brick pillars. A station master's house was built on the road above the eastbound platform.

Due to being in a cutting, expansion of the station was not possible, and when a need for larger facilities arose, a new station was built {{convert|21|chain|m yd}} further west ({{convert|124|mi|21|chain|km|2}} from Paddington, {{convert|5|mi|70|chain|km|2}} from Temple Meads), closer to the village. The new station opened on 2 March 1893, with the old station closing the same day. A large brick building was constructed on the eastbound platform with a large canopy, and a smaller building on the westbound platform. A covered footbridge linked the two platforms. There was a short relief line just east of the station, a siding on the west side led to a goods shed with canopies on both track and road sides, with a signal box adjacent.{{cite web|url=http://bristol-rail.co.uk/wiki/File:Flax_Bourton_Signalbox1.jpg|title=File:Flax Bourton Signalbox1.jpg|work=Bristol Railway Archive|author=Gerald Peacock}} In 1956–7 the private Tyntesfield Sidings were laid just beyond the B3129 Station Road bridge, to serve a Ministry of Fuel and Power underground fuel depot.{{cite web|url=https://www.secret-bases.co.uk/secret3.htm?permalink=GPSS|title=Secret Bases Part 3|author=Alan Turnbull|accessdate=7 April 2012|date=3 April 2012}}

File:Flax Bourton railway station MMB 48.jpg

File:Flax Bourton signal box.jpg

The station closed to passengers on 2 December 1963, a victim of the Beeching Axe. Goods traffic continued until 1 July 1964, although the private siding continued in use for some time. Of the first station all that remains is the footbridge (although the deck has been replaced with concrete), but it is just possible to make out the old paths down to the platforms. The station master's house is now in residential use.

More survives of the second station – the main building and goods shed on the eastbound platform are still in situ, albeit boarded-up and crumbling, at the end of a private residential road. The building on the westbound platform has been demolished, the platforms have been removed and the running lines slewed closer to the remaining station buildings. The relief line to the east has been removed. The fuel sidings were disconnected and the adjacent crossover points removed in February 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffandavonside.org.uk/Magazines/2004/0404mag.htm|title=April 2004|publisher=Cardiff & Avonside Railway Society|date=April 2004|accessdate=28 April 2012|quote=14/02 ... At Flax Bourton, the cross-over points and siding connections were noted removed and by the end of the month, the former MoD fuel tank depot sidings were being lifted.}}

One of the station buildings was damaged by arson on 7 April 2003.{{cite web|url=http://www.cardiffandavonside.org.uk/Magazines/2003/0306mag.htm|title=June 2003|publisher=Cardiff & Avonside Railway Society|date=June 2003|accessdate=27 April 2012|quote=07/04 ... Some more minor delays were encountered late into the evening following a trackside fire at Flax Bourton, which was believed to have been started by an arsonist and damaged an old caravan a mini-digger and an old station building, fire crews in attendance were from Nailsea and Bedminster. }}

File:Flax Bourton railway station MMB 11 150XXX.jpg {{brc|150}} diesel multiple unit speeds past the remains of the second Flax Bourton railway station in 2008. No trains have stopped at Flax Bourton since 1964, and the platforms have been removed.]]

Services were originally operated by the Bristol and Exeter Railway, continuing until the company was subsumed into the Great Western Railway in 1876. When the railways were nationalised under the Transport Act 1947, control passed to the Western Region of British Railways.

{{Historical Rail Start}}

{{rail line|col={{GWR colour}}|rows2=6

|previous= {{rws|Bristol Temple Meads}}

|route= Bristol and Exeter Railway
(1860-71)

|next= {{rws|Nailsea and Backwell}}

}}

{{rail line|col={{GWR colour}}|rows1=2|hide2=yes

|previous = {{rws|Bedminster}}

|route= Bristol and Exeter Railway
(1871-76)

}}

{{rail line|col={{GWR colour}}|hide1=yes|hide2=yes

|route= Great Western Railway
Bristol to Exeter line
(1876-1926)

}}

{{rail line|col={{GWR colour}}|hide2=yes

|previous= {{rws|Long Ashton}}
Line open, station closed.

|route= Great Western Railway
Bristol to Exeter line
(1926-41)

}}

{{rail line|col={{GWR colour}}|rows1=2|hide2=yes

|previous = {{rws|Parson Street}}

|route= Great Western Railway
Bristol to Exeter line
(1941-48)

}}

{{rail line|col={{BR(W) colour}}|hide1=yes|hide2=yes

|route= Western Region of British Railways
Bristol to Exeter line
(1948-63)

}}

{{s-end}}

File:Flax Bourton railway station MMB 37.jpg

The old Tyntesfield Sidings were considered by the Mineral Industry Research Organisation as a possible railhead for the nearby Tarmac-operated limestone quarry at Stancombe. Such a plan would require a {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} conveyor, crossing the A370 and railway line. Reconnection to rail was listed as "feasible", but the scheme was not recommended for shortlisting, instead being listed as an "other possibility".{{cite web|url=http://www.sustainableaggregates.com/library/docs/asrp/l0146_ma_2_s_5_003.pdf|title=Distributing Bulk Aggregates to Future Markets, Final Report|date=March 2011|accessdate=7 April 2012|author=Mineral Industry Research Organisation|publisher=Colin Buchanan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903203452/http://www.sustainableaggregates.com/library/docs/asrp/l0146_ma_2_s_5_003.pdf|archive-date=3 September 2014|url-status=dead}} A similar scheme was stopped in 1999 after local protests.{{cite web|url=http://www.flaxbourtonparishcouncil.co.uk/pdfs/parish_plan.pdf|title=Flax Bourton Parish Plan|year=2004|accessdate=9 April 2012|publisher=Flax Bourton Parish Council|archive-date=3 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903145852/http://www.flaxbourtonparishcouncil.co.uk/pdfs/parish_plan.pdf|url-status=dead}}

The Bristol to Exeter line through Flax Bourton is not currently electrified. The 21st Century modernisation of the Great Western Main Line will see the line from London to Bristol electrified, but electrification will not extend beyond Bristol to {{rws|Weston-super-Mare}}.{{cite news |url= http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Bristol-London-line-electrified/story-11312089-detail/story.html |title=Bristol to London line to be electrified |work=This is Bristol |publisher=Northcliffe Media |date=23 July 2009 |accessdate=5 April 2012}}{{cite press release |url=http://www.johnpenrose.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=258:westons-rail-commuter-services-could-be-cut-warns-towns-mp&catid=48:communities-not-dormitories&Itemid=108 |title=Weston's rail commuter services could be cut, warns town's MP |date=17 July 2009 |accessdate=5 April 2012 |publisher=John Penrose MP |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130103135443/http://www.johnpenrose.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=258%3Awestons-rail-commuter-services-could-be-cut-warns-towns-mp&catid=48%3Acommunities-not-dormitories&Itemid=108 |archivedate=3 January 2013 |df=dmy-all }} The group Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways supports the electrification continuing to Weston,{{cite news |url= http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Rail-benefits-just-mainline/story-11304651-detail/story.html |title=Benefits of Bristol to London high-speed rail link 'must go beyond just mainline'|date=3 March 2011 |accessdate=5 April 2012 |work=This is Bristol |publisher=Northcliffe Media}} as does MP for Weston-super-Mare John Penrose.{{cite news |url=http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/MP-takes-drive-better-rail-services/story-13697379-detail/story.html |title=MP takes drive for better rail services to top |date=29 October 2011 |accessdate=5 April 2012 |work=This is Bristol |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016121452/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/MP-takes-drive-better-rail-services/story-13697379-detail/story.html |archivedate=16 October 2013 |df=dmy-all }}

Many local travel groups have called for the reopening of Flax Bourton station. Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways in their Autumn 2011 newsletter called for the reopening to be considered in the reletting of the Greater Western passenger franchise.{{cite web|url=http://fosbr.org.uk/files/newsletter/11autumn.pdf|title=FoSBR Newsletter|issue=78|publisher=Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways|date=Autumn 2011|accessdate=9 April 2012|archive-date=4 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204095719/http://www.fosbr.org.uk/files/newsletter/11autumn.pdf|url-status=dead}} Campaign for Better Transport Bristol/Bath Travel Area submitted a statement to the House of Commons Transport Committee, which was published in 2008's Delivering a Sustainable Railway. In it, they called for the reopening of Flax Bourton railway station to serve Bristol Airport.{{cite book|title=Delivering a Sustainable Railway: A 30-year Strategy for the Railways?; Tenth Report of Session 2007–08; Report, Together with Formal Minutes, Oral and Written Evidence|publisher=Stationery Office of the House of Commons|year=2008|accessdate=24 July 2008|pages=163–5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YLxl92qYnE8C|isbn=9780101717625}} Railfuture in the South West also called for the reopening as a way to serve the Airport.{{cite web|url=http://www.railfuture-sw.co.uk/severnside%20press.html|title=Railfuture Severnside Press Releases and Letters; Response to the West of England Partnership Joint Local Transport Plan3 Consultation|quote=Regarding rail access to airports, a link from Nailsea station or from a reopened Flax Bourton station would be more convenient for passengers travelling to Bristol Airport from the west.|author=Nigel Bray|date=1 October 2010|accessdate=9 April 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829151728/http://www.railfuture-sw.co.uk/severnside%20press.html|archivedate=29 August 2013|df=dmy-all}} North Somerset Council also suggested the reopening of Flax Bourton station to help with the sustainability of new housing in the area.{{cite web|url=http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/36463269-8ADB-41EA-AD3E-070A6E84D39D/0/Summaryofkeyissuestable.pdf|title=Core Strategy Submission: Summary of Key Issues at Publication stage|date=July 2011|accessdate=9 April 2012|author=North Somerset Council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120831201143/http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/36463269-8ADB-41EA-AD3E-070A6E84D39D/0/Summaryofkeyissuestable.pdf|archive-date=31 August 2012|url-status=dead}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{commons category|position=left|Flax Bourton railway station}}

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Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1860

Category:Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1964

Category:Disused railway stations in North Somerset

Category:Beeching closures in England

Category:Bristol and Exeter Railway