Park Leaze Halt railway station
{{Short description|Former railway station in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox station
| name = Park Leaze Halt
| status = Disused
| image =
| country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|51.6875|-1.9906|type:railwaystation_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| grid_name = Grid reference
| grid_position = {{gbmapscaled|SU007987|25|SU007987}}
| platforms = 1
| original = Western Region of British Railways
| years = {{Start date|1960|01|04|df=yes}}
| events = Station opened
| years1 = {{end date|1964|04|06|df=y}}
| events1 = Station closed
}}
Park Leaze Halt railway station was one of two intermediate halts on the Cirencester branch line from {{stnlnk|Kemble}}, Gloucestershire, England. It was one of the shortest-lived stations in post-World War II Britain, being open for just over four years, between 1960 and 1964.{{sfn|Bray|1998|p=103}}
History
The branch line to Cirencester had opened on 31 May 1841, but no intermediate stations were provided east of the junction at Kemble{{sfn|MacDermot|1927|pp=170–1}} until the introduction of Diesel railbuses on the line in February 1959, when the small station of {{stnlnk|Chesterton Lane Halt}} was opened;{{sfn|Bray|1998|p=74}}{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|2005|loc=fig. 53}} less than a year later, on 4 January 1960, a second small station named Park Leaze Halt was opened.{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=181}}
There was a single low platform, on the down side (north) of the line and on the Cirencester side of an overbridge; the platform was constructed from sleepers, and there was no shelter.{{sfn|Bray|1998|pp=102–3}}{{sfn|Mitchell|Smith|2005|loc=fig. 52}} The station was {{convert|92|mi|42|chain|km}} from Paddington.{{sfn|Bray|1998|p=103}} With the opening of this halt, the railcar service between Kemble and Cirencester increased from 13 to 14 in each direction on weekdays (three more ran on Saturdays).{{sfn|Bray|1998|p=75}} The halt served an area of farmland, the immediate population being approximately 20. The nearest village was Ewen, but the distance from Ewen to Kemble was not much more than to Park Leaze Halt, so the halt was only useful for Ewen residents if they were visiting Cirencester.{{sfn|Bray|1998|p=102}}
The halt closed with the end of passenger services on the Cirencester Town branch on 6 April 1964,{{sfn|Butt|1995|p=181}} the last trains having run on the evening of 5 April.{{sfn|Bray|1998|p=92}}
Notes
{{reflist|colwidth=20em}}
References
- {{cite book |last=Bray |first=Nigel |title=The Cirencester Branch |year=1998 |publisher=Oakwood Press |location=Usk |isbn=0-85361-504-7 |id=Locomotion Papers LP207 }}
- {{cite book |last=Butt |first=R.V.J. |title=The Directory of Railway Stations |year=1995 |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |location=Yeovil |isbn=1-85260-508-1 |id=R508 }}
- {{cite book |last=MacDermot |first=E.T. |title=History of the Great Western Railway, vol. I: 1833-1863 |year=1927 |publisher=Great Western Railway |location=Paddington }}
- {{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=Victor E. |last2=Smith |first2=Keith |title=Swindon to Gloucester |series=Western Main Lines |date=January 2005 |publisher=Middleton Press |location=Midhurst |isbn=1-904474-46-2 }}
External links
- [http://www.npemap.org.uk/tiles/map.html#400,198,1 Site of Park Leaze Halt on navigable 1948 O.S. map]
{{Disused rail start}}
{{rail line |previous={{stnlnk|Chesterton Lane Halt}}
Line and station closed |next={{stnlnk|Kemble}}
Line closed, station open |route=Western Region of British Railways
Cirencester Branch Line |col={{BR(W) colour}} }}
{{end box}}
{{Closed stations Gloucestershire |state=collapsed }}
{{Transport in Gloucestershire}}
Category:Disused railway stations in Gloucestershire
Category:Railway stations opened by British Rail
Category:Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1960