50 Years Later - the Winchester to Alton railway

It's unusual for people to remember something that happened exactly 50 years ago, but sometimes as railway enthusiasts we do!

The Winchester-Alton 'Watercress Line' closed on 5 February 1973. I was there on the last day (the 4th) as it was a line quite close to me.

I first travelled on the line a few years earlier, in 1970, to actually visit another line. We were staying in Winchester were we had relatives, and me and my brother took the train from Winchester to Alton, changing there to continue to Bentley. From Bentley we planned to travel to Bordon by bus to visit the Longmoor Military Railway, which had closed the previous year. First problem was it was a bank holiday and the buses were running a Sunday service, which meant NO buses! So we had to walk to Bordon! We found the Longmoor Military Railway there but just an empty trackbed, they'd already lifted the line which was a shame.

This was BC, Before Camera, so no pictures and just vague memories unfortunately. My first photo was taken on 9.7.1971, about a year later.

I then made another trip on a rover ticket AC (after camera) and took a few very misty shots, but I think they captured the gloomy atmosphere of a soon to be closed line very well.

(Two above Alresford 4.1.1973 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

(Winchester Junction 4.1.1973 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

                         (Medstead and Four Marks 4.1.1973 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

On the final day I only travelled to Itchen Abbas, to get some photos there. I felt a built guilty as I couldn't book a ticket directly from Littlehampton to Itchen Abbas, I had to rebook at Winchester but didn't have time to do that as I'd have missed the Alton train! I got some surprisingly good quality photos there on a cheap camera. The light must have been good.

                                         (All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing 4.2.1973)

I visited Itchen Abbas a few years later, the station was intact but the line had been lifted. I was on a motorbike back then which was an easy way to visit railways after they'd closed.

                                                      (All copyright Steve Sainsbury 1976)

Medstead and Four Marks, further east, was a wreck with track lifted and junk everywhere. A sadder sight than Itchen Abbas in a way.

                        (Medstead and Four Marks 24.6.1976 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

I visited Alresford a few years later after it had become the site of a heritage railway, track down, steam locos and rolling stock in the platforms and yard. A sign that things were turning round at last. 

I travelled on to Ropley which with track down but no activity was more a haven for wildlife than railway fans!

                                 (All Ropley 24.6.1976 copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

Now of course the Alresford to Alton stretch is a busy heritage line, a premier league one at that. It's inevitably lost a lot of the atmosphere both the BR line and the deep closure line had, but it's doing a job now and providing a fair amount of employment locally.

                                    (Ropley 18.7.2015 Copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

The stretch beyond Alresford via Itchen Abbas to Winchester Junction is still lost and although a Winchester connection would tap into possible extra custom from the Southampton area coming up the main line, in reality, at least for now, most visitors come by car anyway, although the Network link at Alton is well used. And there would be the issue of shared track for a couple of kilometres at Winchester not to mention the need for extra capacity at Winchester station. It may well become a hot issue in future decades but for now that part of the line is in deep sleep.

Facebook Spotlight Rail Thing - 70s UK Railscene

Medstead and Four Marks 24.6.1976

313 030 Finsbury Park 19.7.1978

Farncombe 6.7.1977

7724 Balcombe 8.7.1977

Ropley 24.6.1976

(All pics copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing)

FACEBOOK - RAIL THING - 70s UK RAILSCENE

I'm going to highlight our various Facebook groups over the coming months as there as so many of them - what started as a single Facebook group has blossomed to around 500!

This one currently has 855 members and covers the UK railscene in the 1970s. My very first railway photo was taken on 9.7.1971 so I covered almost this entire decade. I was just 13 at the start of it and just beginning to get a real interest in railways. Holidays at Dawlish Warren spurred this on - the line along the seafront was a real eye opener! It was mainly Westerns back then of course, I even remember maroon coaches, but was still very wet behind the ears then and didn't even realise they were anything special or different! 

So if you've an interest in this transitional decade this is the group for you. There are many active members and you'll see a wide range of pics from around the UK.

Medstead and Four Marks 39 years apart

(All copyright Steve Sainsbury/Rail Thing B&W - 24.6.1976, Colour - 18.7.2015)

FACEBOOK - BEECHING REVERSED

One of the biggest transformations - and a good one - is the Mid Hants restoration of Medstead and Four Marks station. When I visited back in 1976 it was at its lowest ebb, with the track recently lifted and the building starting to fall apart.

In fact without knowing the station's history it would be difficult to believe that the top two pictures were real!

The station has been lovingly restored and now also has a shelter on the down platform and a classic LSWR signalbox on the up platform.

This shows what can be done with determination and a long term plan and the Mid Hants is a superb example of a line that has been through the process of run down and closure, slow revival starting with industrial locos and an eventual recreation of what inspired the original preservationists. The line is also an excellent tourist attraction in itself as well as a way of reaching a number of other tourist attractions en route. The line now employs people as well, further regenerating the local rural economy.

medstead

(Both 24.6.1976 copyright Rail Thing)

 

 

This is Medstead and Four Marks station on the Winchester to Alton 'Watercress' line back in 1976. Track had just been lifted, the line was closed completely on 5.2.1973. This was a very useful diversionary route for the main London to Winchester and Southampton route and should have been a candidate for electrification rather than closure.

 

A few years on and track was relaid at this location and trains - albeit 'heritage' ones - run regularly again. But I still think that this line's future lies as a real community railway offering a full freight and passenger service between Winchester and Alton, hopefully eventually finally getting that electrification and easing capacity problems on the main line. A particularly stupid closure and one that certainly wouldn't have happened just a few years later.

Medstead and Four Marks 1976

(Both copyright Rail Thing 24.6.1976)

The Winchester-Alton line closed on 5.2.1973. This line had been under threat for many years but it was still a surprise to see it go as it provided an excellent alternative route for Waterloo to Southampton and beyond trains when the main line was blocked or there were engineering works. Surely it would have made more sense to electrify it? That way Alresford would have become a proper commuter town. Strange days indeed.

Although a preservation group was soon formed much of the line was still lifted. So in 1976 this delightful intermediate station was railless and resembled many other closed stations at the time.

The line has of course resurfaced as the Watercress Line, gradually being extended back towards Alton from Alresford, and now has a main line connection at Alton, where the electrified route to London begins. Today Medstead and Four Marks has rails again and sees plenty of trains, but sadly few if any of them are 'real' in the sense that they carry ordinary people just wanting to get somewhere, and there's no freight traffic. The section west from Alresford with the intermediate station at Itchen Abbas is still closed, listed and dead.

But surely in the future this strategic route will be rebuilt and through trains will run again, taking pressure off the main line via Basingstoke. It needs to be electrified and take its proper role as a transport artery.

watercress line in january 1973

Medstead and Four Marks.


Ropley.


Alresford.


Winchester Junction.
(All 4.1.1973)

The Winchester to Alton line closed on 5.2.1973. It should of course have been electrified and used as a diversionary route for the Southampton main line, just as it was in 1967 when the main line was being electrified. Fortunately most of it has been reopened, as a heritage line, but I personally believe that the 'lost' section, which includes Itchen Abbas station, will be restored in the coming years and the line will once again serve a genuine function as part of our expanding network.

But back in 1973 the world was a very different place and people genuinely thought that railways had had their day! So the line closed after years of no investment or marketing.

It was a misty day and I was using a cheap camera, but I think this works well in the photos, giving the line an aura of melancholy which matched the mood of the times.