A very ornate spade and wheelbarrow used at this event can be seen in the Athelstan Museum (Town Hall). The jollification was premature as the problems faced by this Company could not be overcome and it was wound up in 1871. However land must have been purchased for this scheme as the development of the supermarket on the western side of Gloucester Road was held up in the 1980s when it was found that British Rail owned the land where the Railway Hotel stood.
The worthies of Malmesbury were not put off by this expensive failure and began discussions with the Great Western Railway, which the intended branch line of the Malmesbury Railway Company would join. In October 1871 a meeting was held in the Town Hall chaired by Colonel Charles Miles of Burton Hill House. Opened by Mr. W.S. Jones of Jones & Forrester [59 High Street], solicitors, it was attended by Walter Powell MP along with many other gentlemen and traders of the town. The proposal was to run a branch line to join the main line at Dauntsey. just over 6 miles away and estimated to cost £60,000. It was hoped that this would boost trade by improving the town's market and providing cheaper coal as well as enabling goods to be easily transported to and from the town. The station was to be sited on the largest area of flat land available to the north of the Abbey. Many troubles had to be overcome before the grand opening on 17th December 1877 and the full story is told in Mike Fenton's book. The Malmesbury Branch.
Some changes occurred quickly in the local community and economy. Henry Long (1830-1902) who ran a daily omnibus from the Greyhound [Smoking Dog], which he owned, to Chippenham (journey time l½ hours) sold his transport equipment within a month of the railway's opening. House prices rose. Malmesbury's market held on the 3rd Wednesday of the month prospered and in February 1878 saw its best attendance for over 30 years. However this enthusiasm did not endure and by 1900 the market was not so brisk. But trade for the Silk factory [Avon Mill] as well as for Adye and Hinwood's bacon factory in Park Road improved. Railway excursions were a feature with extra trains run for the Flower Show held at Burton Hill House. Notwithstanding this activity receipts did not cover the running costs and the company was taken over by the Great Western Railway on 1st July 1880. The other main items conveyed were coal and agricultural goods inwards with farm produce and milk traffic outwards. Stan Hudson [12-18 High Street] could remember milk carts driven by farmers' sons racing neck and neck either to get to the station first or just to catch the milk train.
The start of the First World War saw increased traffic on the branch with troops mobilising, military stores moving, Belgian refugees arriving to stay at Charlton Park and later war casualties coming to the military hospital there. Towards the end of the war services had to be scaled down due mainly to the shortage of men, rolling stock and coal. With the war over things returned to normal with tourists coming on special excursion trains.
The GWR began local deliveries of goods from the station in 1923 using a horse and cart later replaced with motor vehicles. However competition for passengers increased with more motor buses and coaches. The milk traffic diminished and by 1938 had completely been lost to road transport. Cost cutting measures had to be introduced and in 1933 the branch was connected to the South Wales main line, which had opened in 1903, at Little Somerford and the stretch to Dauntsey was largely taken up. This reduced the length of track to 3½ miles.
1st September 1939 saw the first train of evacuees arrive in Malmesbury carrying 900 children from London and about 200 of them stayed in the town with the remainder sent to nearby villages. The timetable was immediately revised with fewer services. However traffic increased as RAF personnel moving to and from the airfield at Long Newnton used the branch, as did medical staff after a military hospital was again established at Charlton Park. Linolite [the Maltings] received and despatched the goods associated with their production of de-icing hose clips. Later in the war prisoners-of-war arrived for local camps.
After the war's end the Labour Government nationalised the railways on 1st January 1948. Despite this, closure of the branch was considered but there was strong opposition from local businesses including Linolite, Ekco [Cowbridge House] and A.B. Blanch & Co. who started manufacturing agricultural machinery at Crudwell in 1950. However passenger services were doomed, and the last train ran on 8th September 1951. Goods traffic continued until 1962 and the track was lifted the following year. The station site was sold to the Borough Council in 1967 and developed into the light industrial estate and car park of today. The only reminders left are the old engine shed, used by Ebley Tyres for storage, the bridge abutments two hundred yards from Mill Lane and the tunnel under Holloway which can be seen from the River Walk during the winter months after the trees have lost their leaves.
Source: Charles Vernon
