Station Name: STRETTON-ON-FOSSE[Source: Darren Kitson]
fosse_old8.jpg) This was the scene on an apparently pleasant day in July 1953. Just a single, plain track runs through what then remained of the closed station. There is much evidence of materials recovery. A crude fence, apparently with barbed wire, now runs along the platform while only the post of the loading gauge remains. The site of the points leading to the former goods siding can be discerned from the longer sleepers which remain in situ. The black pitched-roof hut appeared sometime after the siding was removed and its opposite end can be seen in another photograph.
Photo from John Mann collection 
On Tuesday 6 October 1953 the Shipston-on-Stour goods train approaches Stretton-on-Fosse behind BR Standard Class 2 2-6-0 No. 78009. The vantage point would have been the Fosse Way and a few yards south of the level crossing. The fireman appears to be taking things easy but this was about to change as he will climb down to open the level crossing gates before climbing back onto the footplate. The train will then cross the road and stop for the guard to close the gates. This process was repeated with monotonous regularity on the Shipston-on-Stour branch after 1929 when level crossing keepers were abolished
Photo by Nick Catford 
This scene from the summer of 1954 is similar to that from July 1953. The gap in the trees, where the station building had once stood, provides a glimpse of the rear of the cottage with its peculiar split level roof. The cottage, along with others along the line by this date, had probably been sold off and this would explain the presence of the crude fence along the platform which may otherwise seem pointless.
Photo by GE Parker fosse_old15.jpg) On Sunday 24 April 1955 2301 Class 'Dean Goods' No. 2474 has paused at Stretton-on-Fosse with the Railway Enthusiasts Club "The South Midlander" railtour while on its way to Shipston-on-Stour. The Dean Goods was only used for the Shipston-on-Stour part of the tour, the remainder being undertaken with 'Dukedog' No. 9015 which presumably lingered at Moreton-in-Marsh for the duration of the Shipston leg of the tour. The passengers' attire is typical of the period although only one raincoat is visible - it must have been a fine Spring day. The child on the left has probably come from the Golden Cross to see what all the fuss is about. In 2024 one wonders if he is still with us and has any memories of the railway from all those years ago. To the left of the locomotive stands the hut which appeared after the siding was removed. It has double doors at this end and therefore is more like a garage than a hut or shed. Its purpose is however unknown and while one might suspect it was to house the pump trolley, albeit a little large for that, the trolley was, as we will see, still dumped on the ground in the open air at this time. No. 2474 was withdrawn from 81D (Reading) shed a few days later.
Photo from Mike Morant collection fosse_old16.jpg)
Following on from the previous view taken on 24 April 1955, here is No. 2474 and train on its return to Moreton-in-Marsh. At far left some passengers have climbed down from the train, this end of which was out of the platform, with no doubt the photographer being among them. The pump trolley can be seen to the right, simply dumped on the ground. These trolleys were designed to be manhandled by a couple of beefy chaps but it was no easy job, so leaving it where it is seen was probably the easiest option despite Stretton-on-Fosse having no shortage of huts. Perhaps surprisingly many of those manually propelled trolleys of various types were imported from the USA, notably from the Kalamazoo Railroad Velocipede & Car Company of Kalamazoo, Michigan (now known as the rather easier on the tongue Kalamazoo Manufacturing Company). The stretton-on-Fosse trolley appears to be a Kalamazoo product, the giveaway being the foot brake seen here between the two wheels on the right. The equipment would have been imported by an agent rather then directly by the railway companies. The advantage of these manually propelled trolleys was there being no requirement for an engineers line possession whereas with motor trolleys there was. This non requirement is how Mr Charles Webb, on his rail velocipede, came to be run down and killed by a train near Longdon Road in 1930. Note, in this view at bottom right, the barrow crossing. This would have been used to ease the job of manhandling the pump trolley on and off the track and indeed this may have been its intended purpose.
Photo from Mike Morant collectionv fosse_old7.jpg)
This was the scene in July 1960, some two months after the line closed to all traffic and here we have a better view of the rear of the cottage. The reason for the exposed area of brickwork is not known although it does not appear to be random. Perhaps some repointing had become necessary. The hut in front of the weigh office appears quite rickety and may not be the same structure as seen in one of the 1955 views. Note that the crude fencing along the platform has gone and it would seem some of the trees have either been removed or cut back.
Photo from John Mann collection fosse_old17.jpg) In October 1961 track lifting had proceeded from Moreton-in-Marsh to Stretton-on-Fosse and while the rails were still in situ across the road, they appear to end just before the pile of sleepers against the platform in the distance. The contractor used the Stretton-on-Fosse station site as a base for operations, recovered materials being brought here for removal by road. The level crossing is still intact and complete with lamps; although the railway had closed the crossing was technically still operational until the track lifting operation came to an end. At Moreton-in-Marsh the branch did not officially begin until the north side of Todenham Road level crossing, south thereof being part of Moreton's goods yard. For this reason the contractor had to lift the track in two stages, namely from Todenham Road to Stretton-on-Fosse and Shipston-on-Stour to Stretton-on-Fosse The work was not hurried for whatever reason and was not completed until sometime in late 1962. In this view the mysterious hut/garage which had appeared in front of the weigh office, to the left, has now vanished but another small hut has appeared further along. Presumably this was a portable toilet for the benefit of the workmen. The contractor used a crawler crane, small internal combustion locomotive and some flat wagons of which none are present so presumably work was underway from the Shipston-on-Stour end. On completion of the work the aforementioned equipment would have been removed by road. October 1961 is assumed as this photo came overlaid onto the newspaper cutting of that date above.Photo by Bryan Hicks copyright Anthony Hicks fosse_old18.jpg) It is April 1962 and track lifting through Stretton-on-Fosse has been completed. Though close examination suggests that the rails were still in situ across the road, this was very common and can still be seen in a few locations across the country today decades after lines closed. As ever the Golden Cross looms large over the site; it had witnessed the coming and going of both the horse tramway and the later railway. The station is out of view to the right and the entrance was the gate adjacent to the, by now, dilapidated oil lamp. All stations on the Shipston-on-Stour branch, excepting of course Moreton-in-Marsh were accessed in this manner, meaning intending passengers first walked onto the platform before arriving at the ticket office. Some redundant sleepers have been left dumped at the base of the level crossing gates, probably to prevent the gates swinging into the road as they had no form of locking. The Triumph Herald probably belonged to the photographer, with his wife waiting patiently in the front passenger seat.
Photo by Bryan Hicks copyright Anthony Hicks  The crossing keeper's cottage and remains of the level crossing on what is known locally as Old Gated Road, "Old" referring to the road once being gated which has long since ceased to be the case. The date is 22 September 1974. The location is about a three-quarter mile north-west of the site of Stretton-on-Fosse station on a minor road linking Fosse Way with Campden Road and just south of the one-time Campden Road Tunnel and the later Tunnel Bridge, which latter no longer exists. The Shipston-on-Stour branch had something of a penchant for skewed level crossings and, as can be seen, Old Gated Road was one of them. All crossing keeper's cottages along the branch survive and many of them have been extended, this one being no exception. Click here to see the extended house. These cottages all followed a general basic design but with variations such as left or right handed and variations to roofs, some having clipped gables. The style seen here had trefoil shapes cut into the gable apexes and such can be seen today at Old Gated Lane. One may therefore query the 'now you see it, now you don't' situation and the answer probably lies with the trefoils being plated over at various times and probably to prevent birds nesting, rainwater ingress or both.Photo by Bryan Hicks copyright Anthony Hicks fosse3.jpg)
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Stretton-on-Fosse station house in June 2016.
Photo
by Nick Catford
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