Notes: Carreghofa Halt was opened by the Great Western Railway on 11 April 1938 to serve trains that ran between Llanymynech and Llanfyllin. The halt was located close to its namesake on the eastern side of the B4398 road. The line passed under the road and also under the Montgomery Canal which runs parallel to the B4398 at this point. The section of line on which the halt stood had originally been part of the Nantmawr branch, opened by the Potteries, Shrewsbury & North Wales Railway on 13 August 1866. The 3¾-mile Nantmawr branch linked Llanymynech, on the Cambrian Railways (CR) main line, to quarries at Nantmawr and originally had no connection with the Llanfyllin line under which it passed 15 chains to the north of where Carreghofa Halt would later be built.

On 27 January 1896 a new section of line was opened by the CR between the Nantmawr branch and the Llanfyllin branch. The new line diverged from the Nantmawr branch just to the west of the Montgomery Canal, at what became Nantmawr Junction, and ran west for half a mile where it joined the Llanfyllin branch. The purpose of the new connection was to allow Llanfyllin trains to run direct into and out of Llanymynech station without having to perform a reverse move which was previously necessary (the original Llanfyllin junction at Llanymynech being north-facing and to the north of the station).

In 1925, by which time the line was part of the GWR, a section of the Nantmawr branch between Nantmawr Junction (which had been renamed Llanfyllin Branch Junction) and a point just to the south of Blodwell Junction was closed and had been lifted by 1938. This effectively made the remaining section of Nantmawr branch between Carreghofa and Llanymynech a continuous part of the Llanfyllin line.

Carreghofa Halt was provided so that the GWR could generate more passenger revenue and compete with local bus services. It was approached by a sloping footpath that led down to a short single platform on the west side of the line. A simple timber waiting shelter was provided for passenger comfort. The running-in nameboard was at the western end of the platform and the halt was lit at night by an oil lamp.

At the time of opening there were five trains in each direction running between Llanymynech and Llanfyllin with some services starting or ending their journeys at Oswestry.

On 1 January 1948 Carreghofa Halt became part of British Railways [Western Region] (BR[WR]). The BR[WR] timetable of 19 September 1955 showed four trains in each direction Monday-to-Friday and five on Saturdays as seen in the table below.

This level of service remained constant throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s.

On 1 January 1963 Carreghofa Halt passed to the operational control of British Railways [London Midland Region] (BR[LMR]). Three months later the Reshaping of British Railways report (the ‘Beeching Report’) was published. It recommended that the Llanfyllin branch should close completely.

In 1964 Carreghofa Halt still had four trains in each direction Monday-to-Friday and five on Saturdays.

Formal closure proceedings of the Llanfyllin branch and the Whitchurch-Welshpool line were handled together, and they began on 11 March 1964 when the proposal was published. The last day of the hearing was 24 June, and on 13 July the Transport Users’ Consultative Committee report was received by the Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples. On 11 September 1964 he gave his consent to the closure.

The last trains ran to and from Carreghofa Halt on Saturday 16 January 1965 and on Monday 18 January the line closed completely. A section of the former CR main line between Buttington and Llynclys also closed completely. Track-lifting followed later in the year.

The halt was demolished leaving no trace.

Tickets from Michael Stewart, timetable from Paul Wright and route map by Alan Young.

Sources:

• A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain - Volume II North & Mid Wales - Peter E Baughan - David & Charles 1980.
• Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies - Christopher Awdry - Guild Publishing 1990.
• Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain - A Chronology - Michael Quick - Railway & Canal Historical Society 2009.
• The Cambrian Railways A New History - Peter Johnson - OPC 2013.

See other stations: Blodwell Junction, Rhydmeredydd and Llanymynech

See also Nantmawr Junction feature