Notes: Shipton-on-Cherwell Halt was opened in 1929 by the Great Western Railway to serve the Oxfordshire village of Shipton-on-Cherwell as well as the adjacent Oxford and Shipton Cement Company limestone quarry and cement works beside the main railway line from Oxford to Birmingham. Limestone quarrying from the hillside between the Woodstock branch line and Bunker's Hill started in the 1920s. Shipton-on-Cherwell Halt was the only intermediate station on the Kidlington to Blenheim and Woodstock (referred to as Woodstock here on) branch which opened on 19 May 1890.

Long before the arrival of the branch, Shipton-on-Cherwell was the site of a notorious train crash on 24 December 1874. It involved the derailment of a long passenger train at Shipton-on-Cherwell on the main line that was one of the worst ever disasters on the Great Western Railway.

Shipton-on-Cherwell Halt was one of 26 new halts opened by the Great Western Railway in 1929. It was situated on an embankment immediately adjacent to the single-span girder bridge over the Banbury Road (then A423). Facilities were basic: a short sleeper-built platform on the north side of the line, together with a small wooden lean-to shelter, running in board and two wooden lamp posts supporting traditional glass lanterns with ornamental finials. A sloping cinder path led down to a kissing gate on the road where a sign proclaimed the halt as a station for 'Blenheim, Oxford, Banbury, etc.". Another lamp post was located at the entrance. The halt was constructed at a cost of £160 with a low sleeper built platform for railmotors. The platform was later raised to standard height in 1933 at a cost of £120. Given that the autotrailers had retractable steps, quite why a normal height and rather longer platform was later deemed necessary is not known for certain but it was possibly because of the unusually large, for a wayside halt, number of people using it to get to and from the cement works and quarries.

The halt was opened to serve the community of cement workers employed by the Oxford & Shipton Cement Company which had opened their large quarry to the north of Shipton-on-Cherwell village. The company erected several rows of 1920s-style houses for its workers and this became known as 'Bunkers Hill'. In the absence of competing bus routes, the halt was soon carrying significant numbers of passengers between Bunkers Hill and Shipton old village, contributing to a rise in passenger numbers at Woodstock from 17,000 in the early 1900s to 22,000+ in the 1930s.

By the 1950s, rationalisation led to staff reductions on the line and the introduction of a modest timetable which saw eight services each way call at Shipton-on-Cherwell. Passenger numbers had fallen to 9,000, with each train carrying on average 5 to 6 passengers and sometimes running empty. The last train ran on 27 February 1954 after which the branch closed to all traffic.

The number of enthusiasts was bolstered by members of the Oxford University Railway Society and the presence of enthusiasts earlier on the final day is explained by their wish to travel on the final Woodstock - Oxford train and the return service. This was the 12.55PM ex-Woodstock and 2.48PM ex-Oxford return. There was a problem at Oxford, where in typical fashion for the time British Railways was unable to handle the increased demand. Apart from enthusiasts who had travelled from Woodstock and intended to return, plus no doubt a few local people just making a routine journey, the ticket office at Oxford had sold an additional 150, or thereabouts, tickets to enthusiasts. Autotrailer W183W seated 77 passengers, all Third Class, and normally would be more than adequate for the branch but not on this occasion so British Railways added a second autotrailer to the train. This was coupled to the front of locomotive No. 1420 which therefore returned to Woodstock in the middle of the train. This second autotrailer was of the same type as W183W but its number does not appear to have been recorded. By the time of the final train the second autotrailer had been detached, leaving No. 1420 and W183W to do the final honours.

The final service was the 6.48PM ex-Kidlington and 7.15PM ex-Woodstock. Sunset in the Oxford area on 27 February 1954 was at 5.41PM. The final train from Woodstock would have run after dark and therefore another probable reason for so many enthusiasts being around earlier in the day. The final train departed Woodstock with a Union Flag and wreath on the front of the autotrailer, below the windscreens of course, and the Oxford University students had scrawled some anti Government remarks onto No. 1420's water tanks.

The final public timetable for the branch carried a curious footnote applicable to the 6.48PM ex-Kidlington: "Runs 6 minutes later on Saturdays commencing 29th May, 1954". Presumably this was carried over from the previous timetable, updated to give the May 1954 date, in error.

British Railways released some passenger figures for 1952. To the nearest whole number there were 9,000 passengers. Trains typically carried an average of 5 or 6 passengers while some ran empty. These figures were probably genuine as BR had considered withdrawing the steam autotrains and using a diesel railcar instead. However, this did not happen, leaving some people to wonder if the railcar story was nothing but a ruse. The branch, by the time of closure, had two through workings per day to and from Oxford but otherwise trains terminated in the bay platform at Kidlington.

Source: Wikipedia.

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BLENHEIM AND WOODSTOCK BRANCH

Tickets from Michael Stewart, Timetables from Timetable World. Route map by Alan Young.

See Blenheim and Woodstock and Kidlington