Buckingham Branches by Bike

[Nearholmer]

As to Buckingham’s fortunes, it burnt down in the earl C18th, then lost county town status to Aylesbury, wasn’t on the main-line of any canal (it got a branch from the GJ), then got missed-out by one main-line Railway after another. I’m sure that forty years ago the population was only about 6000.

 

The two big changes were the founding of the university (the first full-fee-paying one in the UK I think), then lots and lots of house-building, both of which bought new, younger people into the town. The house-building is mainly about people commuting by car to MK, Oxford and Northampton. Population in 2011 was 13000, and I'd bet its grown a fair bit since then, because house-building has long spread outside the bypass road that was promised to be the defining edge of the built area when it was created a few years back! Aylesbury is about five times bigger.

 

Overall, it is well worth a visit, possibly combined with going to one of the NT places nearby, Stowe or Claydon, but it’s attractions are mainly for old-building-o-philes. It’s better in the week, because it gets a bit busy on Saturdays, and sleeps all day Sunday.

 

 

Edited November 20, 2019 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Now, this is what the Aylesbury yo Verney Junction train looked like.

 

An 0 gauge scratch build, I think from the 1970s.

 

Knocks to class GWR 0-4-2T and auto coach into a cocked hat IMO.

 

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

It wasn’t raining today, the first time in living memory that has coincided with me having an hour or two free, so a further short instalment.

 

The route from Grandborough Junction to Linslade crosses this, quite lumpy, territory. Some of the slopes in here are pretty steep, the greensand lumps having almost scarp-like faces. It’s quite interesting cycling, especially one hill near Cublington.

 

 

Given that the “in between bit” on the layout seems to have been an non-scenified track through a box-room, the route is moot, the most logical one being around the southern side of the higher ground, going through the narrowest parts of the spurs in deep cuttings.

 

To give a flavour for the area, which is very pleasant “rumpled” country with a few old villages, here are pictures from around Stewkley, which has the best church for miles around, being little-modified Norman.
 

 

 

Having squiggled it’s way through the district, our imaginary railway eventually gets to Linslade, hopefully not having to use too steep a gradient to get down into the valley.
 

The conundrum is that the WCML slices through the valley, and before it got there, Linslade as it is now didn’t really exist - it grew between the station and the river as a modern suburb of Leighton Buzzard from c1840. All of the buildings are Victorian or later, and range from small terraces to the odd larger villa, a good sprinkling being medium sized houses with yards and workshops accessed by arches, clearly built for use by skilled tradespeople [Wrong: I’ve since learned that the arches, stables and yards were because Linslade served as a ‘resort’ for people joining fox hunts on the Rothschild Estates to the west]. There is also the rather neat printing works shown below.

 

 

 

The “centre” is where a fan of roads converge to cross canal and river, and feels very ‘industrial midlands’ because of the style of buildings.

 

There are oddities, including this, which I’m at a loss to explain.

 

Where in all this Rev. Denny imagined the station to be, who knows?  Perhaps it was to the west of the LNWR, even further from Leighton Buzzard-proper, where houses weren’t built until the 1960/70s, which would save crossing the WCML. Red splodge on the c1880 map below shows a possible site, assuming an approach from the south, curving round below the higher ground.

 

 

Adding a bit of faux-history, perhaps the fancy building that it was blessed with in later iterations was built by a then-independent local railway in the 1850/60s to make a statement.

 

 

 

Edited January 3 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Before the WCML, Linslade was, as I’ve said before, about a mile and a half further north, on the other side of the steep spur through which Linslade Tunnel was bored.

 

 

Here is the old church, now in splendid isolation, a few hundred yards from the canal that I showed in an earlier posting, and easily visible from passing trains.

 

Today’s confession is that no bike was involved, this one was by car and boots, because I couldn’t set-off until well after lunch, and the days are so short that I could never have made it before dark.

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

Something I should have mentioned, is that the postulated route nearly got a railway in the early 1970s, but not some lovely bucolic branch-line.

 

Cubligton-Wing-Stewkley was selected as the site for a gigantic new airport for London (its about a third of the way to Birmingham!), and there was to be a full high-speed main-line on pretty much "our" route, slicing in a straight line from Leighton Buzzard to somewhere near Qauinton Road, money no object.

 

There is actually a small monument at Cublington, ironically shaped like Concorde, commemorating the cancellation of the scheme, which must be a very rare case of commemorating something that didn't happen (or did, if it really commemorates the massive campaign of opposition!).

 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by Nearholmer

[caradoc]

11 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Something I should have mentioned, is that the postulated route nearly got a railway in the early 1970s, but not some lovely bucolic branch-line.

 

Cubligton-Wing-Stewkley was selected as the site for a gigantic new airport for London (its about a third of the way to Birmingham!), and there was to be a full high-speed main-line on pretty much "our" route, slicing in a straight line from Leighton Buzzard to somewhere near Qauinton Road, money no object.

 

There is actually a small monument at Cublington, ironically shaped like Concorde, commemorating the cancellation of the scheme, which must be a very rare case of commemorating something that didn't happen (or did, if it really commemorates the massive campaign of opposition!).

 

 

Really interesting thoughts and photos Nearholmer, thanks for posting. I particularly liked the pics of Stony Stratford as I lived there for a while, albeit before I was 5 so I don't remember much about it !

 

If the new airport had been built we would already have part of HS2; Given the oppostion to that, imagine the uproar if the airport proposal resurfaced now !

 

[ian]

A photo of the monument and some more details can be found here:

 

https://stewkley.org.uk/airport-monument-and-spinney/

[Annie]

15 minutes ago, ian said:

A photo of the monument and some more details can be found here:

 

https://stewkley.org.uk/airport-monument-and-spinney/

Good job.  The last thing we need in the world is more airports.

[Pacific231G]

22 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

It wasn’t raining today, the first time in living memory that has coincided with me having an hour or two free, so a further short instalment.

 

The route from Grandborough Junction to Linslade crosses this, quite lumpy, territory. Some of the slopes in here are pretty steep, the greensand lumps having almost scarp-like faces. It’s quite interesting cycling, especially one hill near Cublington.

 

 

Given that the “in between bit” on the layout seems to have been an non-scenified track through a box-room, the route is moot, the most logical one being around the southern side of the higher ground, going through the narrowest parts of the spurs in deep cuttings.

 

Having squiggled it’s way through the district, our imaginary railway eventually gets to Linslade, hopefully not having to use too steep a gradient to get down into the valley.
 

The conundrum is that the WCML slices through the valley, and before it got there, Linslade as it is now didn’t really exist - it grew between the station and the river as a modern suburb of Leighton Buzzard from c1840. All of the buildings are Victorian or later, and range from small terraces to the odd larger villa, a good sprinkling being medium sized houses with yards and workshops accessed by arches, clearly built for use by skilled tradespeople. There is also the rather neat printing works shown below.

 

Something like this perhaps Kevin?

 

 

Excellent scope for Cublington Road, Stewkley Road and maybe one or two other stations named So and So Road as the railway misses the local communities before failing to connect with the LNWR. All very GCR  but, had it been built, I can envisage a connection being put in during WW2. It would also have come a long time after the WCML by which time Linslade would probably have been well developed. The route looks convoluted but I've recently been looking at the actual route of the Banbury and Cheltenham line between Banbury and Chipping Norton and it was even more so despite having a rather magnificent viaduct (just outside Hook Norton)  and several tunnels.  Needless to say, anyone desirous of travelling from Leighton Buzzard to London would have far preferred a slow gentle journey to Granborough, a chance to reflect on life while waiting for the train to Marylebone followed by an arrival long after the commuters at a much more civllised London terminus. Mind you that might not have been its main traffic. With Buckingham elevated to a cathedral city and county Town of Buckinghamshire (sorry Aylesbury) , we might assume that all the parishes between there and Leighton Buzzard  would have fallen within its diocese rather than St. Albans (Leighton Buzzard) or Oxford (all the rest)  so a brisk traffic in clergymen travelling to and from Buckingham along with assorted  school inspectors, county surveyors et al, would seem likely.

 

 

[Nearholmer]

I was thinking of going further south, crossing the ridge south of Cublington, possibly in a short tunnel into what is a rather steep western face, then taking in Wing (Road, obviously), because that allows a better descent to somewhere close to the LNWR - the route you’ve drawn would be shorter, but get horribly steep at the Eastern end. But, more earthworks could solve the problem, possibly culminating in a tunnel south of Stewkley.

 

Stewkley is at nearly 500ft, while the LNWR is about 300ft. Just peeping in at the lower LH corner are Qauinton’s twin peaks, at over 600ft.

 

It would, indeed, be a fine and busy railway.

 

Plenty of scope for models of remote intermediate stations - ‘Cublington  and Aston Abbots’ would be a natural, near my tunnel, and the name sounds just right: cosy and clerical.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Nearholmer

[Nearholmer]

It occurs to me that it would be logical to involve the Rothschild family in this arm of the Buckingham branches, because they bought huge acreages in the district in the 1850/60s, and developed their series of mega-mansions in the area. maybe they provided some of the capital.

 

The route that I've postulated above would cause the eastern end of the line to run rather neatly below the grounds of Ascott http://ascottestate.co.uk/ which the Rothschild's turned from an old farmstead into a superb residence and estate.

 

I can't find a photo on-line that makes the situation of the house clear, but it sits up on top of one of the flattish-topped spurs that characterise the area, looking out over quite a steep drop, with views right across the plain to the greensand ridges beyond Leighton Buzzard and, further south, to the chalk of Dunstable Downs.

 

There was a branch of the Brill Tramway to aid construction of one of the other Rothschild mega-mansions, Waddesdon Manor, mainly I think because creating the landscape there involved so much terra-forming - Ascott was a more modest estate (if modest is a word that can be applied to lavish spending on luxury) house, but maybe it would have merited a short siding to the estate gas-works, and a private halt.

 

Our Line is running somewhere around 350ft contour here.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2019 by Nearholmer

[Pacific231G]

On 25/11/2019 at 18:43, Nearholmer said:

Now, this is what the Aylesbury yo Verney Junction train looked like.

 

An 0 gauge scratch build, I think from the 1970s.

 

Knocks to class GWR 0-4-2T and auto coach into a cocked hat IMO.

 

 

 

 

Gorgeous  and it shows why Peter Denny was attracted to the GCR (though I thought their cream was a lot whiter than the GWR's

Do you happen to know why the GCR needed six wheel bogies for their autocoaches; Is it longer than the GW equivalent or was it a conversion?

 

 

[Nearholmer]

I haven't found out yet, not really being a GCR aficionado, but my surmise is that they took a conservative approach in view of the length of the thing.

 

It must have been very smooth and comfortable, especially in comparison with the elderly four and six wheelers that were generally used on branch lines before.

[TheSignalEngineer]

On 03/12/2019 at 08:27, caradoc said:

 

Really interesting thoughts and photos Nearholmer, thanks for posting. I particularly liked the pics of Stony Stratford as I lived there for a while, albeit before I was 5 so I don't remember much about it !

 

If the new airport had been built we would already have part of HS2; Given the oppostion to that, imagine the uproar if the airport proposal resurfaced now !

 

I remember the banners in the fields near to Cheddington. I used to travel weekly between Birmingham and London at the time.

Edited December 4, 2019 by TheSignalEngineer

[Regularity]

One of the original ideas for the London and Birmingham Railway was to progress through the Vale of Aylesbury. Given that the London and Greenwich was already in existence, perhaps this was HS2 of its time?

 

Plus ça change...

[Nearholmer]

Once the L&B crossed the chalk at Tring Cutting, it then had to cross The Aylesbury Vale (easy) then avoid the Stewkley lump that we’ve been discussing here.

 

There were two choices:

 

- the one taken, using the gap at Linslade, which eventually had to be done at the price of quite a long tunnel to avoid too much squiggling about round a spur of higher ground; or,

 

- go west, and use the Pitchcott Gap, and run up via Buckingham, bearing east along the Ouse Valley to get back onto the alignment we know near Wolverton. Longer, but no tunnel.

 

I’m glad it didn’t take the western course, because I’m convinced that there is something deeply spooky about the Pitchcott Gap.
 

It is the course of what I think was a very ancient road from Buckingham to Aylesbury, long forgotten, and now part bridle-path and part very, very, very minor road with huge cracks in it. It is a strange place, with Quainton Hill’s unpopulated side rising up steeply on one side, and a combination of hills and bogs on the other, gloomy even in summer, and barely ever visited by outsiders. Twenty years ago there was a sort of semi-settled gypsy encampment there, two or three families living in total isolation, and there is a shack in the wood that was inhabited even up to last year. I wouldn’t want to go there in the dark, not because of whoever might live there, they’d be a comfort, but because the place makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up on a bright and sunny day. There is something otherworldly there.

 

PS: Having just checked, the road through the gap was Roman .... no wonder it looks a bit decayed in places!

 

PPS: The area must have a very long association with gypsies - according to a blog written by a guy who seems to walk all the areas that I cycle, there is a small upright stone in the verge of the roman road, reputedly marking the site of the grave of Gypsy Rose Lee's grandfather (wasn't she American??). Maybe it's him that lingers about the place.

Edited December 4, 2019 by Nearholmer

[1165Valour]

@Nearholmer, do you still have some of the images for this thread (especially the maps) that were lost in the great image purge?

[Nearholmer]

I’ve got these, which are Rev Denny’s maps of the various iterations of the layout:

 

 

[Nearholmer]

And these, but it takes a bit of detective work to relate them to the above:

 

 

[1165Valour]

Thank you, this is quite helpful.