The Cheltenham and Gloucester Tramroad

[rogerfarnworth]

After spending a bit of time reading Neil Parkhouse's recent series on the railways of Gloucester - entitled "British Railway History in Colour" and published by The Lightmoor Press, I have stared looking at the ancient tramroad which served Gloucester Docks and Cheltenham and Leckhampton Hill. There is an excellent little book about this by David Bick. The first post in this short series focusses on the remote end of the branch-line which served Leckhampton Quarries. A small part of the tramroad outside the quarry boundaries remained in use up until the turn of the 20th Century.

 

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/04/23/the-cheltenham-and-gloucester-tramroad-part-1

[Dagworth]

This is what the route looks like now 

 

 

I just stepped out of the front door to take this photo, the tramway ran right past the front of our house 

 

Andi

[MJI]

Wow

 

I never knew about this.

 

It ran along the old A40, I have been on that road 1000s of times. Just one junction at least 1500 times, 7 years of school.

 

Longlevens through main road, old A40 through Churchdown (where my school was), past a huge ex farm where a friends band lived, past Down Hatherly Lane, what was Dowty Rotol and Staverton Airport, then Bucklands scrap yard, then GCHQ.

 

I am totally gobsmacked by this!

[rogerfarnworth]

I have just completed the second part of a journey along the Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad. This length runs from the bottom of Leckhampton Hill to the junction with the Tramroad's main line to the Northeast of what is now Cheltenham Railway Station.

 

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/05/02/the-gloucester-and-cheltenham-tramroad-part-2

[rogerfarnworth]

The Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad - Part 3. ....

 

This length of the tramroad takes us from central Cheltenham to the suburbs of Gloucester. ....

 

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/05/06/the-gloucester-and-cheltenham-tramroad-part-3

[MJI]

A pub I got a drink from before 18 there!

[Dagworth]

On 24/04/2020 at 12:37, Dagworth said:

This is what the route looks like now 

 

 

I just stepped out of the front door to take this photo, the tramway ran right past the front of our house 

 

Andi

I've now found some detailed old maps of Cheltenham that show the tramway ran along what is now the pavement on the left of the parked cars, and there was a passing loop right outside my house!

 

Andi

[rogerfarnworth]

This is the final instalment of the articles about the Gloucester and Cheltenham Tramroad. ... Part 4 covers the length which ran through the City of Gloucester to the Docks. ......

 

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/05/08/the-gloucester-and-cheltenham-tramroad-part-4

[rogerfarnworth]

This is a short addendum to previous posts and is about the Cheltenham end of the tramroad. It highlights exuberant reflections on the Leckhampton Quarries by Humphrey Household. ....

 

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/09/16/the-gloucester-and-cheltenham-tramroad-an-addendum/

 

While on holiday in the Forest of Dean in September 2021, I picked up a secondhand copy of "Gloucestershire Railways in the Twenties" by Humphrey Household. [1]  It consists of a review of the development of the railways in Gloucestershire supported by a series of photographs which were predominantly taken in the 1920s by Humphrey Household. The photos are a significant resource. The text of the book is well-written. Its final two chapters were of real interest to me.