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Help to identify a half-remembered station?


ejstubbs
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Sometime back in the 1980s I was on a train from Paddington to Hereford.  It was a dark winter night, might have been snowing or sleeting a bit, I couldn't swear to that.  Anyway, I remember it being quite atmospheric.  At some point in what felt, from the comfort of the train, like the middle of nowhere, but which was most likely somewhere in Oxfordshire or maybe further west, the train either stopped at or slowed down on passing through a small but interesting-looking station.  I recall there was at least one siding, and I think a crane as well.  The other thing I remember clearly was a business operating from what I assume was the ex-goods yard called either Ghost Erections or Spook Erections*.

 

All a bit woolly I'll admit, but I wondered whether anyone might have any suggestions as to which station it might have been, especially given the fairly memorable name of the business occupying part of the site?

 

* There appears to be a company in Scotland called Spook Erection so I might well be getting it confused with that, meaning that the one I saw all those years ago was most likely "Ghost".

Edited by ejstubbs
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If between Oxford and Worcester:

 

The stations are: Hanborough, Combe, Finstock, Charlebury, Ascott-under-Wytchwood, Shipston, Kingham, Moreton-in-Marsh,  Honeybourne, Evesham and Pershore - pretty much in the sticks for the most part!

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

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1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Clearly not Addlestrop, then, otherwise you’d remember it.

 

I think "all the birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire" would have been tucked up in their winter roosts at that time of night, though!  Apart from the odd owl, I suppose...

 

1 hour ago, Johann Marsbar said:

Moreton in Marsh.    The Company with the distinctive name ran the local market, which attracted a number of coach excursions to it.

 

Thanks, that's very interesting, particularly since that's also what the company I linked to above seems to do.  In fact, digging around a bit online it would appear that it's the same company - or at least the same people - originally based in Moreton-in-Marsh as you say, then later in Scotland running the now-defunct but in its time extremely popular Ingliston Sunday Market just outside Edinburgh, and later operating markets in Ayr and Cowdenbeath.  There's even a bit of frequently-referenced case law dating back to 1988 arising from a case between Spook Erection and the British Railways Board, which seems strongly to suggest that the company was kicked out of its Moreton-in-Marsh base at around that date.  So it looks like I wasn't as confused as I thought I was - which must be a first for me...

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5 hours ago, Philou said:

If between Oxford and Worcester:

 

The stations are: Hanborough, Combe, Finstock, Charlebury, Ascott-under-Wytchwood, Shipston, Kingham, Moreton-in-Marsh,  Honeybourne, Evesham and Pershore - pretty much in the sticks for the most part!

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

Charlbury if you please!  Certainly would not be Combe, Finstock or Ascott as they are only halts with no sidings.

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4 minutes ago, eastglosmog said:

Charlbury if you please!

Just as well I didn't include an errant 's' either! :)

 

I just created the list thinking that I should have added a note to say to @ejstubbs that we would need to search further via images on the web dating from the period to home in on the station - which seems to have been done.

 

I did the route quite a few times starting from Ledbury to Paddington and return but that was in the 90s and to be frank I didn't take too much notice of the trackage at the time as the HST didn't call at all stations. I thought Honeybourne of interest due to its junction with the MOD depot at Long Marston.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

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