User:Marshalla4/sandbox

Marshalla4/sandbox

Clatford Station

Clatford Station was the first stop after Andover Town Station (going south) on the Sprat and Winkle Line.

The Sprat and Winkle Line, then and now:

The Sprat and Winkle Line was built along and on the bed of the Andover Canal. The work of converting the canal to a railway started 28 September 1859. The first sod was cut by the serving Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Lord Palmerston K.G. The railway opened for traffic on March 6, 1865.

Passenger services were withdrawn on 7 September 1964. The line was then used for freight until 18th September 1967 and the line then closed between north of Romsey and Andover. The track remained for four years after the line was closed. Clatford Station was subsequently demolished and bungelows built on the site.

Much of the route between Kimbridge and Chilbolton is now used by the Test Way long-distance footpath.

A search on Google Earth shows the route of the line from the East of the existing station in Andover travelling south along the Western Avenue. The line then crossed Bridge Street using a level crossing. Andover Town Station stood where Sainsbury's supermarket stands today (2009). The line then turned West along Anton Mill Road and then can be seen by the tree line to swing South under the A303 to Upper Clatford. The route of the railway then becomes difficult to see, running over private land to the West of the River Anton, through the site of Clatford Station (near the Ford) to the South of Goodworth Clatford.

The route of the line can then be seen under the trees running through Westover Farm to Fullerton Junction. From Fullerton the old line can be walked through Stockbridge to Romsey. Unfortunately, the station at Stockbridge has been demolished and a road (to enable the old London Road to be diverted) and an ugly roundabout constructed on the site. However, the tree line can then be seen again, heading south towards Romsey.