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Alvescot station (13 miles 74 chains from Yarnton) was a single platform station with a goods loop and siding. The station building was of a standard EGR design, although it differed from a all the others in being built of brick, rather than the local stone. Apart from a couple of small stores and two ground frames, the only other building on the site was a weighbridge hut. The site can be viewed today from the adjacent road bridge (SP278042), although scattered machinery and a coal yard is all that is now visible. |
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A rain soaked Alvescot station in 1934. An interesting
comparison with the picture below, which was taken from almost the same
viewpoint over a quarter of a century later. Although the trackwork and
buildings remained unchanged, subtle differences can be seen. Pre-war
the standards of maintenance were obviously higher, as stone edged
flower beds and neatly trimmed bushes give the station a well cared for
appearance. Note also, that in 1934 the station still had platform
lighting. This panoramic view also shows the weighbridge hut on the
extreme left, which was the last building to survive on the site. |
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Alvescot station viewed from the
road bridge in the early 1960s. Colour pictures of Alvescot seem
particularly rare, and this picture is therefore especially important
as it shows the red brick construction of the station building. Why
Alvescot was built of red brick, when the other four EGR station
buildings were built of the local Cotswold stone has never been
satisfactorily explained. This picture also gives an excellent view of
the small goods yard. On the original Kodachrome slide the ground
frame and PW hut are clearly visible. as is the farm track bridge in
the background. Compare this view with the same scene on 6 December
2005 (hover your mouse over the image). The only real indication that
this is the same view is the tree in the background, which seems to
have grown surprisingly little in the intervening years! |
| The road bridge at Alvescot still survives,
and as it is less humpbacked than some of the others and was
strengthened during the line's later years, it is likely to remain
in place for the foreseeable future. Although clear on the station
side (see above), the other side has now become very overgrown, with
trees and dense scrub. This view on 24 February 2008 shows the
eastern face of the bridge, with the abutments and wing walls
covered in ivy. Martin Loader |
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The road overbridge can clearly be
seen in this 20 August 1961 view, looking back towards Carterton. Note
the track curving to the right, preceded by a slight reverse curve, which is
not readily apparent from the official track plans. The open
roofed lavatory extension is nearest the camera, complete with
crumbling notice board on the platform side. Indeed, over a year
before closure, the whole station already has an air of semi abandonment.
The gates visible on the extreme right were probably only closed once
a year, a job which my grandfather as local policeman had to oversee
in order to prevent the station becoming a public right of way. |
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Alvescot station pictured on 17
April 1959. This view clearly shows the brick construction of the
station building. Plenty of detail of a typical Great Western branch
line station is also visible, from the GWR seat and pagado hut to the
platform trolleys and barrows. More homely touches such as the daffodils
growing under the station nameboard, and the bicycles leaning against
the station building and fence reinforce the easy going nature of the
line. In the background can be seen the small goods store and yard
crane. A sixteen ton steel open wagon can also be seen standing on the
goods loop, while a wooden bodied open wagon can just be glimpsed on the
back siding, behind the shed. |
