Mill Lane Halt 1930 Alan Payne Date
The early halt with one platform only (courtesy Box Parish Council)
There had been a continuing trend over several decades towards concentrating facilities in the centre of Box village. The coming of the railways in 1841 allowed easier transport of goods into the centre of Box, which became a depot for items like coal, imported building materials and domestic requisites. This helped to encourage the growth of specialist shops in the centre offering those goods for sale. Residents were increasingly regarding Box village as a centre for them following the opening of Box Cemetery to all denominations in 1858 and the creation of the Box Schools in 1875. Ditteridge and Box Church of England Schools were merged and the central school offered better education than the small dames schools and private education could hope to achieve, eventually attracted Dissenting children also.
As the inter-war period unfolded, so the needs of government grew more controlling, eventually getting the country organised in the event that war might break out. This was achieved partly through the expansion of local government in the 1880s and 1890s through the parish and rural district councils. It was the creation of a new railway access point for passenger transport which, arguably, exacerbated the tendency. The railways had been nationalised during the Great War period. Thereafter they were compulsorily merged into the so-called Big Four by 1923. Box was affected by the creation of an entirely new station, Box Halt.
As the inter-war period unfolded, so the needs of government grew more controlling, eventually getting the country organised in the event that war might break out. This was achieved partly through the expansion of local government in the 1880s and 1890s through the parish and rural district councils. It was the creation of a new railway access point for passenger transport which, arguably, exacerbated the tendency. The railways had been nationalised during the Great War period. Thereafter they were compulsorily merged into the so-called Big Four by 1923. Box was affected by the creation of an entirely new station, Box Halt.
Box Mill Lane Halt, 1930
The building of Mill Lane Halt Railway Station revolutionised life in Box, making it possible for daily travel to local towns for schooling, work and leisure activities. It is one of the features which resound prominently in elderly residents’ memories. When Roy Hodges moved to the newly-built Bassetts houses in 1930 he was met at the Halt by the Box policeman, wondering about the intentions of the stranger. When Stanley and Mildred Brunt set off on honeymoon in 1930, they waved goodbye to family and friends at the Halt but could only afford a single stop on the line before embarking at the Box Railway Station at the Northey Arms to go further by motor cycle.
The Halt was a latecomer in village life and only had a short life, lasting just over thirty years. Residents had long been requesting a central station and a village petition was started by the residents of Box Hill and sent to the GWR in 1914 but was refused on the grounds of cost.[1] Mill Lane Halt (sometimes called Woodstock Station) was created in 1929-30 and opened on 31 March 1930. As the east of the village was developed for housing in the decades before the First World War, the need for a station in the centre of the village became more obvious.
ASK PERMISSION to use photo of Mill Lane Halt GWR Swindon to Bath Line
The building of Mill Lane Halt Railway Station revolutionised life in Box, making it possible for daily travel to local towns for schooling, work and leisure activities. It is one of the features which resound prominently in elderly residents’ memories. When Roy Hodges moved to the newly-built Bassetts houses in 1930 he was met at the Halt by the Box policeman, wondering about the intentions of the stranger. When Stanley and Mildred Brunt set off on honeymoon in 1930, they waved goodbye to family and friends at the Halt but could only afford a single stop on the line before embarking at the Box Railway Station at the Northey Arms to go further by motor cycle.
The Halt was a latecomer in village life and only had a short life, lasting just over thirty years. Residents had long been requesting a central station and a village petition was started by the residents of Box Hill and sent to the GWR in 1914 but was refused on the grounds of cost.[1] Mill Lane Halt (sometimes called Woodstock Station) was created in 1929-30 and opened on 31 March 1930. As the east of the village was developed for housing in the decades before the First World War, the need for a station in the centre of the village became more obvious.
ASK PERMISSION to use photo of Mill Lane Halt GWR Swindon to Bath Line
The original premises was a single timber platform accessed from Mill Lane, which cost £800.[2] This was later replaced by two platforms made of concrete with corrugated iron shelters for passengers. The length of the site was limited by topography and the platforms could only accommodate four rail carriages, which necessitated passengers using the rear of the train. To give access to travellers, a small wooden ticket office with corrugated iron roof was built at the bottom of the steps to Mill Lane platform. The senior porter checked tickets and manned the office.
Later view of the site shows two platforms (courtesy Patty Baldwin)
The Halt had a major impact on the development of the village, encouraging in-fill housing on the eastern side of the village, including London Road and influencing the location of The Bassets and later Bargates, both easily accessible to the railway. Some railway men lived in these locations and used the rail service from the Halt to get to work at other stations.
But the main impact was on the residential estates at Rudloe and Box Hill. The downhill walk to the Halt was pleasantly comfortable to put pedestrians within easy range of the railway, saving some two miles trudge to the main line station at the Northey Arms. It helped to make the easterly areas the popular residential locations that they now are. We can see this when a footpath was claimed to exist in 1938 from Grove Farm: It was pointed out that the making of the Mill Lane Railway Halt had rendered the path of increased importance.[3]
But the main impact was on the residential estates at Rudloe and Box Hill. The downhill walk to the Halt was pleasantly comfortable to put pedestrians within easy range of the railway, saving some two miles trudge to the main line station at the Northey Arms. It helped to make the easterly areas the popular residential locations that they now are. We can see this when a footpath was claimed to exist in 1938 from Grove Farm: It was pointed out that the making of the Mill Lane Railway Halt had rendered the path of increased importance.[3]
Evacuee children giving a Christmas concert in the Methodist schoolroom in 1939 (courtesy Genevieve Brunt)
Perhaps the most notable event in the history of Mill Lane Halt was in the very last days of the inter-war years in September 1939 when thousands of London schoolchildren were evacuated to the West Country. The main line express train which brought them made a historic stop at Mill Lane Halt (perhaps the only such occasion) to allow the 96 Box evacuees to disembark directly in the village. It was a small contribution towards the planning of security for young people in the war. The Halt was closed in the Beeching cuts of 1963, the platforms removed and the steps dismantled. What a tragedy!
The location of Mill Lane Halt seen top right , south of The Wharf and the old Clift Quarry tramway (courtesy John Brooke Flashman)
References
[1] The Bath Chronicle, 25 July 1914
[2] Colin G Maggs, The GWR Swindon to Bath Line, p. 80
[3] The Wiltshire Times, 5 January 1935
[1] The Bath Chronicle, 25 July 1914
[2] Colin G Maggs, The GWR Swindon to Bath Line, p. 80
[3] The Wiltshire Times, 5 January 1935