Brent Knoll Station Closure?

[Chrius56000]

.Regarding the "Signalling Notice To Trainmen" ref BR. 31400/2 dated January 1972 covering the commissioning of Stage 10 of the Bristol M.A.S. scheme, (link in "Weston Super Mare Bay Platform "thread!) I noted the closed Brent Knoll station was still marked on the diagram adjacent to signal DM142 on the Down Line!

. . .I understand Brent Knoll closed to passengers about a year before the M.A.S. Stage 10 came into service – was there any reason why this station (virtually in the middle of nowhere!) lasted seven years after almost all other W.R. main–line village stations had gone by Winter 1964? I believe it was "ghostly" for a number of years prior to final closure!

P.S. Did it get Totems or other B.R. (W.R.) Enamel Signage?

Chris Williams

 

[MadMac]

P.S. Did it get Totems or other B.R. (W.R.) Enamel Signage?

There’s a whole Wiki on the closed stations in the area - This picture of Brent Knoll from 1963 shows no totems and what might be a BR-era running-in board.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Permission to close the station (i.e. Brent Knoll), which had been proposed in 1963, was refused by the Minister in August 1964 under the provisions of the Transport Act 1962 on the grounds that it would cause hardship to the users of the station. A change to the timetable, had apparently made a morning call at the station, located between Taunton and Bristol, again possible.

The station finally closed in early 1971 by which time usage had dwindled away (possibly due to the fact that there were now only the two calls at the station all day) and British Rail were then able to obtain consent in 1970 for its closure the following January.

 

[Ashley Hill]

P.S. Did it get Totems or other B.R. (W.R.) Enamel Signage?

From the pictures i`ve seen the only BR signage visible are some posterboard headers and some cream and brown DMU stop boards. Although listed as having totems in D Brennands first book on totems there is no evidence of the station having them. Brent Knoll was omitted from his subsequent books.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

It didn't appear in the station banks of the timetable after 1964 - just a note on the relevant train 'Calls at Brent Knoll xx.xx'. As a kid I always wondered what this mysterious station was.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It didn't appear in the station banks of the timetable after 1964 - just a note on the relevant train 'Calls at Brent Knoll xx.xx'. As a kid I always wondered what this mysterious station was.

Interesting! Was it just one daily call each way; what was / were the time(s) of the trains calling at Brent Knoll (could they be used by someone going to/from their place of work), and where did these stopping trains originate from / were heading to?

 

[Gloster]

5/5/69-3/5/71

17.45 (SX) Bristol TM- Taunton calls 18.33
16.45 (SO, not 8/6-14/9) Bristol TM-Bridgwater calls 17.33
16.35 (SO, 8/6-14/9) Bristol TM-Minehead calls 17.24

07.30 (M-S) Taunton-Bristol TM calls 07.56

The closure notices went up in June 1970 with a proposed closure date of 5 October, but there were presumably objections as closure did not take place until 4 January 1971.

The station had, presumably, survived because it is was close to the villages of Brent Knoll, East Brent and Berrow.

From the couple of photos that I can find, it is likely that it retained GWR or WR signage until closure.

The station platform indications remained on the fascia of the panel until at least 1995.

 

[Dr Hoo]

As a former resident of Weston-super-Mare a family member had the local newspaper - the Mercury I think - posted to them and I used the read the railway items.

There was indeed one ‘hardship case’ regular commuter at Brent Knoll, at least latterly. I seem to recall that there was an issue prior to closure of track renewal for continuously welded rail, with deeper ballast, making the original platforms ‘too low’ and a potentially massive bill for reconstruction. The user had been given a taxi on safety grounds for a while.