Railway bridge over the M4, Bristol

[Miles Smith]

The current bridge is blue(ish) and steel but apparently there was one before the M4 was built; does anyone have info/pics, please?

 

[JonathanH]

The current bridge is blue(ish) and steel but apparently there was one before the M4 was built; does anyone have info/pics, please?

This bridge goes over the Old Gloucester Road, just to the south of the M4.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

However, would it not just have been an embankment at the point where the M4 is? It seems odd that a bridge would have been necessary with no road beneath it, given the railway continues on an embankment north of the M4. Happy to be proved wrong though.

There are further bridges over Quarry Barton and the Bristol Road to the north of the M4.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Are we talking about the railway overbridge over the M4 about a mile to the East of Bristol Parkway station?

 

[Gloster]

Looking at Google maps and streetview, the bridge over the Old Gloucester Road just east of Bristol Parkway and immediately west of the M4 is a traditional masonry bridge, probably dating from the opening of the line. Where the M4 crosses there was no bridge, at least on the 1938 25” map.

 

[JonathanH]

Looking at Google maps and streetview, the bridge over the Old Gloucester Road just east of Bristol Parkway and immediately west of the M4 is a traditional masonry bridge, probably dating from the opening of the line.

I think the original poster is effectively asking whether the bridge over Old Gloucester Road continued with spans to the north including where the railway line crossed the land where the M4 is now, or whether it was embankment. It seems that the bridges over Old Gloucester Road and Bristol Road are similar.

 

[Benjwri]

I think the original poster is effectively asking whether the bridge over Old Gloucester Road continued with spans to the north including where the railway line crossed the land where the M4 is now, or whether it was embankment. It seems that the bridges over Old Gloucester Road and Bristol Road are similar.

No, the two bridges were separated by the embankment, part of which was removed for the M4. Both date back to the railway's initial construction in the 1900s.

 

[Gloster]

The line was on embankments to either side of the bridge over Old Gloucester Road.

 

[JonathanH]

No, the two bridges were separated by the embankment, part of which was removed for the M4. Both date back to the railway's initial construction in the 1900s.

Thanks. That makes sense.

 

[swt_passenger]

Thanks. That makes sense.

I think this is the right place on the National Library of Scotland side by side view?

Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

 

[JonathanH]

I think this is the right place on the National Library of Scotland side by side view?

Side by side georeferenced maps viewer - Map images - National Library of Scotland

Ah, very good, so shown as embankment all the way from the bridge at Old Gloucester Road, through to the viaduct over Bradley Brook and Bristol Road.

 

[Michael.Y]

Scroll down southwest a bit and you can see just how exactly Ashley Down is being built on the site of Ashleyhill

 

[Miles Smith]

This bridge goes over the Old Gloucester Road, just to the south of the M4.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

However, would it not just have been an embankment at the point where the M4 is? It seems odd that a bridge would have been necessary with no road beneath it, given the railway continues on an embankment north of the M4. Happy to be proved wrong though.

There are further bridges over Quarry Barton and the Bristol Road to the north of the M4.

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

Thanks for replying. The bridge over the OGRd is quite high then when the line crosses the M4, it's much higher than the surrounding area. On a facebook site about Bristol I was told there was a brick bridge before the current one.

 

[Miles Smith]

Are we talking about the railway overbridge over the M4 about a mile to the East of Bristol Parkway station?

Yes. There is an old stone bridge over Old Gloucester rd and presumably another one where the M4 is now.

Looking at Google maps and streetview, the bridge over the Old Gloucester Road just east of Bristol Parkway and immediately west of the M4 is a traditional masonry bridge, probably dating from the opening of the line. Where the M4 crosses there was no bridge, at least on the 1938 25” map.

Thanks Gloster. So what did carry the line ie the OGrd bridge is quite high so there must have been something? Someone on facebook said there was an older bridge.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Someone on facebook said there was an older bridge.

Looking again at the side-by-side OS map / aerial photo that @swt_passenger helpfully provided a link to in post #9, can't really see any other railway bridge in the exact same position where the motorway now passes under the railway line, more-or-less at right angles to the line.

So, was the railway line previously up on a section of plain embankment at this location?

 

[DelW]

Yes. There is an old stone bridge over Old Gloucester rd and presumably another one where the M4 is now.


Thanks Gloster. So what did carry the line ie the OGrd bridge is quite high so there must have been something? Someone on facebook said there was an older bridge.

"Someone on Facebook" would appear to be wrong, as the old OS maps linked from this thread clearly show that there was no bridge there before the motorway was built, and indeed no reason for there to have been a bridge, as the embankment crossed an open field.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Someone on facebook said there was an older bridge.

Take it that the arched stonework bridge over the B4427 (Old Gloucester Road) hasn't ever been re-built/widened?

 

[Quebec]

Looking again at the side-by-side OS map / aerial photo that @swt_passenger helpfully provided a link to in post #9, can't really see any other railway bridge in the exact same position where the motorway now passes under the railway line, more-or-less at right angles to the line.

So, was the railway line previously up on a section of plain embankment at this location?

Yes, it was previously plain embankment. The distinctive steel bridge was added when the M4 was built in the mid-1960s.

 

[Snow1964]

Take it that the arched stonework bridge over the B4427 (Old Gloucester Road) hasn't ever been re-built/widened?

No it is a 3 arch bridge with quite wide arches (road only goes through middle arch, other two span sloping embankment.

This line was a late build, I think it was opened in 1903 and was built on big scale with gentle gradients for coal trains from Wales, hence the tall structures

 

[Gloster]

This line was a late build, I think it was opened in 1903 and was built on big scale with gentle gradients for coal trains from Wales, hence the tall structures

Badminton-Patchway and Stoke Gifford-Filton opened for goods 01-05-1903. Wootton Bassett-Patchway and Stoke Gifford-Filton opened passenger 01-07-1903.

Source: History of the Great Western Railway, Volume II; MacDermot; GWR; 1931.

 

[Miles Smith]

Take it that the arched stonework bridge over the B4427 (Old Gloucester Road) hasn't ever been re-built/widened?

Don't know, looks original and old to me.

"Someone on Facebook" would appear to be wrong, as the old OS maps linked from this thread clearly show that there was no bridge there before the motorway was built, and indeed no reason for there to have been a bridge, as the embankment crossed an open field.

I tried posting the question on a Bristol-related Fb page but was refused and just told about the older bridge. Thanks for your reply; I've assumed that trains from S Wales went to London via Parkway and over the M4 but perhaps they went into T Meads and via Bath?

 

[Gloster]

Take it that the arched stonework bridge over the B4427 (Old Gloucester Road) hasn't ever been re-built/widened?

Looking at it on streetview it has the appearance of being original and unaltered.

 

[DelW]

I tried posting the question on a Bristol-related Fb page but was refused and just told about the older bridge. Thanks for your reply; I've assumed that trains from S Wales went to London via Parkway and over the M4 but perhaps they went into T Meads and via Bath?

When the Severn Tunnel was opened, the only connection on the English side ran via Patchway and Filton to Lawrence Hill, from where trains could either run into Temple Meads or take the direct curve towards Bath and London.

As noted above, the route from Wootton Basset via Badminton to Patchway, which now crosses the M4, wasn't built until the early 20th century. At what is now the site of the motorway bridge that line ran on an embankment across a field.

Parkway station didn't exist when that part of the M4 was built, it wasn't constructed until the 1970s.

 

[Topological]

When the Severn Tunnel was opened, the only connection on the English side ran via Patchway and Filton to Lawrence Hill, from where trains could either run into Temple Meads or take the direct curve towards Bath and London.

As noted above, the route from Wootton Basset via Badminton to Patchway, which now crosses the M4, wasn't built until the early 20th century. At what is now the site of the motorway bridge that line ran on an embankment across a field.

Parkway station didn't exist when that part of the M4 was built, it wasn't constructed until the 1970s.

Interesting

Presumably, this explains why the line goes straight (North to South) towards Bristol from Patchway station and the line to Bristol Parkway, despite being the main line now, is the one to curve away East.

 

[DelW]

Interesting

Presumably, this explains why the line goes straight (North to South) towards Bristol from Patchway station and the line to Bristol Parkway, despite being the main line now, is the one to curve away East.

Indeed so, this map shows the original line, with just the earthworks of the line via Stoke Gifford and Badminton added, marked as "Railway in the course of construction".

What I don't know is, after the Badminton line opened, what proportion of south Wales to London passenger services used it compared with those still going via Temple Meads, so that they could serve Bristol as well. The Badminton cutoff was very useful for goods trains, including the lucrative coal traffic from Wales to London.

Until the 1960s, trains running from south Wales to London via Temple Meads could still have been competitive for speed with the road alternatives. Those would have been either driving via Gloucester and the A40, or using the car ferry across the Severn estuary then the A4 to London. Very few bypasses then either, so it would have been a long slog.