Trivia - Largest town to have NEVER had a railway service?

[topydre]

What was its population when the line was built? A quick inspection via Googlemaps shows hardly any housing older than WW2 even in the heart of the village

That's a very good point - vast majority is post WWII. That would explain why the line doesn't go out of its way to serve it. However it would still be a contender for this thread based on the current population

 

[Calthrop]

At the peak of the railway system the largest towns without a station were said to be Ambleside, Clun (Shropshire) and Painswick (Gloucestershire).

I had a strong feeling that I'd read of Painswick in that connection: but consulting Wiki informed me that the town's population today is a mere just-over-3,000 -- whence thought, "no, Painswick can't be in the running; not nowadays, anyway".

 

[mister-sparky]

Easy walking distance to Nottingham station, so I’m not sure that counts.

Plus west bridgeford has a closed station

 

[gg1]

At the peak of the railway system the largest towns without a station were said to be Ambleside, Clun (Shropshire) and Painswick (Gloucestershire). I'm not sure if the steamer pier at Ambleside was considered a station in the same sense as Dartmouth, but I think not; I suppose the test would be, could you buy a ticket to it?

As evidenced by a different thread earlier this week, BR maps used to feature the passenger ferry service on Lake Windermere which did strike me as a little odd, on that basis maybe there was some form of integrated ticketing??

 

[Dr_Paul]

Bridgwater suffers from the same problem!

So does Edgware. I've seen it many times rendered as 'Edgeware' -- and possibly on this forum too!

 

[matchmaker]

Glenrothes (pop 39,000) has never had a station. The so-called "Glenrothes with Thornton" is in the village of Thornton. Markinch is in the village of - Markinch.

 

[randyrippley]

As evidenced by a different thread earlier this week, BR maps used to feature the passenger ferry service on Lake Windermere which did strike me as a little odd, on that basis maybe there was some form of integrated ticketing??

The Windermere ferries were part of BR, they were even painted in BR-blue era Sealink livery

 

[Taunton]

Back to no rail service, what about New Addington? One of the reasons used to justify the tram there was it was the "largest place" with no railway. Population 10,000, though it feels larger.

It's notable how many of the New Towns of the 1950s-60s had no station, or only a peripheral one which seemed incidental to the plan. This even included the largest, Milton Keynes, for a considerable time. Basildon was the same.

 

[RailWonderer]

Halesowen - pop 58000, no rail service. You have to drive to Old Hill for a WMT to Birmingham. Gosport and Newcastle under Lyme are both short drives from Portsmouth Hbr and Stoke on Trent, or a long walk.

 

[martinsh]

Halesowen - pop 58000, no rail service. You have to drive to Old Hill for a WMT to Birmingham. Gosport and Newcastle under Lyme are both short drives from Portsmouth Hbr and Stoke on Trent, or a long walk.

Think you need to look again at the title of this thread ! Halesowen had as station on the Old Hill - Northfield line. Closed in 1919

 

[martinsh]

Plus west bridgeford has a closed station

Really ? I couldn't see one on any of the "Old Maps of Nottingham" I looked at online.

 

[MotCO]

Biggin Hill has never been connected to the rail system (although there was talk of connecting it to the Croydon Tram system at one stage). Population is around 10,000, but there has been a lot of new housing recently, so the population could well be 15,000 by now. Plus there is airport traffic, annual air show etc.

 

[southern442]

Canvey Island is a strong contender, although it has a population much smaller than that of Waterlooville. I would be inclined to say that West Bridgford is for all intents and purposes a suburb of Nottingham, so I'm not entirely sure on that one.

 

[southern442]

Halesowen - pop 58000, no rail service. You have to drive to Old Hill for a WMT to Birmingham. Gosport and Newcastle under Lyme are both short drives from Portsmouth Hbr and Stoke on Trent, or a long walk.

Think you need to look again at the title of this thread ! Halesowen had as station on the Old Hill - Northfield line. Closed in 1919

I did put 'never' in capitals for a reason

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Canvey Island?

 

[gg1]

The Windermere ferries were part of BR, they were even painted in BR-blue era Sealink livery

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that, I thought Sealink only ever operated seagoing ferries.

 

[edwin_m]

Really ? I couldn't see one on any of the "Old Maps of Nottingham" I looked at online.

There was never a station called West Bridgford, but as I posted upthread it appears the West Bridgford boundary was expanded to include Edwalton before that station closed. And it now has three tram stops just within the boundary.

 

[Lloyds siding]

"
randyrippley said:


The Windermere ferries were part of BR, they were even painted in BR-blue era Sealink livery

Thanks, I wasn't aware of that, I thought Sealink only ever operated seagoing ferries. "

The National Trust's steam yacht 'Gondola', which sails on neighbouring Coniston Water was built for the Furness railway, and later owned by the LMS. The Furness Railway had other steamers on Coniston. There were also railway owned steamers on Loch Lomond, including the current 'Maid of the Loch' (1953), a paddle steamer which was withdrawn, but now rebuilt and operated as a 'heritage' craft.

 

[martinsh]

There was never a station called West Bridgford, but as I posted upthread it appears the West Bridgford boundary was expanded to include Edwalton before that station closed. And it now has three tram stops just within the boundary.

I was surprised there wasn't a stop for Trent Bridge cricket ground - the line must have gone right past

 

[Merthyr Imp]

I was surprised there wasn't a stop for Trent Bridge cricket ground - the line must have gone right past

Nottingham London Road (High Level) station used to have a sign advising passengers to "Alight here for Trent Bridge cricket and football grounds."

It can't have been any nearer than Nottingham Midland though.

 

[edwin_m]

Nottingham London Road (High Level) station used to have a sign advising passengers to "Alight here for Trent Bridge cricket and football grounds."

It can't have been any nearer than Nottingham Midland though.

I think Arkwright Street had one too - that would have been the nearest station to the ground but on the GC route not the GN so trains serving one couldn't serve the other.

 

[30907]

Biggin Hill has never been connected to the rail system (although there was talk of connecting it to the Croydon Tram system at one stage). Population is around 10,000, but there has been a lot of new housing recently, so the population could well be 15,000 by now. Plus there is airport traffic, annual air show etc.

Biggin Hill is another of these places that was historically insignificant. I remember it from the 50s/60s (apart from the airfield) as mainly an unplanned ribbon development of inter-wars bungalows (often wooden) along the A21 between Leaves Green and Westerham Hill, plus the "church that moved" built from the bricks of a bombed-out church in Peckham. It was quite a shock to revisit 30 years later and find a busy modern township.
It is significant that the never-built Southern Heights Light Railway would have had stations at Cudham & Biggin Hill, Westerham Hill and Tatsfield - the geography made that necessary.

 

[Western Lord]

Back to no rail service, what about New Addington? One of the reasons used to justify the tram there was it was the "largest place" with no railway. Population 10,000, though it feels larger.

It's notable how many of the New Towns of the 1950s-60s had no station, or only a peripheral one which seemed incidental to the plan. This even included the largest, Milton Keynes, for a considerable time. Basildon was the same.

The New Towns were supposed to be self contained. You were supposed to live, work and play in the town, they were not intended for commuters and, of course, they were laid out for road traffic with every home supposed to have off road parking (although this often tended to be large blocks of garages remote from the houses they belonged to and therefore seldom used for cars today). They also often have decent cycle and pedestrian paths within the town. If a railway station was provided it was usually remote from the New Town centre.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Having had my own suggestion of Skelmersdale New Town (designated in 1961, after its eponymous station closed) demolished early on in this thread I have to raise a quibble about Canvey Island.

In 1902 there was a brief operation using the horse-drawn 'Caillet' monorail system. This gave its name to Station Road in Canvey Island 'town centre' so its significance can hardly be ignored.

 

[daodao]

I had a strong feeling that I'd read of Painswick in that connection: but consulting Wiki informed me that the town's population today is a mere just-over-3,000 -- whence thought, "no, Painswick can't be in the running; not nowadays, anyway".

Painswick was a prosperous wool town from the Middle Ages onwards, and has a large grade 1 listed church reflecting its prosperity, Its hilltop site meant that it was practically impossible to serve it by rail (except at enormous expense) unlike Stroud, which contributed to its decline as a place of economic significance in the 19th century.

 

[Calthrop]

Painswick was a prosperous wool town from the Middle Ages onwards, and has a large grade 1 listed church reflecting its prosperity, Its hilltop site meant that it was practically impossible to serve it by rail (except at enormous expense) unlike Stroud, which contributed to its decline as a place of economic significance in the 19th century.

Something of a chicken-and-egg element, then...

 

[edwin_m]

Something of a chicken-and-egg element, then...

Sheep and lamb surely...

 

[mmh]

The New Towns were supposed to be self contained. You were supposed to live, work and play in the town, they were not intended for commuters and, of course, they were laid out for road traffic with every home supposed to have off road parking (although this often tended to be large blocks of garages remote from the houses they belonged to and therefore seldom used for cars today). They also often have decent cycle and pedestrian paths within the town. If a railway station was provided it was usually remote from the New Town centre.

New Addington wasn't a New Town, it was London overspill and purely residential. Other than a tiny amount in the shopping parade, pub and small industrial area of lock-ups there's no local employment, and never has been. It was originally designed to rehouse those whose houses had been demolished or were going to be, and was always going to be a distant suburb of Croydon and Bromley. It has more in common historically with some of the Glasgow housing schemes than it does Milton Keynes or Harlow.

 

[shawmat]

Wantage. If you exclude the Wantage tramway. 2011 population 11,300

 

[swt_passenger]

Waterloovile ?

A very small place until the post WW2 period, probably never registered with the early railway builders...