Bishops Waltham branch

The Bishop's Waltham branch was a railway line in Hampshire, England. It was made by a locally promoted independent company, the Bishop's Waltham Railway company. It ran from Bishop's Waltham to Botley on the Eastleigh–Fareham line of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). The line opened on 1 June 1863. Passenger business was never heavy, but clay pits and a brickworks and gasworks at Bishop's Waltham brought mineral traffic to the line. Nevertheless the BWR Company was always short of money and had to be supported by the LSWR, and was absorbed by the larger company in 1881. Competition from road transport led to dwindling passenger carryings, and the line closed to passengers in 1933. A basic goods service continued, but the line closed completely in 1962.

The London and Southampton Railway opened its main line throughout in 1840; it was the first long distance railway in the area. In 1841 it opened a branch line to Gosport. This was intended to serve Portsmouth, by the use of a “floating bridge” (ferry) across Portsmouth Harbour. The London and Southampton Railway had changed its name to the London and South Western Railway in an attempt to assuage sensitivities in Portsmouth, as there was considerable rivalry with Southampton. The Gosport branch left Bishopstoke on the Southampton main line, and ran through Botley and Fareham. The failure to reach Portsmouth direct became a continuing source of resentment, and in 1848 a branch line to Cosham was opened, meeting what became a joint line from there to Portsmouth. The joint line was operated by the LSWR and the London Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) co operatively. Bishop's Waltham was predominantly agricultural, although some brewing and flour milling had taken place. By 1860 much of the railway network of Great Britain had been constructed, and it was plain that a small community without a railway connection was at a major economic and commercial disadvantage. Now the Petersfield Railway had been authorised to build from Midhurst to Petersfield, by Act of 23 July 1860. The Portsmouth Direct line at Petersfield had been opened in 1859. Authorised capital was £16,000. The local company had struggled with controlling contracts and finding the funds for construction of the line, and had long deferred arranging for building the Bishop's Waltham station, intending to make a temporary station later. Now as the line neared completion it was necessary to arrange quickly for the temporary station to be built. This was done and on 28 May 1863 Captain Rich of the Board of Trade made the necessary inspection of the line to approve it for passenger operation. Although there were some minor deficiencies, Rich was prepared to accept the Company’s undertaking that they would be dealt with without delay. However there were no turntables on the line; this would be acceptable but only if a formal undertaking to use only tank engines, not tender engines, were submitted by the company. For some reason they had failed to formalise the undertaking, and Rich recommended (by letter dated 29 May 1863) refusal of the authorisation of opening, until the document was supplied. The following day the Company supplied the necessary undertaking.

Accordingly on 1 June 1863 the line was opened, worked by the LSWR. A train service of six trains each way daily, three on Sundays, was instituted. Steps were now taken to provide permanent passenger and goods accommodation at Bishop's Waltham, but difficulty with groundworks and the necessity to arrange finance for the work delayed matters; the new buildings were not available until March or April 1865.

In 1863 a Petersfield and Bishop's Waltham Railway was proposed. This would approach Bishop's Waltham from the north east, opposite the approach from Botley. The BWR must have assumed this would increase traffic on their line, making it a through railway accessible from the Guildford direction. The LSWR were against it at first, but later withdrew their opposition, and the Petersfield and Bishop's Waltham Railway was authorised by Act of 29 July 1864. In fact the state of the money market turned so difficult that the company was unable to raise subscriptions to build its line, and it applied to the Board of Trade for a certificate of abandonment, which was granted on 28 July 1868; the company had expended £2,337, mainly on parliamentary expenses. The Sunday train service was withdrawn as a means of economy, but much worse was to come. The Bishop's Waltham Clay Company, which had been a major mineral forwarder from pits at Bishop's Waltham, went into liquidation. Then in early 1867 a man called Rilson, a partner of the contractor Ridley, now served a demand for payment of his bond, in the amount of £3,204. In fact at a Board Meeting on 6 May 1867 a total of £11,000 in debts was listed, with no means of paying them. The transfer was agreed and for accounting purposes considered to have taken place on 4 August 1881, sanctioned retrospectively by agreements later in the same year. In a clear indication of priorities, the LSWR stated on 5 November 1904 that railmotors had been in service on the Basingstoke and Alton Light Railway, but had been taken off because of complaints about inadequate accommodation and poor ventilation. They were therefore available to work on the Bishop's Waltham line. In 1905 they operated 13 up and 12 down services; there was also an engine worked goods trip. In 1907 a Sunday service was finally reinstated. Passenger and goods business had declined substantially since the 1920s, as road transport became more efficient. In addition passengers from Bishop's Waltham to the large towns of Portsmouth and Southampton needed to change trains twice, at Botley and again at Fareham or Eastleigh. From 1 February 1931 the Sunday train service was withdrawn, and evening weekday services were reduced. After the last train on 31 December 1932 the passenger train service was completely withdrawn.

Passenger traffic had dwindled so far that services ceased in 1932, but freight trains ran a service three times a week until 1962. Goods train usage declined as well, and the last goods train ran on 27 April 1962.