History of the railway Click here for Timeline >
Before the WC&PR
Planning the WC&PR
Building the railway from Weston to Clevedon
The extension to Portishead
Financial problems
Colonel Stephens
Line closure
Attempt to reopen part of line
Founding of WC&PR Railway Group
Before the WC&PR
When Brunel extended the line from Bristol towards Exeter (the Bristol & Exeter Railway),
the route by-passed the small towns of Weston-super-Mare, Clevedon and Portishead
because the diversion would not have been worthwhile. However, when the main line
opened in 1841, at the same time a branch line opened to Weston. These lines were
all laid in broad gauge. Trains on the Weston branch were horse-drawn until 1848
when steam was used. A branch line to Clevedon from a junction at Yatton was opened
in 1847 still as part of the Bristol & Exeter Railway, and was also laid in broad
gauge. In 1867 the Bristol & Portishead Pier & Railway opened a broad gauge branch
line from Bedminster to Portishead, which was operated by the Bristol & Exeter Railway.
See GWR branches. It was still difficult to travel between the three coastal towns
however.
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Planning the WC&PR
Originally a standard gauge tram line was proposed in 1884 by the Weston-super-Mare,
Clevedon & Portishead (Steam) Tramways Company to link the three towns. The power
behind the scheme was J F R Daniel, Secretary to the Bristol & Portishead Railway,
who was later to become Managing Director of the WC&PR. The line was to run on the
street along the Boulevard in Weston and from then off-road apart from level crossings.
An Act of Parliament to authorise the construction of the railway was passed in Aug
1885, but due to various legal and financial problems, the time limit of the Act
expired and further Acts had to be passed in July 1890 and Dec 1891. Two years after
the opening, the tramway was designated a Light Railway and the name was changed
to the Weston, Clevedon & Portishead Light Railway Company.
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Building the railway from Weston to Clevedon
Building of the Weston-super-Mare to Clevedon section of the railway began in 1887,
but due to financial and other problems, it wasn’t opened until 1 Dec 1897. Due to
these delays some of the track had to be re-laid because it had rotted. The track
along the Boulevard in Weston was taken up before the line opened due to complaints
from the council.
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The extension to Portishead
Before the extension to Portishead was built, the town was connected to Clevedon
by horse-drawn omnibus. However there were many objections to the proposed extension,
one of which was that the line was to run through the streets in Clevedon. This however
did happen but a flagman had to lead trains across the street at 4 mph. See Clevedon
Triangle and Then & now. The railway bought numbers 18 and 20 Lower Queens Road,
using number 18 as a booking office and demolished number 20 to enable the extension
to be built. The 1903 OS map shows number 20 at the end of the terrace standing in
the way of the extension. Though the extension to Portishead had been planned from
the beginning, it required another Act which was passed in Aug 1899, and it finally
opened on 7 August 1907. The extension was built as a Light Railway.
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Financial problems
The finances of the railway became serious by 1905, and it entered receivership in
1909, and was in decline up to the outbreak of World War II, not helped by the increase
in road traffic. It had relied on the transport of stone from the Black Rock quarries
and the decline in this business made things worse. The railway spent 31 of its 43
years in the hands of receivers.
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Colonel H F Stephens
Col. Holman Fred Stephens took over the running of the WC&PR in 1911. He was known
as the ‘Light Railway King’ because he ran a number of similar railways, and he got
the costs under control. He managed the railway mostly from his base in Tonbridge,
Kent. After his death in 1931 the railway declined further. W H Austen followed him
as manager until the railway closed. See also People.
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Line closure
Due to an ever-worsening financial state, the Company applied for a Court Order to
close the line and the last train ran on 18 May 1940. The GWR purchased the railway
(but not the land) to use it for storage, and for a short time up to 200 coal wagons
were stored on the line. It was decided to remove the track for use in the war effort,
and it was cleared between Oct 1942 and late 1943. Afterwards, the railway’s land
still belonged to the company though it had ceased to exist. New information on the
reasons for closure - article on Col Stephens Museum web site.
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Attempt to reopen part of line
In the 1950s there was an ill-fated attempt to reopen part of the railway as a narrow
gauge line. More details.
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WC&P Railway Group formed
In November 2006, the WC&P Railway Group was formed, which is dedicated to preserving
what’s left of the line, and promoting the heritage of the railway to the public.
Further details.
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For the full story of the railway, see the Books page for details of recommended
books
See also Museums page for details of artefacts held by various museums.
