GWR Route: Moreton-in-Marsh to Shipston-on-Stour

Shipston-on-Stour Station: gwrss601

Looking towards Moreton-in-Marsh with the single road engine shed on the left and the plate layers mess hut seen in the distance on the right. The locomotive shed was closed on 20th November 1916 and had the track removed in 1917, a casualty of wartime economy measures.

When the passenger service on the Shipston branch line ceased on 8th July 1929, a substitute bus service was provided using two new Morris buses (see 'gwrss3862'). The Shipston engine shed became the road transport depot for maintenance and overnight storage these vehicles. From 1st July 1929 the buses operated on two routes; to Moreton-in-Marsh and to Ilmington. In addition there was also a Saturday only service to Great Wolford, which from 28th September 1929 was extended to Chipping Norton, but this service was withdrawn on 25th January 1930. It appears that one of the Morris buses was transferred to Newbury at about this time, leaving only one bus for the two remaining routes. The Shipston bus services only lasted until 31st December 1930, when the road transport depot was closed.

The Great Western Railway ‘Towns, Villages and Outlaying Works etc.’ book of 1907 indicates that there was a free cartage service for C and D rated traffic at Shipston-on-Stour. This was provided by an Agent whose responsibility was to collect and deliver parcels and goods traffic. As the Great Western Railway's Road Transport Service expanded in the 1920s many of the cartage services previously provided by licenced Agents were replaced with directly operated services and slowly the number of motor vehicles increased. The Country Cartage scheme which had started with 8 services in 1925 had grown to 160 services by 1935, including Shipston-on-Stour. The GWR lorry which replaced the horse drawn road vehicle was housed inside the engine shed during the 1930s, but this practice was abandoned after the Second World War when the lorry was parked under the station canopy.

Robert Ferris

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