Bidford upon Avon Station

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Stratford Midland Junction Railway

The Shakespeare Route

LMS Route: The Shakespeare Route

One of the stations on the route from Blisworth to Stratford built by the East & West Junction Railway, Kineton Station was opened on 1st June 1871. It was for two years the temporary western terminus on the short section of the line which opened first, Fenny Compton to Kineton. On 1st July 1873 station lost its 'terminus' function when the line was extended to Stratford upon Avon. Unfortunately, due to the low volume of traffic being generated by the railway, within a few years the route had to close to passenger traffic. The rural nature of the route without much of a population living along the line was the reason and it wasn't until the extension from Stratford upon Avon to Broom opened that a passenger service returned to the line. Passenger services were therefore suspended from 31st July 1877 until 22nd March 1885 although the initial service of six daily trains had by 1876 been reduced to two in each direction. The traffic through Kineton had a fillip with the opening of the GCR which offered residents of Stratford upon Avon a shorter and quicker route than via the GWR. Passenger services at Kineton were finally withdrawn on 7th April 1952 whilst goods services at the station lasted until 11th November 1963 with all through services being withdrawn officially in 1966.

The station had two platforms with a passing loop serving the down platform (for Stratford upon Avon) for the otherwise single line. Being the first, albeit temporary, terminus of the E&WJR in 1871, Kineton can therefore claim to be the line's oldest complete station. The main building was built in brick in the E&WJR style with two gabled wings, one at either end of the building and a steep slated roof with stone lintels and jambs. Half way down the length of the up platform was a small store which probably was used as a lamp room as well as storing equipment and tools unsuited to be stored within the station (its to be noted that the diagram doesn't show a lamp room whereas this was a mandatory facility at all stations. Kineton's Signal Box was located on the down platform at the Stratford upon Avon end of the station, also on the platform was what is described as a 'Shelter' which perfectly describes a timber waiting room with the platform facing was mainly open to the elements. As seen in the post -1925 plan of the station, at the Stratford upon Avon end of the station on the up side was a Permanent Way Hut and Permanent Way Garage. The Permanent Way Garage was a storage facility for a velocipede type inspection car. We do not have a copy of the vehicle but a similar Great Western Railway velocipede inspection car can be seen in image 'gwrlr3018'.

Unusually, Kineton's goods facilities were laid out on both sides of the railway with the main facilities being along side the main passenger building on the up platform (for Fenny Compton). This yard was accessed off Warwick Road, the main route to Wellesbourne, and was to the south of the railway line. This yard originally had three sidings, two running at a slight oblique angle to the running line, the outer siding passing through the goods shed which was erected close to the running line, as seen in the 1884 OS map. The third siding ran more or less parallel to the running line and served a cattle dock located adjacent to the platform. By 1925 the yard had been subjected to alteration with one of the two sidings now being moved so that it too ran parallel to the main running line but was 'stopped' by a cattle pen erected to act as buffers to the siding. As seen in the post-1925 schematic drawing, the original siding running parallel to the running line now used this cattle pen to load or unload its livestock. A weighbridge and office was provided at the entrance to the yard. As was the case with most railway weighbridge facilities, this was open as a fee-paying service to the public at large. On the opposite side of the station was another goods yard. It was a simple affair in having just one siding, again leading off at an oblique angle, but with a head shunt of a similar length running parallel to the running line towards Stratford upon Avon.

For a modest station it had its share of important days when the Warwickshire Hunt met and horse boxes would abound in the station area, also with a special hound van. It was not exceptional on such days for the engine to be shunting for two hours at the station. Whilst the locality was known to be the home of a number of wealthy businessmen, this may have been one of the reasons that Kineton was the only stop for the Great Central Route through coach from Marylebone to Stratford upon Avon. Part of the Hunt's territory lies in the far-flung west of the county which explains why the SMJ bought a hound van from the Great Eastern Railway in 1909. This van together with a number of horse boxes is kept at Kineton and all are used to convey horses, riders and hounds to Broom Junction for meets in that area, when the inspector from Stratford-upon-Avon attends to supervise the loading and despatch of this important traffic.

In keeping with a tradition found on most all railways, the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway promoted initiatives to foster pride in their staff for their railway. One was for the best kept station which in 1912 Kineton station won first prize, with Towcester station placed second and Stratford-on-Avon achieving only a consolation prize. There was also a prize for the best kept length of track and (evidently conscious of the environment) one director presented a thousand trees to be planted along the line. In 1910, the Stratford upon Avon Herald carried a melodramatic story concerning a number of break-ins at booking offices in this area. One night, a signalman on duty at Kineton had his suspicions aroused by noises in the station buildings and when investigations showed that an attempted break-in had occurred at the booking office, the police were summoned. The following morning a man arrived at Fenny Compton station to board an Up train. In the words of the stationmaster, 'He was in a wet and dirty condition and looked as if he had been out all night'. The stationmaster phoned the Kineton police and delayed the departure of the train until Police Inspector Smith arrived to question the suspect, who was subsequently charged with 'stealing a screwdriver and pliers value one shilling from the Kineton booking office of the Stratford-upon-Avon and Midland Junction Railway'.

The Railway Clearing House's 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations states Kineton provided the general public and businesses with a full range of service: Goods traffic; Passenger and Parcels traffic; Furniture Vans, Carriages, Portable Engines, and Machines on Wheels; Live Stock; Horse Boxes and Prize Cattle Vans and Carriages by Passenger Train (GPFLHC). Whilst the 1925 schematic plan shows the goods shed being equipped with a one ton crane, the 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations states that a two ton hand-operated crane was provided provided in the goods shed, the same as the 1894 edition of the Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations. It can therefore be concluded the schematic plan is incorrect in its reference to the one ton crane facility. Whilst the Railway Clearing House's 1929 Handbook of Railway Stations did not provide information to the same detail as later editions, e.g. the number of categories listed, and only recorded (GPFL), its reasonable to assume that the same facilities recorded in 1929 were offered from the outset.