Botolph's Bridge Halt railway station

Botolph's Bridge Halt
A works train passing the site of the halt
Location
Place	Romney Marsh
Area	Shepway
Operations
Pre-grouping	RHDR
Platforms	2
History
1927	Opened
1939	Station closed to passengers
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
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Botolphs Bridge Halt railway station was a little-used station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway in Kent, England.

Botolphs Bridge or Botolph's Bridge is a hamlet on the Romney Marsh, consisting of a small group of family homes and a public house. Although the railway passes some distance from the settlement, the long road from the hamlet to the coast is called "Botolphs Bridge Road", and intersects the railway at a level crossing. Here a small halt was provided when the line opened in 1927, with a single wooden waiting shelter for the convenience of passengers.

The halt was closed in 1939 due to very low traffic figures. The manner of its closure was somewhat spectacular, and well reported locally at the time. Captain Howey, the railway's founder and principal shareholder, declared the station closed, instructed train drivers not to stop there, and then set fire to the wooden shelter. With no public warning of the impending closure, the flames and smoke prompted an emergency call to the Fire Brigade, who turned out an appliance and crew. The firemen were very surprised to arrive on scene and discover the burning building's owner with a box of matches.^[1]

Gallery

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  No. 5 Hercules heading for Hythe

• 

  No. 9 Winston Churchill crossing the level crossing

References

1. This story is reported in full in at least 15 published sources, for example, see page 19 of "Historical Guide to the RH&DLR" by C S Wolfe, published 1976 by RHDRAssoc.

Coordinates: 51°03′22″N 1°01′50″E / 51.05610°N 1.03049°E