Old Town Rail Path by Devizes Road Bridge in winter

Image: © P L Chadwick Taken: Unknown

Over forty years ago, this was the route of the single track railway line from Andover to Cheltenham, with a connection that provided a link from the nearby Swindon Town Railway Station (now demolished) to Swindon Junction Railway Station. The latter still exists, although the word junction has long been removed from its name. For many years prior to closure, a shuttle service used to run between the two stations, hauled by a tank engine. It was very popular with schoolboys (not schoolgirls) on Saturday mornings. Today the route is used as a cycle path and public footpath, and at one point it crosses the closed Wilts & Berks Canal. The bridge which can be seen here carries Devizes Road over the path. The building which can be glimpsed is a public house known as The Plough. The beams on the outside make it look very old, but the building only dates from 1838, and didn't become a pub until some years later. The station was the other side of the bridge and the site is now an industrial estate called Signal Way. Part of The Plough's garden was sold to the railway company, which opened the station in 1881.

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