Forest of Dean Central Railway at Brimspill

Image: © John Winder Taken: 4 Jun 2020

This unprepossessing stretch of hedgerow marks the route of the Forest of Dean Central Railway's branch to its intended terminus at Brimspill dock on the banks of the Severn. The earthworks were completed in 1860 (a nearby bridge over the South Wales Railway's main line was begun but never completed) and Parliamentary powers to construct Brimspill dock were obtained in 1861. It all went a bit wrong after this: financial difficulties meant that the FoDCR was unable to pay its contractor, one Mr Morris, who not unreasonably downed tools in June 1862, before the line was ready to open. It became obvious that the most economical way to get traffic flowing on the branch would be to construct a junction with the South Wales Railway at Awre. This took another five years to build, and the FoDCR's finances had become more parlous with every passing year: the only way they were able to complete the line was with the GWR's help. Construction of Brimspill dock was postponed and (in a curious parallel with what happened at the other end of the FoDCR's line) the formation was built but never used. All traffic on the branch - which was never busy even in its heyday - was handled via Awre Junction and this embankment serves no purpose other than as a reminder of the grandiose dreams of the railway age.

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