Berks & Hants Line Through Time

This fascinating selection of photographs traces some of the many ways in which Berks and Hants Line has changed and developed over the last century.

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When opened in 1847, the Berks & Hants Railway extended from Reading to Hungerford, a distance of 2512 miles. The route was extended to Devizes in 1862, while at the end of the nineteenth century, the Great Western Railway decided to incorporate the Berks & Hants line into a new main line link between Reading, Newbury, Hungerford, Westbury and Taunton, which would provide part of an improved route from Paddington to the West of England. Most of the stations have been rebuilt over the years, but there are several early survivors, including Pewsey, Frome and Castle Cary, which date back to the mid- Victorian period. This unique selection of old and new images and informative captions is essential reading for anybody who lives close to this railway and knows it in any way.