The line that ran from Plymouth to Launceston, through Tavistock South, was a beautiful trip through South Devon. Bickleigh Station was one of the stops, just north of Plym Bridge, and south of Clearbrook.
Bickleigh was provided from the opening of the line, with a passing loop. Goods traffic was handled from 1st Feb 1860. It was just the east of the village.
The History of Bickleigh
This is a general view of Bickleigh Station, at the Down Platform and S.D.R. signal box, looking north. Image by Lens of Sutton
Here are two more views of the station, the top one looking south and showing 0-6-0 PT No 6400 with a train for Plymouth. Image by L. Crosier. The bottom one looking north and showing an unidentified PT leaving for Shaugh Prior. Image by I. Hocking
DMU W51062 with The Devon Rambler at Bickleigh on the 11th April 1959. This excursion was originally by the Railway Enthusiast Club of Farnborough covering one of the many West country branch lines. Image by R. E. Taylor
A rare sight of a 63XX class diesel upon the branch line from Plymouth to Launceston. The occasion was its unscheduled arrival with a breakdown train for shunting at Bickleigh on 1st Oct 1961. Image by R. E. Taylor
Bickleigh in the Snow
Drifting snow blocking the station at the northern end, taken on the 30th December 1962. Image by R. E. Taylor
This time looking south at the norther end of the station, again in December 1962. Image by R. E. Taylor
Signalman Morris at Bickleigh signal box rings ‘train out of section’ to Horrabridge on the 31st December 1962. This was the last time this act was executed. Image by R. E. Taylor
The winter of 1962/63 is known as the Big Freeze of 1963, and was one of the coldest winters on record. Around the UK, temperatures dropped as low as -19 ºC and blizzards caused snow drifts of up to 20ft (6 meters).
The last passenger trains ran from Launceston to Plymouth via Tavistock on 29 December 1962, with closure taking effect the following Monday, 31 December. Heavy snow, however, ruined any celebrations: the 18:20 from Plymouth finally reached Tavistock after midnight, and the 19:10 from Tavistock to Plymouth ended up stranded at Bickleigh overnight. Image by R. E. Taylor
At the station, on the 30th and 31st December 1962, the snowbound trains were recused. This was the 0-6-0 PT No 6400 frozen to the rails. Image by R. E. Taylor
Here is a close up of No 6400 frozen motion. Image by R. E. Taylor
Bickleigh Today
Looking south, towards Plymouth, there is nothing left of the station today. This is the view from Google Earth of the walkway, which is on the old railway track.
This view is looking north, again, on the track bed which is now a walk way, the beautiful station is no longer visible.
Videos of Bickleigh
My father and I made a video, The Plymouth to Tavistock via Tavistock South. Here is a clip about Bickleigh Station, with some wonderful movie footage.
The ‘modern day’ clip features my father, and Reg Blackett, the man who originally shot the movie footage. Sadly, both are now passed away.
If you would like to see the entire story of the Plymouth to Launceston Railway, you can on my YouTube Channel for free. I am planning on updating the video, but I just haven’t had the chance yet.
Which station would you like me to cover next? You can comment on this blog, via Disqus, which is free to join. If you notice any mistakes I’ve made, again, please point them out, I’m not an expert, but am always willing to learn.
I took some of the information in this post from Wikipedia, and thank you to Anthony Kingdom for kindly granting permission to use images from his book, The Plymouth, Tavistock and Launceston Railway.
