After the axe fell on Byfield station

The photos date to 1979, and show former station master George Halton and signalman Bill Steel standing on the remains of the up platform.

The station was closed in April 1952 when passenger services stopped. However, freight services continued to use the line until it was closed in 1965.

The line from Stratford-upon-Avon to Towcester, going via Byfield, was opened in 1873.

The station was never a busy one, starting with only two trains per day which were soon cut.

Services restarted after the Central Railway arrived at neighbouring Woodford Halse, and the two lines were linked for a few years, and it was possible to catch a direct train from the village to Marylebone in London.

The station lay to the south of Byfield off Church Street, which itself was carried over the lines by a bridge. The site of the station and part of the tracks was adopted by the village and turned into the pocket park.