EASTLEIGH: WHERE IT ALL STARTED
Being born in 1944 of a railway family living in Eastleigh, close enough while lying in bed at night to hear goods trains (not ‘freight’ in those far-off days!) chuffing through, no doubt inspired my interest in railways. My first train journey – except I have no memory of it – was being taken as a babe-in-arms by my mother to Stoke-on-Trent to visit relatives. School started in September 1949 at one of the oldest in the town and still gas-lit! Main line trains were just visible from the gate, but there was a driveway across the road which was much better, though strictly out of bounds.
I cannot actually remember it but my parents recalled going to London Zoo and hiring a push-chair on a very hot Easter, probably in 1948. I also have photographic evidence of visiting Bristol in 1950, but of the journey I have no memory, although I do recall standing on Clifton Suspension Bridge and seeing a passenger train down in the Avon Gorge going to Portishead, although that was only found out years later. About this time, on returning from Southampton, the city was very much in the throes of rebuilding after the Blitz, and I remember seeing the remains of its trams being scrapped adjacent to Bevois Park goods yard and, possibly on the same journey, my father pointing out Bulleid’s doomed ‘Leader’ in the front of Eastleigh shed. I did eventually travel on the Portishead line in April 1968 on an RCTS special.
There were several Saturday trips – by train, of course – to Portsmouth for Southsea beach, and I was somewhat amazed on at least one occasion travelling by the original single-track route through Knowle halt (closed to passengers in 1964) and its twin tunnels, which was unusual back then as virtually all trains went via the later doubletrack ‘Deviation’ line. I learnt many years later that one or two trains per week from Reading via Eastleigh went this way to serve the single platform at Knowle halt for visitors to the large mental hospital. Until the 1940s, this had been called Knowle Asylum halt.
The Meon Valley railway (closed to passengers 1955, closed to all traffic 1962) was still open back then so used this line and presumably also served the station. The ‘Deviation’, after being singled in 1962 owing to bank slippage, meant all trains going to Fareham reverted to the ‘Tunnel’ route and trains from there used the ‘Deviation’ until it was finally completely closed in 1973. We also made visits to Hayling Island, on dates not recorded, but ‘A1X’ 0-6-0T No. 32646 was noted
