Yatton
From Bristol Railway Archive
To Bristol: High Street - Yatton
To the Southwest: Yatton West Signal Box
To Clevedon: Wemberham Lane
To Cheddar and Wells: Cadbury Farm
Contents |
History
A lovely station which still retains a lot of its Bristol & Exeter roots. It's possible to think of it as a shadow of its former self, but in reality the station has come full circle and once more resembles the station as designed by Brunel.
Opened on the 14th June 1841 as Clevedon Road with the name changing to Yatton on the 28th July 1847 when the branch to Clevedon opened. The branch line to Cheddar opened in 1869 and closed in 1963 with the branch to Clevedon closing in 1966. An engine shed at the north west of the station opened in 1879 and was accessed from the Clevedon branch. It closed on the 7th August 1960.
Track Plans
 A track plan showing the section of track between Yatton and Nailsea and Backwell from 1988. |
1960s
 82040 waits at Yatton with a train for 'The Strawberry Line' A DMU waits in the bay with a train for Clevedon. © Roger Newport |
1970s
Taken on the last day of operation of Yatton West Signal Box.
 A Bristol bound DMU enters the station. © Simon Whittingham |
 A view west showing Yatton West Signal Box. © Simon Whittingham |
 The remains of the Cheddar Valley Line branch bay. © Simon Whittingham |
 The remains of the Clevedon branch. © Simon Whittingham |
 The station building. © Simon Whittingham |
1988
2nd. April
 The footbridge steps are more enclosed than they are in the similar 2004 pic. |
 A bug rolls into the station. |
 A view from the footbridge. 'Yatton for Clevedon'. If only! :) |
 A view west. |
1991
The next set of pics were all kindly supplied by Andy Viles and show relics of the former branch line to Clevedon at the south end of Yatton Station.
29th June
 Looking towards Yatton Station from the alignment of the branch to Clevedon. |
 A tired lad stands in front of a concrete stop block that was behind the signalbox. |
 An old shed. |
 The same shed viewed from a different angle. |
 The coaling stage. |
 An HST blasting through the station. |
2004
8th May
 GWR City Class locomotive 3440 City of Truro blasts through Yatton. |
5th June
 Yatton station as viewed from the approach road. |
 Standing on platform 1 and High Street bridge blocks the view back towards Bristol. |
 Looking west gives a general view of the station. The footbridge is the original one that spanned the broad gauge tracks when the station opened. |
 Bike racks, information monitor, phone, time tables.. |
 A waiting room through one of Brunel's lovely Tudor arches. The door was locked of course... |
 A sign at track level says that there is a watermain 30 feet or inches below. The stonework next to it suggests that there was a barrow crossing here at one time. |
 A look at the station buildings and platform shelter on Platform 2. |
 These are the main station buildings and contain a ticket office and information area. |
 Standing on the end of Platform 1 and looking west. The signal and feather protect the down goods loop. |
 As I stroll back along Platform 1 143619 rolls in with a well-patronised service from Weston Super Mare. |
 143619 stands at Yatton. Next stop will be Nailsea and Backwell. |
|
 The view towards Bristol from the footbridge. |
 And the view west on 5.6.2004. In the background a HST can be seen waiting at a signal. Just in front of it are the Yatton goods loops. Notice that the Up platform has been shortened. |
 A postbox on Platform 2. |
 Yatton Station as viewed from Station Road. Not a particularly good shot due to the sun being directly behind the building and me being unable to block it out. |
 There's a toilet on Platform 2. Naturally, it was locked and my two year old had to pee in the carpark instead... what a country.. |
 The canopy on Platform 2 was erected in 1956 and came from Dauntsey Station. |
 A closer look at the underneath of the canopy. |
 The Station Hotel is now a pub. |
 Another look at the very impressive building. |
 The car park has been built on the site of the bay platform for the Cheddar Valley line and the old goods yard. |
 It's also the start of a walk that follows the route of the old 'Strawberry Line' through Congresbury to Cheddar. |
 The view from the carpark looking west. On the right is the mainline to the southwest while on the left is the route of the line to Cheddar. Just visible in the distance is a sculptural arch across the route made by a local artist. |
 The sculpture has been erected on the site of Cheddar Valley Junction. This is the view back towards Yatton station. |
 Meanwhile the HST seen in a previous shot turned out to be Network Rail's flying banana. It moved into the up goods loop to let a Voyager come screaming through. |
