The Ledbury and Gloucester Railway, (also known as the Daffodil Line), was a railway line in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, England, running between Ledbury and Gloucester. It opened in 1885 and closed in 1964.[1]
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Most of the line followed the route of the southern section of the Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal, which was inaugurated in 1798.
After a period of financial struggle, the canal was leased to the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 1863. Conversion to a railway began in 1881[2] The railway was built by two companies: the Newent Railway and the Ross and Ledbury Railway. Colonel F. H. Rich inspected the line in July 1885, and it officially opened on 27 July.[3] The GWR operated the railway, eventually merging with both smaller companies in 1892.[4]
The line closed to passenger traffic in 1959, with the Dymock to Gloucester section remaining open to goods traffic until 1964.[2]
The line followed a south and then south-easterly route between Ledbury railway station and Gloucester Central railway station, it joined the Gloucester to Newport Line at Over Junction.[5] Stations were established at Ledbury Town Halt, Greenway Halt, Dymock, Four Oaks Halt, Newent, Malswick Halt, and Barbers Bridge. Notably, a skew bridge that carried the line over Hereford Road in Ledbury remains in use as part of the Ledbury Town Trail footpath.[6][7]
51°56′36″N 2°26′00″W / 51.9434°N 2.4333°W