Last Bristol Train from Bath through Mangotsfield 

A lovely record of the sad end of this branch and the joy of it reopening.

Thank you for sharing. It was nice to see the station as I was born there but in 1971 so only saw ruins. I expected more people to be out watching the last train at Mangotsfield and hoped to spot relatives.

Well impressed. We lived for 18 years just above Staple Hill station in the 1990s/2000s and being railway buffs of long standing were fascinated by the place. This is certainly the only moving film we've seen of the line, as well as the only colour images. Mangotsfield Station too was a *real* loss, such a beautiful building.

My great grandad drove this train and my grandad was his fireman anc also drove the last train to ever pull in to green Park

Wonderful footage - thank you!

Interesting to see 34073,obviously withdrawn and probably en route to Barry. Sadly one of the few Bulleids to have received no attention since leaving Woodhams.

Superb, amazing to have filmed the last passenger to depart Mangotsfield, Staple Hill etc... Must have been a very sad day. Shame I was yet to be born but spent over 40 years cycling the route

So glad to have found this film. Great memories of an area that I was once very familiar with. Good social history and art😀

What a cracking film. Thank you Philip.

I have lots of memories of the old line, mainly after closure. I walked the trackbed on an overnight hike with the Scouts, from Bath to Siston on a very frosty night. The track was still there, but I only remember single track.

What a lovely production. Memories of happier times both old and more recent.

How sad 😔 to see it all go great video thank you for show it 🙏 😊

A lovely film,thank you, lets hope the line can be extended,, we all need a little of old time England

Wonderful video.

Thank you for posting this, very interesting.

Very enjoyable video 😀 I'll probably watch it all again later 👍 I hope in the next 5 to 10 years the AVR can get to Kelston and start towards bath. Maybe one day, my dream, towards Warmley and beyond. It was nice seeing the stations on the line, the most video I have seen on the line and some nice video of my favourite station, Mangotsfield. Keep safe 😀

This is awesome, like it a lot

I used to live in Ridgeway Road and as a youngster regularly went train spotting down by the bridge.

Ernie Marples, thy name lives in infamy....

It's amazing to see this. I used to live in Bath and used the cycle track all the time. I've fond memories of taking Staple Hill tunnel after dark at 30 mph on a Brompton. If I remember, the tunnel lights went off at 8 p.m but I had my own lights. Another time, another bike, I surprised a badger near Warmley. It was crossing my path and got a fright. Then it sped up after me, trying to attack. I wasn't exactly going fast and before I knew it, it had got level with my chainset. But as my crank went round, it came down and hit it on the head, sending it scurrying away. It gave me quite a turn. Badgers are many things and not timid. They're shy short sighted cute vicious sods if you annoy them. It's great to see the Avon Valley Railway again. It always felt a bit odd cycling beside the trains. Everyone did that, as it was about 5 miles from Bath and an easy jaunt out as something to do of a weekend for the locals. The station cafe at Bitton did a roaring trade then.

Beautiful work

Great film ! Oldland Common would have been my local station just under a mile away.

Very good film and narration

We walked this line just before it was ripped up ( i had a girlfriend - my first ! who lived by the side of the line at Oldland Common. Her home was right by the road overbridge. ) There were still trains running at the time.

Loved this. I was a member of the Bristol Suburban Railway Society in its early days. Later I used the Bitton to Greenbank Road Eastville stretch as part of a Marathon training route.

Glorious stuff. Some prize footage here. Was Ken Barter related to Harry Barter?

Great film! I lived for a short time in Ridgeway Road, used to be able to see Kingswood Junction signal box from my house. Would love to be able to find some old film of Fishponds Station if any exists? Thanks

Great video, it’s always amazing to see old footage of long closed lines! One tiny criticism though, try fine tuning your sound editing a bit more, as you can clearly be heard clicking your mouse many times through the video!

Wow, thank you so very much for making and sharing this video. I loved seeing the Mangotsfield Junction, I am hoping to cover the Mangotsfield station on a future adventure and I was wondering If I could use your video (with credit) to highlight certain areas? Brilliant video

Fascinating. Respect to you Phil for posting up this piece. I wasn't aware of this line - it was just that I recently stopped in the Ibis Temple Meads hotel and learnt that it sat on the Bristol Bath Railway path. Working back to TM station from the Kingsland Road (railway?) bridge I am have trouble in tracing the path of the tracks back to the main railway bridge over the Avon. Can you provide any info? is there any trace of the tracks immediately to the east of TM?

I think there is a small section at lawrence hill that still exists

such a shame,thanks for posting.

What a pretty station was Mangotsfield what a waste!!

super

Interesting to see some old footage as to how it was in the early 1960s. The last time I went to the Avon Valley Railway was a couple of years ago, Here is a short movie in my channel: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-X_lFupba09k.html I know it’s become a popular cycle route between Bristol & Bath, so that would be a significant issue in the future as well.

Such an excellent video! I am creating a heritage festival at Green Park Station and I would love to use some of this footage at the event! Do you have an email address or another way to contact you regarding this? I would love to discuss this further. We are also aiming to make a book about GPS and looking for memories and anecdotes from locals. Please let me know if you'd be happy to have a chat. Thanks again for this wonderful video!

Should Bring back the trains

So sad

So this is what my dad watches..... He is a train driver lol

Staplehill tnnel vaalidates all I know

live almost next to the track nr Warmley/ Oldland; cycling training/road racers travel up to 40mph each way, often two abreast....for dog walkers mums, toddlers and the elderly its a nightmare... slow down! wish the trains were back !

no face masks