Winchcombe 14 October 1979

The end of the line at Winchcombe on 14 October 1979. Huge piles of reclaimed track sections dominate this view, as track lifting operations are under way to dismantle the former Cheltenham to Stratford-upon-Avon route, which closed three years previously. Although the flat bottom rail sections are being saved complete, the bullhead rail sections were being removed piecemeal, with a crane lifting out the rails and the sleepers then being dug out of the ballast individually. Note that the keys have already been knocked out of the chairs of the line on the right in the foreground. Winchcombe Goods Shed (now the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway's carriage department) can be seen in the background, with the demolition contractor's vehicles just in front.