The Bristol Railway Archive

From the Portishead Line Facebook Group

This week on the Portishead Line...
🪏Work begins to excavate the cuttings in Pill to make space for the new station platform.
The excavated material will be taken over to our site compound off Monmouth Road and then removed by road. Some of the material will also be removed by rail.
When the cutting has been shaped, it will be strengthened with steel rods, mesh and sprayed concrete.
🏗Work takes place seven days a week from 7am to 7pm and 7.30am to 7.30pm at weekends.
When complete this autumn, we can then begin building the new Pill station.
It's also the last week of temporary traffic lights on the Portbury Hundred. The lights are manually operated to manage traffic and will only be used when absolutely necessary while we work close to the road. We're building a temporary bell mouth junction into our site compound.

From the Portishead Line Facebook Group

16.10.26

Next week on the Portishead Line...
Work begins on Portbury Ditch in Portishead between Harbour Road and Sainsbury's.
We're installing a concrete headwall unit and pipes to improve the drainage.
The footpath between Harbour Road and the path towards Majestic Wine is suspended until Friday 13 November.
The dates for the nightly closures of a section of Harbour Road in Portishead have also changed.
Harbour Road will be closed each night from 8pm to 6am between Monday 26 October and Sunday 1 November.
🛠 It's to allow us to install drainage and resurface the road.
The road will be closed from Harbour Road Trading Estate to the roundabout with Quays Avenue. The road is closed from 8pm to 6am each night and reopens from 6am to 8pm each day.
Access for residents and businesses will be maintained and marshals will be on hand to help if needed.
You will temporarily be able to turn right out of Harbour Road Trading Estate onto Harbour Road.
Another week of night closures is planned for November and we'll confirm the dates soon.

It was 20 years ago while managing my big train set at Temple Meads that I was invited along to an event in connection with the closure of the Bristol Industrial Museum, which was reinvented as the M shed. The invite had come from what appeared to be a pressure group in favour of opening the branch to ''Porterzed' as grandad use to call it. I was treated to a trip up and down the line behind Portbury or was it Henbury that day? One of my colleagues the late Stella Daniels was on the footplate as a volunteer.

Then I was plied with bacon rolls and coffee etc. It was obviously to curry favour (no pun intended) with support from my lords and masters First Group who had just secured the Greater Western Franchise. But as I pointed out, while I was personally very much in favour, it wasn't actually part of the franchise agreement. I did point out that it might be more pragmatic if services could actually come into the Princes Street area close to the business heart of the city although space wise it didn't look like a very practical proposition. The business hub is a lot nearer to Temple Meads these days so just as well that wasn't taken seriously.

Despite being so far away from my base on platform 5, I was urprised that I could still pick send and receive messages on the station radio net. I walked back to the station to work off the effects of all the food I had gorged.

Twenty years on we are still waiting but at least there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I still think it's a shame the route from Temple Meads to the harbour wasn't protected. Would make a perfect circular journey serving the M Shed, SS Great Britain, Ashton Gate Stadium, Parson Street and Bedminster. Could have even been the perfect start for a tram or light rail system.

Agreed! Went round there about 45 years ago on a class 47 to rescue a failed class 08 at Wapping Wharf. Made the flanges squeal a bit as we came off the swing bridge. Not even sure if such a big loco was cleared to go round there but needs must!