This is a two part post about the experience of our Victorian Marlow residents when travelling to and from Marlow by train.
I'm sure the average residents of Marlow were divided about whether they actually wanted a railway to come to Marlow at all. Would it bring in visitors with coins in their pockets or take people away to spend their money elsewhere? Would the visitors be of a good class or "beanfeasters" who would crowd out the better heeled tourist asked some traders. Would it help local businesses get their raw materials and goods in more cheaply and quickly? Would the noisy and dirty railway destroy the peace of the countryside? Would Marlow be left behind if it didn't have a station?
Whether it was wanted or not, the locals could read about plenty of false starts regarding the rail arriving here. In 1845 it was proposed that the Midland Grand Junction Railway line could go from Reading to Northampton via Henley and Marlow amongst other places. And there was the 1866 Marlow, Uxbridge and Wycombe railway that also never arrived.
One line that definitely did get laid was between Maidenhead Boyne Hill and High Wycombe which opened in 1854 with a stop tantalizingly close to Marlow at Bourne End or Marlow Road as it was then known. Immediately the local carriers and coach services made sure to offer services to meet the trains there. In 1855 the papers confidently reported that the line would be extended to Marlow itself as there was no engineering difficulty preventing that, with a proposed station near the bottom of the High Street. But no, that didn't happen either. Travelling from Marlow-Road sounds a bit hair raising as in 1866 it was mentioned that the wooden bridge there had for a long time been in a dangerous state and "it is evident that before long the bridge will give way". Not conditions to reassure the nervous train passenger.
Great Marlow Railway Co
A group of local landowners decided to start the Great Marlow Railway Company, with a station at Marlow, in 1867 although selling enough shares to finance it took time. The first general meeting of the shareholders took place at the Crown in 1869 chaired by Peter Borgnis. The gentlemen expressed regret that they had not met their initial expectations of having began construction by this time but they said if more people came forward with capital to invest things would soon be under way. The following year they were still hopeful that construction would start soon. Additional costs had arisen as Great Western had decided that some good sheds at Marlow Rd would need to be moved to the other side to avoid the new line having to cross their various sidings for safety reasons. Move on another year and only 12 subscribers turned up at the Crown meeting to discuss progress (or lack of it.) The increased projected costs this time round were put down to problems negotiating a price for the land the rail line would travel through. But at the end of 1872, the first sod of turf was ceremonially turned over by Mrs Owen Peel Wethered who was presented with a silver salver to mark the occasion. (Her husband was amongst the biggest share holders).
I don't know how many men from Marlow itself might have been involved in some way with the construction of the line. Local engineer Edwin Clark* had offered to build it for £8000 and some shares, or to oversee the same for a commission based on the outlay plus more shares. He did win the contract. Whoever was involved, the work sounds very cold and wet as you imagine a project started in December on a flood plain would be. Within a couple of weeks it had to stop altogether due to unusual levels of rain turning the site into a mud bath. But in March it was reported that some of the rails had arrived on site and the workers were nearly ready to lay them. (By 1878 the rails had had to be raised in parts by 15" in total to deal with flooding.)
The new station
Obviously the station at Marlow also had to built. The Windsor and Eton Express said the brick and bath stone building would be a place of "elegance, utility and comfort" which makes it definitely different looking from the current Marlow station! The plans showed a 240ft platform, a 31ft "covered veranda" and 150ft engine shed and tool sheds. The pressure was on to have the line open in time for the Regatta which they did, but actually the station buildings themselves were not quite finished on day one.
There's a good chance that if your ancestor lived in Marlow in the summer of 1873 they were at the station to see the first public train come in. Before that the first engine to come over the line, driven by Mr Thomson of the Great Western Railway, bought a few officials to and from Bourne End on a trial run. They made the journey to Marlow in 5 minutes. Peter Borgnis travelled on this journey as the first official passenger, although not a fare paying one. The engine was taken up the sidings too. Following this a heavy goods engine put the line through its paces on behalf of the Railway Inspector. It naturally passed.
Mr Porter the station master at Marlow Rd/Bourne End transferred to Marlow - you can read more about him and his family who ran the Railway Hotel here. 1,700 tickets were sold in the first 10 days and within the month of August 10,000 passengers travelled on the Great Marlow Railway according to the Reading Mercury.
The station opened with oil lights but in 1874 it was proposed to light up the station building and signals by gas. There was no licensed refreshment room (although it appears it was planned that there would be as a beer selling licence was originally applied for) so for that you'd have to pop across to the Railway Hotel where you could also hire a fly to take you onward if necessary. If you travelled to the new Maidenhead Station (where the current one is) surely you'd find a refreshment room in this smart modern premises? Unfortunately not. It was then the only main junction station built without a licensed refreshment room. The landlord of the Maidenhead Railway hotel was quite happy about that but Marlow's Wethered's Brewery did their best to get one installed. It was tiring for ladies and invalids to have to walk out of Maidenhead station and up the front steps to the hotel they said, especially in wet weather. But by the time Marlow station opened the refreshment room at Maidenhead was still a dream of the thirsty traveller.
The platform at Marlow sounds crowded in these first few years. This is probably why it was announced in 1875 that only passengers intending to travel on the next train would be allowed on the platform prior to departure. But it seems this was generally ignored!
Danger on the railway
Railways bought some danger to the residents here. There were near misses when people decided to cross the line where they could. The 78 year old Elizabeth Hester of Little Marlow was knocked down and killed in 1878 at the Spade Oak Crossing. The driver sounded his horn but she had crossed close to the train and there was no possibility of avoiding a collision. Was Elizabeth perhaps deaf or partially sighted? It was reported she'd had more than one narrow escape doing the same thing before.
The first accident involving train passengers on the Marlow line did not happen until 1883 and it was thankfully a minor one although some travellers had slight injuries. The train from Bourne End was in a collision with the stop blocks at the dead end. The following year the engine used on the Marlow line fell over onto its side while being shunted, minus any carriages. No serious damage was done and no one was hurt. A crew from Slough came to move the engine and services resumed later the same day. With the wooden Bourne End railway bridge considered to be in a dangerous state again, there was probably a good take up for the option of adding insurance against calamity to the cost of your train ticket.
Using the train in the 1880s.
Two annoyances were reported by the passengers waiting to travel at Marlow. One was that "crowds" of "urchins" met every train and pestered the arrivals for coins. As the children were supposed to be in school, the parents were blamed. The second grievance was that many thought the carriages were in a shabby old condition. But in 1886 these long neglected essentials had been done up and now presented a "trim and tidy appearance".
A lot of improvements had been made at the station soon after it opened, including a new siding in 1879 which was lamented as expensive but necessary because of goods traffic outdoing expectations. (At the same time a general trade depression was reported to have resulted in a slight fall in passenger numbers which must have alarmed those who thought the railway would help local trade. But in the long term they were right, and numbers crept up again.)
From 1889 the Marlow station was in telegraphic communication with the main line. (Marlow Road station and Marlow town were linked by telegraph in 1870 so it took a while.) The other main work was to replace the iron rails with steel ones, which was done gradually over a period of 18 months. Some of the iron rails were sold to GWR.
Part 2 coming next week deals with the 1890s +, the "disgrace to the neighborhood" otherwise known as Bourne End Station, the proposed new station in Riley Park, flooding, and the perils of travelling in cold weather.
Written and researched by Kathryn Day.
For sources see part 2.
© Marlow Ancestors.