77-623: Didcot Railway Centre is a railway museum and preservation engineering site in Didcot , Oxfordshire , England. The site was formerly a Great Western Railway engine shed and locomotive stabling point. The founders and commercial backers of the Great Western Railway (GWR) supported Isambard Kingdom Brunel 's scheme to develop an integrated railway and steamship service which allowed trans- Atlantic passengers and freight quicker passage between London and New York City . However, whilst backing
154-730: A further six local village schools form the Didcot Primary Partnership: Blewbury Endowed C of E, Cholsey, Hagbourne, Harwell Community, Long Wittenham C of E and South Moreton County. Didcot Primary Academy, opened in 2016 in the Great Western Park area, falls under Harwell Parish . Two of Didcot's state secondary schools ; St Birinus School and Didcot Girls' School are single-sex schools that join at sixth form to host Didcot Sixth Form . There are two other secondary schools in Didcot which have opened alongside
231-554: A metal detector. It is now displayed at the Ashmolean Museum on loan from the British Museum . The Domesday Book of 1086 does not record Didcot. In 13th-century records the toponym appears as Dudecota , Dudecote , Doudecote , Dudcote or Dudecothe . Some of these spellings continued into later centuries, and were joined by Dodecote from the 14th century onward, Dudcott from the 16th century onward and Didcott from
308-400: A new studio on the edge of Didcot, valued at $ 100 million, using the existing former Daily Mail printing works on Milton Road. The studio is planned to be used for film and TV series based on 2000 AD comic series characters, including Judge Dredd : Mega City One. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from
385-569: A popular man-made object for local photographers. In October 2010, Didcot Sewage Works became the first in the UK to produce biomethane gas supplied to the National Grid, for use in up to 200 homes in Oxfordshire. On Sunday 27 July 2014 three of the six 114-metre (374 ft) cooling towers were demolished in the early hours of the morning, using 180 kilograms (400 lb) of explosives. The demolition
462-490: A population of about 120. The oldest surviving house in Didcot is White Cottage, a 16th-century timber-framed building in Manor Road that has a wood shingle roof. It is a Grade II listed building. At that time the village centre consisted of a group of cottages and surrounding farms around Manor, Foxhall and Lydalls Roads. Those still surviving include The Nook, Thorney Down Cottage and Manor Cottage, which were all built in
539-423: A standard steel-framed with corrugated iron-panel covered ash shelter was erected: this was dismantled in early GWS days. After World War II, the site remained virtually unchanged during the nationalised ownership of British Railways (BR), but for taking on the new code of 81E. The standard allocation of locomotives remained the same, with Halls, Dukedogs and Panniers making up the bulk of the depot's fleet. With
616-504: A warehouse on Churchward on the Southmead Industrial Estate in Didcot. In 2012 a road through the new Great Western Park development in Didcot was named Sir Frank Williams Avenue in honour of Williams' contribution to the town. In the late 1960s and 1970s, Rich's Sidings in Didcot was home to Maxperenco, a racing car manufacturer run by Andrew Duncan who produced both Single-Seater Formula cars and GT Sports cars. During
693-532: Is a railway town and civil parish in South Oxfordshire , England, located 15 miles (24 km) south of Oxford , 10 miles (16 km) east of Wantage and 15 miles (24 km) north west of Reading . Historically part of Berkshire , the town is noted for its railway heritage, Didcot station opening as a junction station on the Great Western Main Line in 1844. Today the town is known for
770-550: Is also common in the area. The area is also noted for farmers growing opium poppies for legal production of morphine and heroin to meet National Health Service demand. The poppies produced are sold to Macfarlan Smith , a major pharmaceutical company , who hold a licence from the United Kingdom's Home Office . Didcot formerly had a dairy bottling factory and chicken farm in the town from 1935 to 1987, initially operated by Job's Dairy and later after 1970, Express Dairy;
847-407: Is at Boundary Park in Great Western Park. Didcot Phoenix cycle club was founded in 1973 and is represented by over 70 members who participate in a range of cycling activities including touring, time trials, road racing, Audax, cyclocross and off-road events. The OVO Energy Women's Tour, a road cycling event, passed through Didcot on 12 June 2019. The race was halted for around 30 minutes on
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#1732852678487924-401: Is north of Didcot Parkway railway station, and is accessed from the station via the pedestrian subway. The station was originally called Didcot but then renamed Didcot Parkway in 1985 by British Rail ; the site of the old GWR provender stores, which had been demolished in 1976 (the provender pond was kept to maintain the water table) was made into a large car park to attract passengers from
1001-512: Is on the edge of town. The regimental headquarters of 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment RLC is based in the town. There are three tiers of local government covering Didcot, at parish (town), district and county level: Didcot Town Council, South Oxfordshire District Council and Oxfordshire County Council . The town council has its offices at the Civic Hall on Britwell Road. The town council comprises 21 councillors representing
1078-562: Is the 1990s-built Ladygrove Estate in Didcot. While the average UK healthy lifespan was thought to be 68.8 for women and 67 for men in 2001, people in Ladygrove district of Didcot could expect 86 healthy years. It is believed Ladygrove may have benefited from the local recreation grounds and sports centre. Didcot is served by seven primary schools : All Saints' C of E, Aureus, Ladygrove Park, Manor, Northbourne C of E, Stephen Freeman and Willowcroft. Along with these seven schools based in Didcot,
1155-430: Is the largest UK-funded scientific facility to be built for more than 30 years. Didcot has been designated as one of the three major growth areas in Oxfordshire; the Ladygrove development, to the north and east of the railway line on the former marshland, is set to double the number of homes in the town since construction began in the late 1980s. Originally, the Ladygrove development was planned to be complete by 2001, but
1232-516: The Church of England parish church of All Saints go back to the 12th century. They include the walls of the nave and east wall of the chancel , which were built about 1160. The church is a Grade II* listed building. Parts of the original village survive in the Lydalls Road area around All Saints ' church. In the 16th-century Didcot was a small village of landowners, tenants and tradespeople with
1309-603: The Department for Transport ). ORR regulates the High Speed 1 line between St Pancras and the Channel Tunnel. This line is operated by HS1 Ltd, and is separate to the rest of the national railway network operated by Network Rail, but ORR regulates it in much the same way. This includes holding HS1 to account for its performance, service and value for money for passengers and the freight industry. ORR regulates health and safety for
1386-519: The FA Vase in 2005 and reaching The FA Cup 1st Round in 2015. Office of Rail Regulation The Office of Rail and Road ( ORR ) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways . ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its activities and funding requirements for each Control Period , ensuring train operators have fair access to
1463-586: The Infrastructure Act 2015 . Network Rail – the owner and operator of most of the railway network in England, Scotland and Wales – operates under a network licence. ORR holds Network Rail to account through the network licence which includes conditions relating to its management of the railway network, information provision and safety obligations. ORR is also responsible for setting Network Rail's outputs and funding requirement for each Control Period , including
1540-511: The Mesolithic , Neolithic , Iron Age and Bronze Age . In the Roman era the inhabitants of the area tried to drain the marshland by digging ditches through what is now the Ladygrove area north of the town near Long Wittenham , evidence of which was found during surveying in 1994. A hoard of 126 gold Roman coins dating from about 160 was found just outside the village in 1995 by an enthusiast with
1617-605: The Oxford TV transmitter. Didcot's local radio stations are BBC Radio Oxford on 95.2 FM, Heart South on 102.6 FM and Jack FM on 106.4 FM. Local newspapers are the Didcot Herald and Oxfordshire Guardian . Didcot has three main leisure centres : Didcot Town Council maintains the following: Didcot also has a nature reserve, Mowbray Fields , where wildlife including common spotted orchid and Southern Marsh Orchid occur. Didcot Cricket Club's current home ground
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#17328526784871694-729: The Secretary of State for Transport for a fixed term of up to five years. The current ORR Chair is Declan Collier, appointed in January 2019. John Larkinson is Chief Executive Officer. ORR employs approximately 350 people, with offices in London, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and York. ORR is the main provider of railway industry statistics in Britain. ORR publishes a range of statistics about railway performance, rail usage and safety – to support performance evaluation, analysis and decision-making for
1771-576: The West Midlands in part dictated a more northerly route. Also, Brunel had originally planned to cut through Savernake Forest near Marlborough, Wiltshire to Bristol, but the Marquess of Ailesbury , who owned the land, objected – having previously objected to part of the Kennet and Avon Canal running through his estate (see Bruce Tunnel ). With the railway needing to run near to a canal at its midpoint – as it
1848-528: The Williams Grand Prix Engineering team as Frank Williams founded the team there in a former carpet warehouse on Station Road in 1977. After establishing themselves in Formula One , the factory, now including a small 'Williams Museum', moved within Didcot to a new factory adjacent to the Didcot A Power Station site on Basil Hill Road. They stayed there until 1995 when they finally outgrew
1925-518: The government's Road Investment Strategy and licence, and advises the Secretary of State for Transport on the funding levels and performance requirements for each Road Period. In carrying out its railway functions, ORR must discharge its statutory duties, which are its formal objectives. These are laid down in section 4 of the Railways Act 1993 , and include the protection of the interests of users and
2002-603: The railway museum and power stations , and is the gateway town to the Science Vale: three large science and technology centres in the surrounding villages of Milton ( Milton Park ), Culham ( Culham Science Centre ) and Harwell ( Harwell Science and Innovation Campus which includes the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory ). The area around present-day Didcot has been inhabited for at least 9,000 years. A large archaeological dig between 2010 and 2013 produced finds from
2079-422: The transshipment shed. Dating from broad gauge days, the shed was used for transferring goods from broad to "narrow" (i.e. 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in or 1,435 mm standard gauge ) rolling stock and vice versa. It was moved to its present location carefully from its original site nearby. The broad gauge line of 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) starts from
2156-491: The 17th century onward. It is derived from Old English , meaning the house or shelter of Dudda's people. The name is believed to be derived from that of Dida , a 7th-century Mercian sub-king who ruled the area around Oxford and was the father of Saint Frithuswith or Frideswide, now the patron saint of both Oxford and Oxford University . Didcot was then a rural Berkshire village, and it remained so for centuries, only occasionally appearing in records. If Didcot existed at
2233-688: The 1800s, in June 1932 a new steel-framed half-brick 4-road through shed (210 by 67 feet [64.01 m × 20.42 m]), was completed by the GWR under the Loans and Guarantees Act (1929). With shed code DID, it also included a repair shop (84 by 42 feet [25.6 m × 12.8 m]), coaling stage (43 by 36 feet [13.1 m × 11.0 m]), sand furnace (10 by 10 feet [3.0 m × 3.0 m]) and 65 feet (20 m) turntable and associated offices (210 by 15 feet [64 m × 5 m]). During World War II ,
2310-565: The 1980s and 1990s the Southmead Industrial Estate in Didcot was also home to Nissan Motorsports' Europe headquarters where they raced Nissan Primera touring cars in the British Touring Car Championship. This would go on to become Team RJN who are still based on the Southmead Industrial Estate to this day. More recently, Didcot is home to a Pirelli distribution and logistics centre which provides tyres for Formula One Grand Prix motor racing events across Europe. In 2015
2387-532: The Broadway because of a crash that caused the withdrawal of race leader Marianne Vos . The Didcot Karate School teaches traditional Goju-ryu karate for adults and children at the Fleet Meadow Community Hall. The club has been long established in the town and has been listed by the town council as a key local activity. Didcot Dragons Korfball club was founded in 2003. The club has two teams in
Didcot Railway Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue
2464-478: The Brunel-designed Didcot station was opened. The original station burnt down in the late 19th century. Although longer, a cheaper-to-build line to Bristol would have been through Abingdon farther north but the landowner, the first Lord Wantage , is reputed to have prevented that alignment. The railway and its junction to Oxford assisted the growth of Didcot. The station's name helped to standardise
2541-464: The Brunel-designed building from Heyford station on this platform has been commenced. The railway centre is entirely surrounded by active railway lines and has no road connection of any kind. Public access is on foot from a subway at Didcot Parkway station , which links the centre by rail to London and much of southern and central England. Wheelchair and pram access has been difficult due to
2618-476: The GWS to quit the site, and which could be operated at any point in time by lease-holder Network Rail (NR). In an attempt to secure a long-term future for the society, in 2002 the GWS opened negotiations with NR to either purchase the site or extend the lease. In a letter dated May 2007, NR informed the GWS that they were prepared to sell the site subject to Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) approval. It had been thought
2695-494: The Great Western Trust. The Railway Centre is used a period film set and has featured in works including Anna Karenina , Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows , and The Elephant Man . There are three short lengths of running track, each with a station at both ends: This starts at a typical GWR wayside halt, named Didcot Halt, and runs north on the western edge of the site to a platform, named Burlescombe Station, at
2772-714: The Orchard Centre, was opened in August 2005. As part of the Science Vale Enterprise Zone, Didcot is surrounded by one of the largest scientific clusters in the United Kingdom. There are a number of major science and technology campuses nearby, including the Culham Science Centre , Harwell Science and Innovation Campus , and Milton Park . The Diamond Light Source synchrotron , based at the Harwell Campus,
2849-724: The Oxfordshire leagues. They train in Willowbrook Leisure Centre in the winter and Boundary Park in the summer. Didcot Town Football Club 's home ground is the Loop Meadow Stadium on the Ladygrove Estate, having moved from their previous pitch off Station Road in 1999 to make way for the new Orchard Centre development. Founded in 1907, the club currently play in the 8th tier of the English Football League system. Most notable achievements include winning
2926-460: The access charges paid by train and freight operating companies to Network Rail for the use of its infrastructure. ORR then holds Network Rail to account against the delivery, performance and service levels set out in its final determination. ORR is concerned with the regulation of Network Rail as the monopoly owner of much of Britain's railway infrastructure. It does not play a direct role in regulating fares (responsibility for this lies with
3003-528: The coming 15 years. In 2017, researchers named Didcot as the most "normal" town in England. Formed by the Great Western Society in 1967 to house its collection of Great Western Railway locomotives and rolling stock, housed in Didcot's 1932-built Great Western engine shed. The Railway Centre is often used as period film set and has featured in works including Anna Karenina , Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and The Elephant Man . The centre
3080-527: The conditions contained in Network Rail’s and train operators’ licences, to help ensure that all rail users get the service to which they are entitled. National Highways operates, maintains and improves England's strategic road network, operating under a licence (managed by the Department for Transport). ORR monitors and enforces the performance and efficiency of National Highways against the outputs set out in
3157-586: The construction of the Great Western Park estate; UTC Oxfordshire (ages 14–19), in 2015, and Aureus School (ages 11–16), in 2017. Cornerstone, a 278-seater multi-purpose arts centre, was opened on 29 August 2008. Didcot Choral Society, founded in 1958, performs three concerts a year in various venues around the town as well as an annual tour (Paris in 2008, Belgium in 2009). Didcot Concert Orchestra, founded in 2017, performs concerts every February, May and October at Cornerstone arts centre in Didcot. In November 2018, Rebellion Developments began setting up
Didcot Railway Centre - Misplaced Pages Continue
3234-415: The early to mid-17th century. Didcot village was on the route between London and Wantage (now Wantage Road), which in 1752 was made a toll road . Didcot had three toll gates that collected revenue for the turnpike trust until 1879, when the trust was dissolved due to the growing use of the railway. The Great Western Railway , engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel , reached Didcot in 1839. In 1844
3311-409: The entire mainline rail network in Britain, as well as London Underground, light rail, trams and the heritage sector. ORR has a team of more than 100 rail health and safety inspectors and professionals who have powers of enforcement. Their remit is to ensure that the railway is safe, and is kept safe, at a reasonably practicable cost. A primary role for ORR is to enforce consumer law and compliance with
3388-430: The five wards in the town: Meetings of the town council are chaired by the mayor. Mayors are elected by the councillors for a one-year term; since 7 May 2024 the mayor has been Councillor Andrew Jones (All Saints ward). Didcot is also the largest town in the parliamentary constituency of Didcot and Wantage , which has been represented since 2024 at Westminster by Olly Glover , Liberal Democrat . Didcot
3465-543: The head offices of the Bloodhound SSC Land Speed Record attempt team were moved to the new University Technical College (UTC) Oxfordshire site on the boundary between Didcot and Harwell . In 2019 the team relocated to Berkeley Green Technical College in Gloucestershire. Didcot is surrounded by farmland which has historically grown traditional British crops such as wheat and barley , sheep farming
3542-514: The initially lower than expected traffic volumes caused the company financial problems. It never independently reached Southampton , but instead joined the main London and South Western Railway line at Shawford , south of Winchester . In the Second World War there was so much military traffic to the port of Southampton that the line was upgraded. The northern section between Didcot and Newbury
3619-400: The largest town in the new district. After 1974 parish councils were allowed to declare their parishes to be towns and take the style town council, as Didcot has done. The Civic Hall was built for the town council in 1979 and also serves as a venue for public events. The district in England with the highest healthy life expectancy, according to an Office for National Statistics (ONS) study,
3696-417: The original GWR buildings and features, as both a working steam locomotive and railway museum, engineering maintenance centre, and railway line offering short rides to visitors. Access via Didcot Parkway station brings the visitor into the southern end of the site, at the start of the ramp coal wagons would take up to the coaling stage . Beyond this is the original 1932 four-road engine shed, and beyond this
3773-491: The original repair shed and 1988 constructed locomotive works, both of which have restricted access due to safety concerns. Beyond this lies a Ransomes & Rapier 70 feet (21 m) turntable , originally built for the Southern Railway at Southampton Docks , installed in the original pit. The centre regularly holds events such as steam and diesel railcar days. Members of the Great Western Society have been active in
3850-483: The plans for the final section to the east of Abingdon Road were only announced in 2006. Before the Ladygrove development was completed, a prolonged and contentious planning enquiry decided that a 3,300-home development would be built to the west of the town, partly overlapping the boundary with the Vale of White Horse . This is now known as Great Western Park. In 2008 a new £8 million arts and entertainment centre, Cornerstone,
3927-625: The power station and Milton Park Business Park ; however the 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search Regiment RLC is still based at the Vauxhall Barracks in the town. Remains of the DN&;S railway survive in the eastern part of town. This line, designed to provide a direct link to the south coast from the Midlands and the North avoiding the indirect and congested route via Reading and Basingstoke ,
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#17328526784874004-509: The power station the third worst eyesore in Britain. The power station cooling towers were visible from up to 30 miles (48 km) away because of their location, but were designed with visual impact in mind (six towers in two separated groups 0.5 miles (800 m) apart rather than a monolithic 3×2 block), much in the style of what is sometimes called Didcot's 'sister' station – Fiddlers Ferry Power Station – at Widnes , Cheshire, constructed slightly earlier. The power station had also proved
4081-700: The presence of a flight of concrete steps on Network Rail property. To comply fully with the Disability Discrimination Act , the Great Western Society constructed a ramped access in 2023–24. Including other non-steam powered vehicles The GWS has an extensive supporting collection of GWR rolling stock, including three of the GWR Super Saloons that serviced the boat train traffic to Plymouth. In addition it has some vehicles for staff and maintenance use. Didcot Didcot ( / ˈ d ɪ d k ɒ t , - k ə t / DID -kot, -kət )
4158-437: The preservation of locomotives and rolling stock. Certain 'new-build' projects to create locomotives that did not escape wholesale scrapping have also been undertaken at Didcot, such as the completed Firefly locomotive, a 'Saint' class (using a 'Hall' class chassis and boiler) and a 'County' class locomotive (using a 'Hall' class chassis and an LMS '8F' class boiler). There is a small relics museum and archive on site, operated by
4235-688: The promotion of competition, efficiency and economy in the provision of railway services. ORR’s duties as the Monitor for National Highways are set out in section 12 of the Infrastructure Act 2015. These require that ORR must exercise its functions in the way it considers most likely to promote the performance and efficiency of National Highways. ORR also has a role within The Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016. Like other public authorities, ORR must comply with
4312-597: The railway network, and enforcing compliance with its network licence. ORR also regulates High Speed 1 , the Channel Tunnel , and also acts as the appeal body, controls the network statement and monitors the competitive situation of rail services in Northern Ireland. It is the competition authority for the railways and enforces consumer protection law in relation to the railways. From April 2015, ORR assumed responsibility for monitoring National Highways' management of
4389-414: The remains at that time. A spokesman said that because of the instability of the structure, it had not been possible to recover the three bodies. For safety reasons, robots were used to place the explosive charges, and the site was demolished just after 6am. On Sunday 18 August 2019, the remaining three cooling towers were demolished at 7am. Didcot has a strong connection with motorsports and most notably
4466-476: The replacement of steam with diesel traction under the Modernisation Plan , the shed became redundant and was closed in June 1965. The Great Western Society (GWS) was offered the use of the former Didcot locomotive depot, taking it over in 1967. In the 1970s, the society negotiated a long-term lease with BR which was to expire in 2019. But this was subject to a six-month termination clause which could force
4543-507: The rules of administrative law, and is amenable to judicial review , so it must act lawfully, rationally, proportionately and in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure. Although operationally independent of central government as a non-ministerial government department , it is still covered by legislation such as the Freedom of Information Act 2000 . All members of the ORR board are appointed by
4620-537: The scheme the railway had to make a profit, and so it took a number of detours and added both mainline and branch line traffic to increase its domestic earnings. This earned the railway the nickname The Great Way Round from its detractors. Whilst the route from London Paddington to Reading was relatively straight, the then obvious most direct route to Bristol would have taken the railway further south, thus avoiding both Didcot and Swindon . However, passenger and freight traffic both to and from Oxford and onwards to
4697-525: The site could be subject to need as a depot, either due to: the rebuilding of Reading station ; a Crossrail project depot; or the Intercity Express Programme . After expressing some concern at the slow speed of negotiations at the GWS annual meeting in September 2008, NR wrote to the GWS to advise that the site was no longer available for sale, and although a lease extension was still on offer it
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#17328526784874774-510: The site employed a large number of local people. The dairy was located in the Northbourne area of the town, and was later redeveloped into a residential area around Western Avenue, next to the former Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway line, now a cycle path. From 2007 until 2017, the Daily Mail & General Trust had a printing plant in Didcot. The British Army 's Vauxhall Barracks
4851-567: The site, moving to the former Jansen Pharmaceutical site in nearby Grove where they are still based today. After Williams Grand Prix Engineering's departure, the site was used for the design and production of the BMW V12 LM and BMW V12 LMR sports prototype racing cars, a joint collaboration between Williams and BMW which would go on to win the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. During the 1990s Williams also ran their joint British Touring Car Championship effort with Renault; Williams Touring Car Engineering from
4928-566: The spelling "Didcot". Didcot's junction of the routes to London , Bristol , Oxford and to Southampton via the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&S) made the town militarily important, especially during the First World War campaign on the Western Front and the Second World War preparations for D-Day . The DN&S line has since closed, and the large Army and Royal Air Force ordnance depots have disappeared beneath
5005-680: The strategic road network – the motorways and main 'A' roads in England – and advising the Secretary of State for Transport on the levels of funding and performance requirements for each Road Period. ORR was established as the Office of Rail Regulation on 5 July 2004 by the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 , replacing the Rail Regulator . It became the Office of Rail and Road on 1 April 2015 following ORR's appointment as Monitor for National Highways under
5082-510: The surrounding area. An improvement programme for the forecourt of the station began in September 2012. This was viewed as being the first phase of better connecting the station to Didcot town centre. Didcot A Power Station (between Didcot and Sutton Courtenay ) which was commissioned in 1968, ceased generating electricity for the National Grid in March 2013. Country Life magazine once voted
5159-408: The technical operational difficulties of running and maintaining a mainline service from London to Bristol, as well as the need for servicing locomotives going to Oxford, Didcot became an obvious midpoint maintenance and stabling point. Having built a timber-framed 7 ft 1 ⁄ 4 in ( 2,140 mm ) broad gauge shed on the original site during the railway's development west in
5236-574: The time of the Domesday Book in 1086, it will have been much smaller than several surrounding villages, including Harwell and Long Wittenham , that modern Didcot now dwarfs. The nearest settlement recorded in the Domesday Book was Wibalditone , with 21 inhabitants and a church, whose name possibly survives in Willington's Farm on the edge of Didcot's present-day Ladygrove Estate. The oldest parts of
5313-422: The transshipment shed, and runs halfway back down the branchline. The 2005 replica GWR Fire Fly is housed within the shed when not running Starting from the Main Line Platform opposite the site entrance, using a pre-fabricated concrete station platform from Eynsham , this runs on the eastern edge of the site to a newly built platform, named Oxford Road Station, near the transshipment shed. The reconstruction of
5390-450: Was also withdrawn, and then the line was dismantled. The last passenger train was a re-routed Pines Express in May 1964, diverted due to a derailment at Reading West . A section of the abandoned embankment towards Upton , now designated as a Sustrans route, has views across the town and countryside. As at 2011, Didcot had a population of more than 26,000, and by 2021, the population had grown to more than 31,000. The new town centre,
5467-423: Was an ancient parish in Berkshire . When elected parish and district councils were created in 1894, Didcot was given a parish council and included in the Wallingford Rural District . The rural district council moved its offices from Wallingford to Didcot in the 1950s. Wallingford Rural District was abolished in 1974 and the area was transferred to Oxfordshire and the new district of South Oxfordshire , becoming
5544-570: Was built in 1879–82 after previous proposals had failed. It was designed as a main line and was engineered by John Fowler and built by contractors TH Falkiner and Sir Thomas Tancred, who together also constructed the Forth Railway Bridge . It was a very costly line to build due to the heavy engineering challenges of crossing the Berkshire and Hampshire Downs with a 1 in 106 gradient to allow for higher mainline speeds, and this initial cost and
5621-531: Was cheaper to transport coal for trains along canals at this time – and with the need for the branch northwards to Cheltenham via Stroud , Swindon was the next logical choice for the junction (and later railway works), 20 miles (32 km) north of the original route. This dictated that the Oxford junction also be moved northwards, and hence via Didcot. The Great Western Railway built the first rail line through Didcot in 1839 and opened its first station in 1844. Due to
5698-507: Was made double track. It was closed for 5 months in 1942–43 for this to be done. Several of the bridges in the area of Didcot and the Hagbournes were also strengthened and rebuilt. Although passenger trains between Didcot and Newbury were withdrawn in 1962, the line continued to be used by freight trains for a further four years, and there was regular oil traffic to the north from the refinery at Fawley near Southampton. But in 1966 this traffic
5775-473: Was opened in the Orchard Centre. It has exhibition and studio spaces, a café and a 236-seat auditorium. Designed by Ellis William Architects, the centre is clad with silvered aluminium panels and has a window wall, used to connect the building with passing shoppers. The United Kingdom government named Didcot a garden town in 2015, the first existing town to gain this status, providing funding to support sustainable and environmentally friendly town development over
5852-493: Was still subject to the previous six-month termination clause. The GWS then wrote to their local MP Ed Vaizey , and placed any long-term development plans on hold. As of 6 October 2011 Richard Croucher (Chairman of the Great Western Society) signed a new 50-year lease with Network Rail, therefore preserving the site for at least another 50 years. Today the GWS have developed the site, which still retains many of
5929-401: Was streamed live by webcam. On Tuesday 23 February 2016, part of the boiler house building at the power station collapsed; one person was declared dead, five injured and three missing. All were believed to have been preparing the site for demolition. On Sunday 17 July 2016, what remained of the structure was demolished in a controlled explosion. The bodies of the three missing men were still in
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