Meon Valley Railway
[2] There were a number of proposals for railways in the Meon Valley in the middle and late 19th century; its south-westerly orientation suggested a direct line to an area west of Portsmouth, but successive schemes came to nothing.
The agricultural district through which it was to run was not prosperous, and the northern part of the area is rather poor for farming, but the promoters urged the idea of national defence, requiring rapid connection with Portsmouth in the event of war.
These companies had established main line connections between London and Portsmouth, and after a period of intense mutual hostility, had formed a working arrangement that suited them and which they did not want to have disturbed.
There are conflicting reports whether the GWR actively encouraged the proposals, but in any case the parliamentary bill failed in the House of Lords on the grounds that the scheme was too costly in relation to its benefit.
[4] Nevertheless, fearing that a modified scheme might soon be put forward by some party supporting the GWR, the LSWR responded by undertaking to connect Alton with Basingstoke and Fareham.
However they were well-designed by the architect T. P. Figgis with leanings towards the Arts and Crafts movement, including the provision of stained-glass door windows and tiled interiors.
[15] The Meon Valley line joined the original Gosport branch of the former London and Southampton Railway at Knowle Junction to reach Fareham station.
On 2 June 1907 a single line only was opened through the tunnel to carry all up and down Meon Valley trains, and all connections at Knowle were removed.
[18] In 1907 the single track tunnel route was provided with a halt for passengers and two private sidings, serving the mental hospital at Knowle.
In the 1950s it had the distinction of being illuminated by two electric lights, powered from the hospital's internal supply, when the neighbouring Botley station continued to depend on oil lamps.
[18][19] During the First World War the Meon Valley line was used for troop trains bound for the docks and France, but during this time the Waterloo to Gosport through services were suspended, and they were never fully restored.
[14] During the Second World War the line was used lightly compared to other railways in the region, although there was an increase in goods traffic supplying the naval dockyard at Portsmouth.
[21] The MVR had a brief spell of intensive use during the build-up to D-Day when huge numbers of men and equipment had to be moved to the south of England, kept in readiness and finally transported to ports.
Large numbers of tanks were moved by rail to Mislingford goods yard where they were dispersed to local hard-standings for temporary storage.
Mislingford was also the site of a temporary wooden platform to serve the large number of Canadian troops who were encamped in the Forest of Bere.
The British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the Prime Ministers of Canada and South Africa, William Lyon Mackenzie King and Jan Smuts, and other Allied leaders arrived in a special train at Droxford station for a conference at the nearby HQ of U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, at Southwick House.
The rise of private car ownership and the major shift of local goods traffic from rail to road caused the Meon Valley line to become increasingly uneconomical to operate, and services were gradually run down.
The goods service to Farringdon was maintained until 5 August 1968,[27][28] when the final part of the Meon Valley Railway was closed to all traffic.
32646 for £750, which he brought to Droxford in 1964, but in May 1966 this was sold to Brickwoods, the Portsmouth-based brewer, for display outside a public house on Hayling Island and it was moved, by road, for this purpose on 16 May 1966.
[34] The poem Autumn Journal by Louis MacNeice, published in 1938, includes a description of a pre-First World War journey from Hampshire to London on a cross-country train via the Meon Valley.
Shortly after the final closure of the MVR in 1968, the section of line between Alton and Farringdon was used for the filming of a television commercial for Cadbury Milk Tray chocolates.
