Place Goudhurst Grid reference TQ709373 Original company Hawkhurst branch line | Area Tunbridge Wells, Kent Pre-grouping South Eastern Railway Platforms in use 2 | |
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Post-grouping Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways 1 October 1892 Station opened as Hope Mill for Goudhurst and Lamberhurst Similar Horsmonden railway station, Cranbrook (Kent) railway st, Cliffe railway station, Dungeness (SER) railway st, East Minster railway st | ||
Goudhurst is a closed railway station on the closed Hawkhurst Branch in Kent, England.
Contents
History
The station originally opened on 1 October 1892 as Hope Mill, for Goudhurst & Lamberhurst, when the line was opened from Paddock Wood. It was named after the parish, but following the presentation of a petition to the Cranbrook & Paddock Wood Railway Company in November 1892, the name was changed to Goudhurst on 1 December 1892. The station was the terminus of the line for just over eleven months, until the extension to Hawkhurst was opened on 4 September 1893. The station was approximately one mile to the west of the village of Goudhurst which was some 250 ft higher than the station, presenting a somewhat daunting task for a baggage-laden passenger. The station achieved some degree of fame when it appeared in the 1950s children's television series "The Old Pull and Push". It also featured in the 1953 children's film Adventures in the Hopfields.
The station was closed with the line on 12 June 1961. The fine station building was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with a private dwelling called "Haltwhistle" which is situated on the area where the goods yard would have been. The property is surrounded by high conifer trees and a swimming pool has been put in between part of the former platforms. The old station lights line the drive to the house.
Accidents
On 18 February 1948 C Class locomotive 1225 was wrongly despatched into the north sidings at Goudhurst and derailed.