Marjorie Plantation

On the road between Ewen and Kemble.

Looking from School Road.

Old post with castellated sleeves. Modern fingerboards. This is in Kemble Wick, a mile from Kemble. Inscription: Oaksey 1 / Crudwell 4 // Kemble 1 / Cirencester 4 Milestone Society National ID: GL_ST9895

The River Thames near its source at Kemble.

The River Thames viewed from the bridge carrying the A429 near the village of Kemble.

The A429 at Kemble where it crosses the infant River Thames.

A bridge over the River Thames carrying the A429.

Trees beside the River Thames between the villages of Kemble and Ewen.

A barn and trees in farmland beside the River Thames near the village of Ewen.

Road crossing Parker's Bridge near the village of Ewen. The footpath sign is marking the route of the Thames Path. The River Thames flows under this bridge.

A GWR Hitachi Class 800 train in Kemble Station

A Swindon-bound train entering Kemble Station.

Part of the car park in front of Kemble Station.

This is the view looking NW from School Road, East of Parkers Bridge (River Thames). The view SE is ST9997 : Stone Stile, Kemble.

This is the view looking SE to School Road, East of Parkers Bridge (River Thames). The view NW looking in is ST9997 : Stone Stile, Kemble.

Kemble station serves the village of Kemble in Gloucestershire. The station is on the Swindon to Gloucester "Golden Valley" line. The station opened in 1882. Grade II listed. Link Wikipedia: Link

Written by Brian Robert Marshall The line, also known as the Golden Valley Line, dates back to the early days of railway development in the 19th century. The first section, from Cheltenham to Gloucester, opened in 1840. In 1841 a line was opened from Swindon Junction to Cirencester via Kemble. Then in 1845 a line from Kemble to Gloucester was opened (Kemble became a junction in its own right with branches to Cirencester to the east, and Tetbury to the west both of which closed on the 1960s). At one time there were twenty stations or halts between Cheltenham, at the northern end of the line, and its terminus at Swindon. Now only six remain open (Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stonehouse, Stroud, Kemble and Swindon). In 1968, the hitherto twin track line was butchered by the then British Rail (under a Labour government) and the stretch between Swindon and Kemble was singled (the plan had been to single the entire section between Swindon and Stonehouse but protests led to the abandonment of the project once it had reached Kemble leaving the section from Kemble north to Stonehouse still a twin track). Proposals to restore the twin track between Kemble and Swindon were made in 2008 but were kicked into the long grass by the Office of Rail Regulation (again under a Labour government). Thankfully the Coalition government that took office in 2010 revived the moribund proposal and announced in 2011 that the project could go ahead. Work on the £45m project started in July 2013 and was expected to be completed by Easter 2014. However, on 07 February 2014 Network Rail announced that completion of the project would be put back until August 2014 because "The very high volume of works during Easter nationally, coupled with ongoing remedial work from flooding earlier this year, means our engineering resources will now be operating at full capacity during one of the busiest phases of the Swindon to Kemble redoubling scheme. "To minimise risk to the work, and avoid the possibility of unnecessary inconvenience to customers, we are now working towards completing the scheme between Swindon and Kemble by August 2014 rather than Easter as originally planned." Anecdotal evidence suggests that the local residents are looking forward to a considerable hike in property values as the increased rail traffic that will be enabled by the doubling of the line will make the all-important London Paddington destination even more accessible. Sources: Link Link Link Link Link Link (pdf) Link