Bath Green Park Railway Station, Bath

Once a busy railway station that linked Bath with the English Midlands, Bath Green Park station is now a relic of the Beeching Report. Dr. Richard Beeching, then-chair of the British Railways Board, carried out a post-war review of British rail travel that led to the closure of hundreds of British railway stations, including this one. Opened in 1870 as the terminus of the Midland line, the station was designed in a Georgian style befitting its location in the historic centre of Bath. For many years it took the name of nearby Queen Square, becoming Bath Green Park station after World War 2. It closed in 1971, leaving nearby Bath Spa as Bath’s only main line rail station.

Thankfully, the station has not been allowed to lie dormant, and has been regenerated. The platform area now hosts a regular market, whilst the ticket hall has been converted into a restaurant. Many shops and businesses have also found a home beneath the original glass and wrought iron roof. The building as a whole, including the Georgian style frontage, remain intact, and the iron bridge across the Avon, where trains would travel on their way to Manchester and the south coast, is still in place – although now it leads only to a local supermarket.