Bentley station’s ‘lost’ third platform, as featured in last week’s Peeps into the Past, prompted railway historian Nigel Welbourne to share a little more history of Bordon’s defunct railway line.

Nigel, from Four Marks, said: “The lost platform at Bentley was once used by the Bordon Light Railway, which opened to passengers in December 1905. 

“The single line branch served the local community, but was also supported by the War Department to provide access to military bases in the Bordon area and an army line diverged to the Longmoor Camp at Bordon. 

“An intermediate halt was provided at Kingsley in 1906. 

“The branch line became part of the Southern Railway in 1923 and British Railways (BR) in 1948. Early BR maps showed Bordon as a terminus of suburban lines from Waterloo, Alton being a through station at that time. 

“Push-pull trains, which could be driven from either end, were used for passenger trains on the branch as these did not require the steam engine to run round the coaches in the bay platform at Bentley (as illustrated last week).

An extract of the Bordon timetable from the ABC Railway Guide, April 1956
An extract of the Bordon timetable from the ABC Railway Guide, April 1956 (Nigel Welbourne)

“The ABC Railway Guide for April 1956 shows that a relatively frequent service was provided between Bentley and Bordon, with connections to and from Waterloo, but sadly in September of the following year the last scheduled passenger workings took place.

“Freight ceased in April 1966 and the track was mostly lifted later in the same year. 

“For a number of years after closure Bordon was listed in BR Southern Region railway timetables under ‘principle places not directly served by railway’, with the contact details for Aldershot & District buses provided.”

How Bordon longs for a resumption of train services and connections to the Waterloo mainline, Nigel... thank you for sharing that fascinating snippet of local history.