Photograph of the Mid-Hants Railway Line near King's Worthy
Taken about 1865
This photograph was taken when construction of the Mid-Hants Railway linking Alton with the main London to Southampton line at Winchester Junction was nearing completion; the route opened in 1865. A major embankment was built across Springvale Valley just north of Winchester, and here construction workers pose on the line above Springvale Bridge. The chalky terrain in this area is very evident.
Initially there were three new stations on the line at Ropley, Alresford and Itchen Abbas with four passenger services in each direction on weekdays only, the twenty mile journey from Alton to Winchester taking about an hour.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album of his work.
