18 remarkable pictures showing Bristol Temple Meads through the decades
Here’s a fascinating look at Bristol Temple Meads through the years
Bristol Temple Meads, built back in 1840, must go down as one of the most historic buildings in the city despite its expansion and rebuild in 1870 and continual upgrades and redevelopments.
Starting as a station providing services only as far as Bath, today passengers can catch a direct train to places as far as Edinburgh and Penzance. Its success means around 10 million passengers use the station every year.
And there are now more plans afoot to further enhance the station with new entrances and longer platforms.
Here we document some of the changes and occasions at the historic station from across the years:
1. Cattle Market
The Bristol cattle market was located next to Bristol Temple Meads from 1830 to 2005. It was created to provide accommodation for 2,000 cattle, 7,000 sheep, 300 horses and 500 pigs. On Thursday market day, people living or working nearby say they could remember the smell!
2. Summer Olympics
It looks like quite an atmosphere in this picture from July 9 in 1908. We don’t know what this was for, but maybe it was to do with the 1908 Summer Olympics which took place in London from July 13 to 25 in 1908.
3. Steam locomotive
This picture from 1913 shows a GWR Star Class locomotive ready to depart for the west. This locomotive was built as King John in 1909 before being renamed The Roumanian Monarch in 1927. It was withdrawn in 1951.
4. Time of war
With the entry of America into the First World War in 1917, we see here American soldiers at Bristol Temple Meads in 1918. Railways were often the fastest way to move troops around the UK.