A boring shot but an interesting story...

Wow - what a beautiful morning; blue skies, little cloud and a chilly breeze I knew I had to get out today.

Nicola had said that I should visit the Circus Fields housing development taking place roughly between Broughton & Bierton as the landscape is changing so much. So this is where I started - glad I did as this end of Stocklake will be closed from 1 February 16 for 24 weeks for road improvements. Anyhow she was right the land has changed dramatically & i did manage to take a few pictures in this vicinity. I also ended up at the Canal lock at Broughton but it was so-o wet & muddy. After a sticky wander I jumped back in the car retraced my steps but the turned down to the older part of Stocklake where there is Victorian housing and more recently light industry. My picture shows Stocklake on the left & I am looking towards the town centre. In the foreground & disappearing into the distance is a row of concrete posts. These marked the edge of railway land. To the right of them a developer has started the construction of a new road on the route of the old railway which ended at the High Street Station which of course is no longer there. The road will use the the old track bed of the railway for the basis of the road. Because all of the scrub & most of the trees have now been cleared you can now see the high wall of the prison (just visible in the distance) .

There are lots of people who won't remember the railway here but when I was very small & we used to come into Aylesbury we actually parked in the goods yard which was a temporary car park for many years. The access was at the end of Railway Street. The station was closed to passengers in 1953 & then to freight in 1963.

Look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aylesbury_High_Street_railway_station#/media/File:Aylesbury_High_Street_Station_geograph-2211784.jpg

So the last signs of the old Aylesbury railway will now disappear forever but of course once you get out of the town there are signs of it still visible if you just look. For instance the small village of Broughton Crossing takes its name from the railway level crossing that was once crossed the road here and if you look at an Ordinance Survey map you can clearly see the course of the railway cutting its way across the fields to Cheddington.

More about the Aylesbury to Cheddington line here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheddington_to_Aylesbury_Line

Enjoy the sun everyone !

Oh yes & the extra shows Broughton Lock & Bridge.