The Highworth branch was the archetypal rural branch line, it was the sort of feature that would have settled comfortably into the Agatha Christie world of fiction.

However quaint this branch may have been, it was unique and earned its proud place in our railway heritage. Apart from its sterling service to the community, it also served its country steadfastly, giving illustrious service by “doing its bit” doggedly in both world wars.

A journey to Highworth from Swindon station began at number 7 bay platform, at the east of the station.

It then ran out to Stratton, passing by two sidings – one for the nitrate works (filling station), now the site of a scrap yard, where it also branched out to Stratton Halt and later Pressed Steel Fisher.

The ‘filling station’ was a facility for manufacturing ammonium nitrate for artillery shells in the Great War.

The highly volatile explosive was made at the works and then carried by aerial rope over to the factory, that stood on the old Wills cigarette factory site in Colbourne Street.

There it was packed into heavy munitions and sent to the front-line at the rate of up to three munitions trains a day!

Further on along the track a branch was laid at Stanton Great Wood to enable timber to be felled and sawn to length – also for use in the First World War.

In the Second World War a branch and sidings were laid into Vickers Armstrong aircraft factory, where Spitfire fighters were made along with Stirling heavy bombers. This was a very busy and complex siding requiring a signal box.

The line was so busy with freight traffic that passengers became a second priority and passenger trains were cancelled or suffered long delays. This led to a permanent reduction in passengers using the line.

The effective wartime bus service and the drift of passengers away from the branch continued until after the end of the war. Staff reductions in the factories at Vickers and in Swindon saw a decline that lead to its closure to passengers on February 28, 1953. This was long before the country would feel the full weight of the Beeching axe. Its demise was hardly noticed as it faded into history with little more than a whimper.

For another nine years after passenger traffic ceased, the railway continued to carry freight trains and running special ‘workers only’ trains that were free for railway employees.

One former rail worker I spoke to told me he applied for and got a council house in Swindon when the special workers only trains stopped running, as the return bus fare to work was costing him 15 shillings a week.

As he said to me with a smile “in those days I had a young family and 15 bob (75p) a week was an awful lot of money to spend on my bus fares!”