Langston railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Langston
gridref = SU716049


caption = Stationmaster's House.
manager = LBSCR
owner = Southern Railway
Southern Region of British Railways
locale = Langstone
borough = Havant, Hampshire
platforms = ?
years = 12 January 1865
events = Opened as "Langstone"
years2 = 1873
events2 = Renamed "Langston"
years3 = 4 November 1963 [ [http://www.envf.port.ac.uk/hantsgaz/hantsgaz/s0003804.htm Old Hampshire Gazetteer] ]
events3 = Closed

Langston was a small station on the Hayling Island branch ["Southern Holiday Lines in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight" Bennett,A Cheltenham, Runpast 1994 ISABN 187075431X] . The station along with the rest of the line closed in 1963 [”A Guide to Hayling Island ” Pierce Jones,V/Walton,R. :Hayling Island, waltondesign,2005 ISBN 200070960X] , and it served the Langstone area of Havant, a former village which had become contiguous with the larger town to its north. The railway companies always used the old spelling "Langston" for the station, in spite of this form not being used by the local community [See similar story-Petrockstowe railway station] , and it can be seen in many photographs of the station sign [ [http://www.semgonline.com/location/hayling_02.html Photos of Langston Station, including B.R. Photo of distinctive nameplate/spelling] ] .

The line itself crossed the sole road on and off Hayling Island, which is now the A3023, with a gated level crossing ["Memories of the Hayling Island Branch":Produced by Ian Heys for "Branch Line Videos", Catalogue Number 418-514424] and wooden platform (upgraded to conctrete in 1950 ["The Book of Hayling Island-more than a millennium"Rogers,P: Tiverton, Halsgrove, 2000 ISBN 1841140783] ). This would cause huge traffic jams during peak hours, especially in summer, since the Island had the closest sandy beach to Portsmouth, and trains ran every fifteen minutes at peak times ["Catching the train to Hayling Island: a history" Newell, L: Havant, Havant Borough Council,2005 ISBN X200076629] .

The station had no freight facilities [ "Hampshire railways remembered" Oppitz,L Newbury, Countryside 1988 ISBN 1853060208] (neither did North Hayling, the other intermediate station), however in the Victorian period, there was a slipway for a rail-served ferry to the Isle of Wight immediately south of Langston station ["Branch Line to Hayling" Mitchell,V./Smith,K (In association with Bell,A): Midhurst, Middleton Press, 18984 ISBN 0906520126] . The ferry ran to Bembridge, where there was also a railway station, this being prior to the construction of the pier stations at Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier Head by the LSWR to create a direct rail-ferry link for the Island.

The station structure has since been demolished, but one can still walk the route up to Havant station [“The Hayling Billy Leisure Trail” Marshall,B Havant, Bosmere Hundred Society,1992 ISBN 101922442X] .

Notes