175th Anniversary



Our special 175th anniversary logo

Buckingham Covers 175th anniversary cover

Our special 175th anniversary logo

Buckingham Covers 175th anniversary cover

On Saturday 15th June 2019 events were held at or near all five stations between Didcot and Oxford – Didcot, Appleford, Culham, Radley and Oxford – to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the line which was opened on 12th June 1844.

The Old Ticket Office is home to Entikera Limited (trading as Mp Fine Art PrintingMP logo
Click or tap link to open a new page and visit the Mp Fine Art Printing website
)
and so is normally a working office and printing workshop, however, all the working equipment was removed for the duration of the anniversary weekend in June 2019. This provided a safe environment for visitors, allowed more space for displays, and meant that the rooms could be seen as they might have appeared between 1844 and the early 1970s when the building closed to the public.

We were very pleased indeed to receive a number of special visitors who made themselves known to us. They included several retired engine drivers who said they had passed many times and always wondered what it was like inside the building, and the conservation officer responsible for getting listed status for the Old Ticket Office thus saving it from demolition. One visitor had travelled specially from Ebbw Vale as he had sold us a few jigsaws, now in our collection, and he was interested to see their new home. We felt honoured as Stephen Clinch, who had made two models of Culham buildings for Pendon museum, brought some really interesting photographs for us to see of the models under construction. One lady with family connections to the merchant took photos of a particular coal wagon to send to New Zealand. Perhaps the farthest travelled visitors were a lady who was in this country on holiday from Australia who, on learning of the anniversary, contacted her brother in France and they both came to visit. We must not forget our intrepid trio of Edwardian passengers who, courtesy of GWR and Thames Travel, managed to visit several of the event venues enjoying themselves enormously, just as we sincerely hope all our welcome visitors did too.

If you visited the Old Ticket Office in Culham over the anniversary weekend, or have any comments, we would be very pleased to hear from you via ku.oc.eciffotekcitmahluc@ofni

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~~~ Celebration sponsors ~~~


Supporters of the Celebrations at Culham

Buckingham covers, Culham Science Centre, Dapol, Great Western Railway, Greening Lamborn Trust, Hornby Hobbies Ltd., Network Rail Corporate Archive, Oxford Rail, Pendon Museum, Thames Travel, The Railway Inn, and Vintage Trains

Main sponsors of the Anniversary at Culham were:

Entikera Limited whose registered office is at the Old Ticket Office and trade as Mp Fine Art PrintingMP logo
Click or tap link to open a new page and visit the Mp Fine Art Printing website
- Fine art Giclée & photographic printing, digital fine art reproduction and picture framing