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Speech House Rd |
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Named after the nearby Speech House, Speech House Road began as a simple halt in 1875, but by 1878, the facilities had been expanded. The facilities would continue to expand over the next couple of decades as more and more freight was shipped from this station, especially from Cannop Colliery and the Wood Distillation works. However, like Drybrook Road, Speech House was in a remote area of the forest and thus it was not surprising that passenger traffic from the station was sparse. Upon withdrawal of the passenger services in 1929, most of the buildings were converted to goods use. The station was used to unload ammunition during the Second World War. The closure of Cannop Colliery in 1960 removed most of Speech House Road's traffic, and although there was traffic from the wood distillation plant and a few other small concerns, the section of line between Speech House Road and Coleford Junction was closed in 1963. Today the area around the station is a picnic area for Tourists and the trackbed is now a cycleway. Although it has been suggested that the DFR extend the line to Speech House Road, there are no plans to do so at present and the author thinks it unlikely that they will do so (but he would like to be proved wrong!). Backup links
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