Hunting Butts 7 October 1978

The disused Cheltenham to Stratford-upon-Avon line at Hunting Butts, on the northern edge of Cheltenham, pictured on 7 October 1978. At this time the line had been closed for two years, but track lifting had yet to start. This is the view from the Prestbury to Swindon village road, with Hunting Butts Tunnel in the distance, and Hunting Butts, the farm which gives its name to the tunnel clearly visible on the hillside on the right. The farm is pretty much the only constant in this picture, as virtually everything else has now changed. The track has gone, the tunnel is blocked, and even the well tended vegetable garden in the foreground has disappeared.