Ashley Heath Halt railway station
Ashley Heath Halt was a railway station in England on the Southampton and Dorchester Railway formerly in the county of Hampshire (now part of Dorset). Opened in 1927, it served the areas of St Leonards and St Ives as well as the village of Ashley Heath itself. This was an emerging residential area, the northern part of what is now the South East Dorset conurbation. The halt consisted of two concrete platforms each with a shelter. There was also a public siding for goods traffic behind the down (south) side platform. The halt was closed during the Beeching Axe, losing its passenger trains in 1964. History The Southampton and Dorchester Railway (sponsored by the London and South Western Railway) opened the line here in 1847; it crossed Horton Road at a level crossing, named Woolsbridge Crossing after a hamlet to the west. At the time, this area was sparsely-populated heathland on the fringe of Ringwood Forest and there was no need for a station. Spurred by the nearby residential developments of St Leonards, St Ives and Ashley Heath, the Southern Railway (successor to the LSWR) opened an unmanned two-platform halt adjacent to the crossing on 1 April 1927. The halt