Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway

The RC&BR opened in 1862 from Christchurch to Ringwood, and was extended to Bournemouth in 1870, sharing in the growing popularity of the town.Undaunted by the poor response to calls on shares,[note 2] the company took powers by the Ringwood, Christchurch and Bournemouth Railway Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict.There were five trains a day at first, taking about 35 minutes for the journey to and from Ringwood, making intermediate calls at Hurn and Christchurch.This immediately brought considerable passenger traffic to the line and revived its financial state; through carriages between Bournemouth and London were arranged from 1 March 1872, detached at Ringwood from Weymouth Trains, and the little company was able to pay dividends.[9] The third Earl of Malmesbury owned it at the time of the authorisation of the line, but he sold it in 1863 and it was the purchaser's grandson who pressed the issue.It is about a mile and a half from Ringwood, and is on the estate of Avon Castle, which place is now a private residence, tenanted and owned by Colonel Ralph Peacock.There is one small room on the platform which does duty as booking-hall, waiting-room, and station master's office, besides serving for a luggage bureau, etc.In fact the new construction was limited to the new line from Lymington Junction, a little west of Brockenhurst, to the Bournemouth station at Holdenhurst Road, which for the time being was a terminus.[14][15] However according to the Southern Railway Magazine a special train of two camping coaches, with passengers, worked between Hurn and Christchurch on Saturday 5 October 1935.