Midford

Midford railway station was a single-platform station on the Bath extension of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, just to the north of the point where the double-track became a single track. It served the village of Midford. The station was closed with the rest of the line in March 1966 under the Beeching axe, though it had been unstaffed for some years before that. There was a small goods yard to the north of the station, towards the entrance to the Combe Down Tunnel, which loaded Fuller's earth from Tucking Mill. South of the station, a signal box presided over the double track junction: the railway then ran across the Midford valley on a high viaduct that still exists. For about four years from 1911 to 1915, Midford had a second railway station, Midford Halt located on the GWR Camerton Branch, which passed under the S&DJR viaduct.

The New Somerset and Dorset Railway, formed in early 2009, aims to restore the complete line of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway as a modern transport system for the 21st century. The group also has a heritage aspect, to encourage future use by steam specials, etc. Work is currently (December 2017) concentrated on five sites, Midford - Midsomer Norton - Gartell - Shillingstone - Spetisbury. Some of these are operated by independent groups.

Midford Halt railway station was open between 1911 and 1915 in Somerset, England. The halt was on the Limpley Stoke to Camerton railway that formed part of the Great Western Railway's development of the former Bristol and North Somerset Railway, and which followed the former Somerset Coal Canal. The line was only open to passenger traffic for seven years in all, from 1910 to 1915, and from 1923 to 1925; Midford Halt opened a year late and then did not reopen for the second period. Midford Halt was in Wiltshire; the county boundary runs up to the B3110 road at the point where the canal and railway crossed the road, and the halt was on the Wiltshire side. The halt was about 400 metres northeast of Midford station which was on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway line.

The Wellow Brook is a small river in Somerset, England. It rises near Ston Easton Park in the village of Ston Easton and flows east to Midsomer Norton. West of Radstock, it is joined by the River Somer and a tributary from Kilmersdon (formed itself from Snails Brook and Kilmersdon Brook) to the south. It then flows through Wellow before joining the Cam Brook at Midford to form Midford Brook, before joining the River Avon close to the Dundas Aqueduct. The Environment Agency does not recognise the Midford Brook, instead identifying the Wellow Brook as continuing to the Avon. On this basis the length of the Wellow Brook, from Radstock to the Avon, is 17.8 km (11.1 mi).Alongside the brook are remains of the Somerset Coal Canal which served the Somerset Coalfield in the 19th century. The valley sides are rounded and undulating through erosion. There are several springs dotted along the valley sides and the resultant streams are often lined with trees. The junction of the valley sides with the base is usually gentle and rounded and the valley floors are narrow but flat with the brooks meandering freely across their flood plain. The brook is quite deep in places and frequently has steep sides. This was taken advantage of in making anti-tank defences during World War II when many concrete bunkers known as pillboxes were built as part of the GHQ Line to defend against an expected German invasion.The area is of interest to the Cam Valley Wildlife Group.

The Cam brook is a small river in Somerset, England. It rises near Hinton Blewitt, flows through Cameley, Temple Cloud, Camerton, Dunkerton and Combe Hay. It then joins the Wellow Brook at Midford to form Midford Brook before joining the River Avon close to the Dundas Aqueduct. Along its length are the remains of the Somerset Coal Canal which originally took its water from Cam brook, and serviced the Somerset coalfield. The Long Dole Wood and Meadows SSSI is situated on the flood plain of a valley formed by a tributary of the brook.

Midford Castle is a folly castle in the village of Midford, and the parish of Southstoke 3 miles (5 km) south of Bath, Somerset, England. The castle was built in 1775 for Henry Disney Roebuck from designs by John Carter in the shape of the "clubs" symbol used in playing cards (♣). It has been suggested, originally in a magazine article in 1899, that he asked for the clubs design to represent an ace of clubs because he had obtained the money for the castle from gambling on a card game, but this is unlikely, as the porch which creates the "stem" of the symbol was added later. It is more likely that the layout was taken from an article which had been published in Builder's Magazine in 1774. The house has a sub triangular or trefoil plan formed by 3 semi-circular towers conjoined in a gothic style. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.In 1810, the castle was bought by one of the Conollys of Castletown House in County Kildare, who added the porch (said to give the clubs symbol its stalk) and built the nearby stables and chapel, known as the priory. The latter fell into disrepair after the last of the Conollys sold the house in 1901.Soon after 1810 Kingham Field, which was part of the estate, was operating as a stone quarry similar to the nearby Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines. William Smith, who became known as "Father of English Geology", proposed conveying the stone by a railway down to Tucking Mill where it would be sawn by machinery, and then loaded on to canal barges and transported via the Somerset Coal Canal and the Kennet and Avon Canal to Bath and London. In April 1814, Smith mortgaged the remainder of his estate to Charles Conolly who then controlled the railway and probably extended it to his Vinegar Down Quarry. The scheme failed and in 1819 Conolly had Smith committed to the King's Bench Prison for debt and took over the sawmill and Smith's house at Tucking Mill.Michael Fenwick Briggs and his wife Isabel (better known by her pen name of Isabel Colegate) bought Midford in 1961 and carried out extensive renovation work; which included incorporating the chapel into the garden as a picturesque ruin.In July 2007, the castle was sold to actor Nicolas Cage for £5 million. Cage sold the castle in 2009.The castle is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England. The castle grounds also include the Grade II listed archway with lodge and screen wall, a pair of gatepiers and gates, and the Grade II* listed group of the stables, old chapel, walls enclosing the stable yard, coach house and greenhouse. The priory 500 yards to the north east of the castle is Grade II listed.

Combe Down Tunnel is on the now-closed Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway main line, between Midford and Bath Green Park railway station, below high ground and the southern suburbs of Bath, England, emerging below the southern slopes of Combe Down village. Opened in 1874, this 1,829-yard (1,672 m) long disused railway tunnel was once the UK's longest without intermediate ventilation. The tunnel now forms part of the £1.8 million Two Tunnels Greenway walking and cycling path opened on 6 April 2013 and is the longest cycling tunnel in Britain. Its custodian is Wessex Water.

Tucking Mill is a small hamlet within the parish of Monkton Combe, Somerset, England. It lies on Midford Brook and was a key point on the now disused Somerset Coal Canal. It is at the southern end of the Two Tunnels Greenway which follows the disused railway trackbed of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway from East Twerton through the Bath suburb of Oldfield Park to the Devonshire Tunnel, emerging into Lyncombe Vale before entering the Combe Down Tunnel, and then coming out to cross Tucking Mill Viaduct into Midford.There is also a small reservoir, which is now a fishery for the disabled.

Midford Valley Woods (grid reference ST769611) is a 60-acre (24.6-hectare) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Midford and Limpley Stoke in Wiltshire, England, notified in 1975.

Combe Down and Bathampton Down Quarries (grid reference ST761625) make up a 6.22 hectare (15.37 acre) Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Bath and North East Somerset, England, important for its bat population. The disused quarries date from the 17th and 18th centuries and were the source of Bath stone for the city of Bath and elsewhere in the UK. A five-year project to stabilise the quarry workings was largely completed by November 2009.

Combe Down is a village on the outskirts of Bath, England in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Somerset. Combe Down village consists predominantly of 18th and 19th century Bath stone-built villas, terraces and workers' cottages; the post World War II Foxhill estate of former and present council housing; a range of Georgian, Victorian and 20th century properties along both sides of North Road and Bradford Road and the 21st century Mulberry Park development on the site of the former Ministry of Defence offices.

Southstoke is a small village and civil parish in north east Somerset, England. In 2004 the parish council requested that the name be formally changed to South Stoke, as "this is historically the more established spelling (rather than the single word spelling Southstoke) and better reflects the origin and meaning of the Parish name."It is 2 miles (3 km) south of the city of Bath, on the River Avon and the route of the disused Somerset Coal Canal. The village provides views over the surrounding area and is the starting point for country walks. A popular route is to visit other villages and their pubs in the area, such as Combe Hay and Midford. Southstoke is a designated Conservation Area as identified by the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990. The buildings are mainly cream oolitic limestone and there are 27 listed structures in and around the immediate village which has retained much of its original character and historic appeal.