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Clifton Rugby Football Club History |
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Grounds - Fishponds 1892-1893 |
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Above from the Bristol Mercury on the 12th September 1892
The first match played on this ground was on 24th September 1892 v Taunton click here
It is known from the match report of this first match that the ground was 2 minutes walk from the Railway Station and was on a slope.
Above possible locations of ground (marked in pink). It is thought that the building in the centre was the changing rooms. Reproduced from the (1903) Ordnance Survey map. © Crown copyright
Above Fishponds Station on the 23rd July 1907. It was a very popular departure point for excursions, above the one to Weston-super-Mare.
Above 1912 map of the area with road layouts marked on possible location of ground.
In 1893 we moved to Horfield click here
Above Fishponds Station on the 14th March 1932 taken from the station footbridge.
The line running through Fishponds Station was part of Dr Beeching's railway closures in the 1960s. Stopping services on the Bristol to Gloucester line ceased along with general goods traffic on the 17th May 1965, and the station then closed to all goods traffic on the 31st December 1965. But trains continued between Bristol and Bath Green Park until the 7th March 1966. The signal box remained open until the 12th April 1968, when most of the station buildings where demolished. The line through the station was due to close on the 3rd January 1970, but a landslip at nearby Staple Hill led to its closure a week early. The tracks were later removed. There are still remains including the stairs to the footbridge (the "stairs to nowhere") on the Bristol side. The line was converted into the Bristol & Bath Railway Path which was completed in 1986, though the trail through the Fishponds station site deviates from the original rail line because of the roads associated with a huge supermarket on adjoining land.
Above Fishponds Station in 1972
Above the site of Fishponds Station in June 2006.