Shipton-on-Cherwell quarry was adjacent to the River Cherwell and located between the GWR's Oxford to Banbury line and the Woodstock branch. The quarry was opened in 1929 by the Oxford & Shipton Cement Co Ltd which established a rail-connected manufacturing works alongside the Oxford to Banbury railway, with electrically powered kilns from the outset. The Alpha Cement Co Ltd acquired the enterprise in 1934 and it came under the umbrella of the APCM (Blue Circle) in 1949. To add to the confusion, official railway documents refer to it as the Bletchington Cement Works while other sources call it the Alpha Cement Works. An ever changing internal railway system connected the quarry to the works - it was altered to suit the requirements of limestone extraction and the rock face as it was clawed back. Andrew Barclay, Sons & Co Ltd Works No 2041, which was supplied new to here in 1937, positions an empty set of side tipper wagons near the work site in 1969.
展开▼
