View NW, towards Bath; ex-GWR (Bristol/Cardiff - Bath - Westbury - Salisbury/Weymouth) secondary main line. Note the attractive architecture, which harmonizes with the picturesque town.

The train is the 17.20 Bristol - Westbury service, headed by a 'Hall' class 4-6-0 No. 4989 'Cherwell Hall' (built 2/31, withdrawn 11/64).

Peter Kerslake adds "A fine overhead portrait of 4989 "Cherwell Hal ", a Reading shedded engine a few years earlier than the date of this photograph amidst the splendid setting at Bathampton station.
The line trough the Avon valley diverged from the main Bristol to Paddington at Bathampton Junction to the east of Bath and provided a vital link between Bristol, South Wales and the north down to Westbury and southwards as far as the ever popular seaside resort of Weymouth.
In times of any blockage on the main direct Berks and Hants line between Paddington and the far Westcountry this line through the Avon valley has for many years come into play as a diversionary route capable of handling main line passenger workings and running them via Bristol Temple Meads.

4989 was one of the batch of her class emerging from Swindon in 1931, just one of the highly popular mixed traffic design which served until the last eight were finally withdrawn in 1965"