Come and celebrate 200 years of railway history at Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre and Tea Rooms on Friday 26th September between 10am and 11.30am.
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This event will be held in the former Ladies Waiting Room and the Jack Turner Room of Ridgmont Station Heritage Centre. A breakfast and cake menu is available, although there is no obligation to purchase. Lets chat about geocaching and trains!Â
While here, visit the original Victorian Booking Office with its historical displays and discover more about the Marston Vale Line. ‘Brass’ rubbings of ten stations along the Marston Vale Line can be discovered around the Heritage Centre for children, or those young at heart.
Ridgmont Station
Ridgmont Station dates back to 1846 when it was built as one of the railway stations along the Marston Vale Line. At the request of the 7th Duke of Bedford it was built in a Gothic Rival style along with three other stations along the line that were within the Woburn Estate.
At the stations busiest period it served the London Brickworks, which was said to be the second largest brickworks in the world. The brickworks and Bedford Arms, which stood opposite, have since been demolished and replaced with the Marston Gate Distribution Centre. The station now stands as the only reminder of that industrial period.
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The Marston Vale line
The Marston Vale line is located between Bletchley and Bedford in England, a surviving remnant of the former Varsity line between Oxford and Cambridge, most of which was closed in the late 1960s. There are plans for the line to be adopted and upgraded as part of East West Rail, a project underway to re-establish the Oxford–Cambridge route.Â
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Celebrate 200 Years of Railway History!
In 1825, the Stockton & Darlington Railway opened the world’s first passenger railway station on Tuesday 27th September — a milestone that transformed travel forever. Steam locomotives carried passengers and goods at unprecedented speed, sparking a transport revolution that connected towns, boosted industry, and shaped modern Britain.
This special SideTracked Railway 200 event at Ridgmont is part of a nationwide celebration running from Wednesday 24th to Tuesday 30th September 2025. All finds and hides from this event count towards your SideTracked statistics, and a unique profile badge will be created especially for this event. Whether your chosen location is old, disused, miniature, or still bustling today, it’s part of a railway story that’s been 200 years in the making.
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