The Banbury & Cheltenham Direct Railway, which the Chipping Norton
Railway is a part of, developed in several stages. The first section to
open was the branch from Kingham to Chipping Norton on the Oxford,
Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway in 1855. The section from Chipping
Norton to King's Sutton (just south of Banbury on the Great Western
Railway main line) was completed in 1881. The line ran through a number
of stations, including Hook Norton, Bloxham, Adderbury and King's
Sutton, before entering Banbury. In 1951, British Railways withdrew
passenger services between Chipping Norton and King's Sutton. A
landslide at Hook Norton in 1958 caused freight services to be halted
between Hook Norton and Chipping Norton. Chipping Norton Railway is a
fascinating account of the people who worked the line, those who rode it
and those who remember it fondly still.