The days when trains ran into the Rewley Road station and goods yard in Oxford are now a distant memory.

But there is one reminder - the swing bridge which gave access to the site and which is to be restored to its former glory.

The bridge, at the north end of Oxford Station, allowed trains to cross the Sheepwash Channel, a stretch of water linking the River Thames with the Oxford Canal.

The bridge would swing over the channel to allow trains across, then swing back to the bank to allow boats to pass.

Read again: Climate activist makes final of eco beauty pageant

It fell into disrepair after the last trains left in 1984, but is now to be renovated at a cost of £900,000.

The history of the bridge, the Rewley Road site and local railways in general is set out in Railways of Oxford, a new book by Oxford rail author and enthusiast Laurence Waters.

The 73ft long, 85-ton iron swing bridge was built for trains on the 31-mile route from Oxford to Bletchley, which opened in 1851.

There were eight intermediate stations - at Islip, Bicester, Launton, Marsh Gibbon & Poundon, Claydon, Verney Junction, Winslow and Swanbourne. Eventually, trains continued to Bedford and Cambridge.

A locomotive hauls freight wagons across the swing bridge

A locomotive hauls freight wagons across the swing bridge

The Sheepwash Channel had been opened by the canal company in 1796 and formed an important and sometimes busy connection between the canal and Thames.

A fixed bridge across the channel was ruled out because the land sloped down to the station and yard.

Rewley Road station, designed by the architects of the famous Crystal Palace in London, closed to passengers in 1951 and services to and from Bletchley and Cambridge were switched to Oxford’s main station.

Read again: Volunteers sign up for new vaccine trial

The goods yard remained open for the delivery of coal, oil and stone. It closed in 1984, the sidings were removed and a large part of the site was used as a car park until 1999 when Oxford University built the Said Business School.

The Grade II listed station building was carefully dismantled and can now be seen at the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton, near Aylesbury.

The swing bridge was designed by engineer Robert Stevenson, famous for the pioneering locomotive Rocket, and is one of only two moveable bridges associated with the Thames, the other being Tower Bridge in London.

Its restoration has been led by Oxford Preservation Trust and supported by the Railway Heritage Trust, Historic England, Network Rail and Chiltern Railways. Apart from the swing bridge, the only remaining evidence of the Rewley Road railway site is a brass plaque commemorating its existence in Frideswide Square.

Read more: What you said: when should schools go back

Today, the Oxford-Bicester line has been re-established as part of the Chiltern service to London Marylebone.

•Railways of Oxford, A Transport Hub that Links Britain, by Laurence Waters is published by Pen and Sword Transport.