Bewdley railway station

Bewdley railway station serves the town of Bewdley in Worcestershire, England. It is the administrative headquarters of the SVR, and is the principal intermediate station on the line.

History

Bewdley station originally opened in 1862 as one of the main intermediate stations on the 40¾ mile line between Hartlebury and Shrewsbury. The station was operated by the SVR company before being absorbed into the Great Western Railway (GWR).

In 1864 the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway opened, with its route through the Wyre Forest breaking off the SVR 1 mile north of Bewdley station, before crossing the River Severn over the now partially-dismantled Dowles Bridge. Thus Bewdley became a junction.

In 1878, GWR opened a "loop-line" to Kidderminster meaning Bewdley had a direct link with the town and became a double junction. As a legacy of its former junction status Bewdley station is unique on the SVR in that it has two signal boxes, Bewdey north and Bewdley south, to this day.

Bewdley station was at its busiest at weekends and local holiday periods, and traffic declined only with the introduction of the family car in the 1950s. As a consequence, the rationalisation resulted in the halt of through passenger traffic - firstly on the Wyre Forest line in 1961, followed by the Severn Valley in 1963. Although thought by some people to have been part of the Beeching axe these closures pre-dated his report.
British Rail passenger services clung on until early 1970 around the last remaining stations of Stourport-on-Severn, Hartlebury, Bewdley and Kidderminster.

Preservation

Bewdley was disused for only four years before preservationists from the new SVR Company brought the land, track and buildings in 1974 enabling the SVR to extend from Bridgnorth - Hampton Loade to Highley and eventually Bewdley that same year. Bewdley forms the administrative headquarters of the Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) Company.

From 1980 onwards, occasional bank holiday services were operated to Bewdley, originally from Kidderminster and later from Birmingham New Street. The SVR's own services to Kidderminster could not commence until sugar beet traffic to Foley Park ceased in 1982 and the opening of its own station - Kidderminster Town in 1984.

During and after preservation:
*The station clock on platforms 2/3 was brought from Stourbridge Junction railway station.
*The longer valancing pieces on the east side of the island platform canopy came from Birmingham Snow Hill station, this is marked on the canopy. The canopy itself was constructed for the opening of the line to Kidderminster and was later extended, it was not brought in from elsewhere as previously reported here.
*Until recently, there was a Gentlemen's toilet on platform's 2/3, but it was closed as a result of health and safely regulations as it had no wash hand basin. The structure remains to this day for historical reasons.

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.bewdleystation.co.uk Official Station Web Site]

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