Tenbury and Bewdley Railway

Dismantled English railway

Tenbury and Bewdley railway

Tenbury Wells railway station in 1916

Overview
Other name(s)| Wyre Forest line or Tenbury Line
Status| Dismantled
Locale| Worcestershire and Shropshire
Termini|

* Bewdley
* Tenbury Wells

Stations| 6
Service
Operator(s)| Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway
History
Opened| 13 August 1864
Closed| 8 May 1965
Technical
Line length| 15 mi (24 km)
Track gauge| 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Signalling| Train Staff system

The Tenbury and Bewdley Railway was an English railway company that built its line from Bewdley to Tenbury Wells between 1860 and 1864. The line connected the Severn Valley Railway at Bewdley with the Tenbury Railway at Tenbury. The Tenbury and Bewdley railway and the Tenbury railway were sometimes collectively referred to as the Wyre Forest line or simply the Tenbury Line. The railway was operated from 1870 jointly by the Great Western Railway and the London and North Western Railway, then by British Railways after nationalisation.

The line closed to passenger trains in 1962 and to goods traffic in 1965; the tracks, sleepers and some infrastructure were subsequently dismantled and removed. There is now no railway activity on the former line, but its trackbed is still extant in sections, particularly where it crosses the Wyre Forest, as it forms part of National Cycle Route 45.

## Conception

[edit]

The Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway opened its line on 6 December 1852.[1] Tenbury was a little over five miles from Woofferton station, which opened on that line at the same time, and a branch line was planned between the two: it opened on 1 August 1861 as the Tenbury line.[2][3][4][5]

While the branch line between Woofferton and Tenbury was under construction, there was enthusiasm to extend the line to Bewdley. There were two immediate problems, gathering enough money to pay the parliamentary deposit, and heading off the suspected hostility of the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway. The former was resolved by getting a £9,600 bank loan.

The bill for the proposed Tenbury and Bewdley Railway went to Parliament in the 1860 session; the S&HR did indeed oppose it, but their opposition was overcome, and the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway Act 1860 (23 & 24 Vict. c. cxxviii) was given royal assent on 3 July 1860; capital was to be £120,000. The line would run from a junction with the Tenbury Railway, at Tenbury, to a junction with the Severn Valley Railway at Bewdley, which was then under construction.[6][7] Around this time, the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway amalgamated with others to form the West Midland Railway.

## Construction and railway politics

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The Tenbury and Bewdley Railway (illustrated in red) and Tenbury line (illustrated in orange).

A working arrangement with the West Midland Railway was concluded, by which the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway Company would receive 40% of gross receipts, after payment of interest on the borrowings.[8] However the company was unable to raise the money to pay its contractor for the construction, and there was a protracted delay. Eventually in October 1861 instructions were given to commence work.[9] In September 1862 the Shareholders were informed that arrangements had been made to lease the line to the West Midland Railway, giving a dividend of 4% after the first three years.[10]

Tenbury Wells Station, with ex-Great Western Diesel railcar in 1949

The main line at Woofferton (the former Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway) had been leased jointly to the London and North Western Railway (50%) and the Great Western Railway and the West Midland Railway (together 50%). The Tenbury Railway was carried into the joint line status; the lease took effect on 1 July 1862.[11]

Meanwhile the construction of the Tenbury and Bewdley had not been progressing well. However eventually preparations were in hand for opening. A serious landslip in Prizeley cutting took place on 24 June, and the planned opening had to be postponed. The earthwork was stabilised, and a ceremonial opening took place on 4 August 1864, although the line had not yet been approved for passenger operation.[12]

### Opening

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Captain Tyler of the Board of Trade visited the line on 9 August 1864 and gave his consent to opening for passenger trains. The line opened fully on 13 August 1864.[note 1][13][7][5][14]

The line was worked by the Great Western Railway, with which the West Midland Railway had amalgamated in 1863; this was charged at 60% of gross receipts.[15]

### Bewdley to Kidderminster loop line

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Bewdley railway station in 1963, two years before the dismantling of the Tenbury and Bewdley railway.

After the Tenbury and Bewdley railway was completed, there were lots of passengers travelling between stations on the line and Birmingham. The route to Birmingham, which included a portion of the Severn Valley Railway, connected to the line to Birmingham at a point near Hartlebury station. This was a roundabout way, as the distance between the SVR and the line to Birmingham was far shorter between Bewdley and Kidderminster. The travel time between the Wyre Forest line and Birmingham could therefore be reduced if a relatively small railway was constructed between Bewdley and Kidderminster. This was referred to as the Bewdley Curve, Bewdley Loop, Kidderminster loop or Kidderminster loop line. It was a line of three miles between Bewdley and Kidderminster. After much hesitation by the GWR, the line was opened on 1 June 1878 and enabled trains from the Tenbury direction to run direct towards Kidderminster, for Birmingham.[16]

## Operation

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

Tenbury & Bewdley Railway

Legend

|  |  |

|  |

| Welsh Marches line

to Hereford

|  |

|  | Woofferton
|  |

|  |

Woofferton Junction

|  |

|  |

| Welsh Marches line

to Shrewsbury

|  |

|  | Easton Court
|  |

|  | Tenbury Wells
|  |

|  | Newnham Bridge
|  |

|  | Neen Sollars
|  |

|  | Cleobury Mortimer
|  |

|  |

| Cleobury Mortimer & Ditton Priors

Light Railway

|  |

|  |

Brown Clee Hill quarries

|  |

|  | Wyre Forest
|  |

|  |

Wyre Forest

|  |

|  |

| Dowles Bridge

over River Severn

| dismantled

1964

|  |

|  |

| Severn Valley Railway

to Bridgnorth

|  |

|  |
|  |

|  | Bewdley
|  |

|  |

| Severn Valley Railway

to Kidderminster

|  |  |  |  |  |

The passenger train service on the line varied little over the roughly 100 years in which the line was operational. In 1895, there were four trains daily (apart from Sundays) between Bewdley and Woofferton, with an additional two on the Tenbury to Woofferton section. By 1910 this had changed to five and four respectively, remaining similar from 1922 to 1962, when the line was closed to passengers.[17][18][19][20][21]

### Operation under the GWR and LNWR

[edit]

From opening, the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) operated the line under a lease. From 1 January 1869, the lease of the Tenbury Railway was converted to outright ownership under an agreement of 1 December 1868.[22] Under this, the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway company was transferred jointly to the ownership of the GWR and the LNWR from 1 February 1870, who subsequently operated the line until nationalisation.[7]

### Stations

[edit]

Station Name  | Opened  | Closed  | Notes

|
|
|

Tenbury  | 1 August 1861  | 1 August 1962  | Renamed Tenbury Wells 1912
Newnham  | 13 August 1864  | 1 August 1962  | Renamed Newnham Bridge 1873
Neen Sollars  | 13 August 1864  | 1 August 1962  |
Cleobury Mortimer  | 13 August 1864  | 1 August 1962  |
Wyre Forest  | 1 June 1869  | 1 August 1962  |
Dowles Bridge |  |  |
Bewdley  | 1 February 1862  | 5 January 1970  | Later reopened as part of the Severn Valley Railway

## Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway

[edit]

Main article: Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway

The Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway was authorised under a light railway order, the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway Order 1901, on 23 March 1901.[23] It was to build a line from a junction with the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway at Cleobury Mortimer. After considerable delay the line was opened to goods traffic on 19 July 1908,[24] passenger trains following on 21 November 1908.[25]

For some years the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Railway was simply a rural branch line; its passenger service ceased in 1938. The increasing international tension following the Munich crisis of 1938 resulted, among other things, in a search for sites for the storage of naval ordnance. A site at Ditton Priors was considered to be suitable, and preparations were made to construct what became the Royal Naval Armaments Depot, Ditton Priors. It opened in 1940, and the majority of the traffic moved by rail.[26]

The site eventually extended over a very considerable area, and the development brought much goods traffic to the CM&DPR and also the Tenbury and Bewdley line. At the end of World War II the depot was used for decommissioned armaments. In 1955 the branch line was transferred to the ownership of the Ministry of Defence (Admiralty) for £40,000.[27] In 1960 the railway line was closed but the Royal Navy continued to use the depot as a non-rail-connected base until 1965.

## Decline and closure

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The trackbed of the Tenbury and Bewdley Railway in the Wyre Forest. The footbridge used to span the rails, but now spans National Cycle Route 45, which occupies the trackbed.

The rural nature of the Tenbury and Bewdley main line resulted in a steep decline in business as reliable road transport, for both passengers and goods, developed. It became plain to British Railways that the line was heavily loss-making. Closure was proposed in 1960, but a case was made concerning the hardship that closure of the line would cause, especially to schoolchildren who relied on the trains. The decision was taken to close the line from Tenbury Wells to Woofferton completely from 31 July 1961. One passenger train each way daily would run from Kidderminster via Bewdley to Tenbury Wells for a trial period of one year, at times suitable for the schools.[28] In fact the experimental service for schoolchildren started during the school holidays, and this inauspicious start was followed by minimal use of the trains. The decision was taken to discontinue them, closing the entire line to passenger use; the closure took place on 1 August 1962, a Wednesday.[29]

The remains of Dowles Bridge

After closure, a goods service was retained on the branch only as far as Tenbury from Bewdley. All connections with the Shrewsbury and Hereford main line had been removed at Woofferton on 12 November 1961. The goods service to Tenbury was withdrawn on 6 January 1964. The goods service to Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors continued, but that business dwindled further, and on Good Friday, 16 April 1965, the line was closed and only dismantling traffic continued.[30][14] With lifting of the track completed, the spans of Dowles Bridge were dismantled in March 1966 leaving only the supports standing in the River Severn.[31]

## Notes

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1. ^ Probably a ceremonial opening, following by a public opening on 14 August 1864.

## References

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1. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 10.
2. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 14.
3. ^ Richard K Morriss, Railways of Shropshire: A brief history, Shropshire Libraries, Shrewsbury, 1981, ISBN 0 903802 27 9, pages 39 and 40
4. ^ E T MacDermot, History of the Great Western Railway, published by the Great Western Railway, London, 1921, volume 1, page 869
5. ^ a b Ernest F Carter, An Historical Geography of the Railways of the British Isles, Cassell, London, 1959, page 317
6. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 16.
7. ^ a b c Donald J Grant, Directory of the Railway Companies of Great Britain, Matador Publishers, Kibworth Beauchamp, 2017, ISBN 978 1785893 537, page 558
8. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 17.
9. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 19.
10. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 22.
11. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 23.
12. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 29.
13. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 32.
14. ^ a b Rex Christiansen, A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain: volume 13: Thames and Severn, David and Charles (Publishers) Limited, Newton Abbot, 1981, ISBN 0 7153 8004 4, page 113
15. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 35.
16. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 43.
17. ^ Bradshaw's Rail Times for Great Britain and Ireland: December 1895, reprint, Middleton Press, Midhurst, 2018, ISBN 978 1 908174 11 6
18. ^ Bradshaw's April 1910 Railway Guide, David and Charles, Newton Abbot, 1968, ISBN 0 7153 4246 0
19. ^ Bradshaw's 1922 Railway Guide, Guild Publishing London, 1985
20. ^ Bradshaw's July 1938 Railway Guide, David & Charles Reprints, Newton Abbot, 1969, ISBN 0 7153 4686 5
21. ^ Western Region of British Railways, Passenger Timetable, Summer 1960
22. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 39.
23. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 55.
24. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 65.
25. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 68.
26. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, pp. 129–130.
27. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 177.
28. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 190.
29. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 193.
30. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, pp. 195–196.
31. ^ Beddoes & Smith 1995, p. 198.

## Bibliography

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* Beddoes, Keith; Smith, William H. (1995). The Tenbury & Bewdley Railway. Wild Swan Publications. ISBN 1-874103-27-5.

## External links

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* Severn Valley Railway

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