Bewdley railway station
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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.
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[edit] 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 Beeching Axe resulted in the halt of through passenger traffic - firstly on the Wyre Forest line in 1961, followed by the Severn Valley in 1963. British Rail passenger services clung on until early 1970 around the last remaining stations of Stourport-on-Severn, Hartlebury, Bewdley and Kidderminster.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Trivia
- The station clock on platforms 2/3 originates from Stourbridge Junction railway station.
- The longer valancing pieces on the east side of the island platform canopy are 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 elswhere as previously reported here.
- Until recently, there was a Gentlemen's toilet on platform's 2/3, but it was closed by health and safely (it had no wash hand basin). The structure remains to this day for historical reasons.
[edit] External links
| Preceding station |  Heritage railways |
Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwood Halt | Severn Valley Railway | Kidderminster Town | ||
[edit] Gallery
 LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 at Bewdley |
 Bewdley station |
 GWR 1500 Class in NCB livery |
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 British Rail Class 121 "Bubble Car" no. 121020 at Bewdley |
 Bewdley station |
 Bewdley station |
