Ironbridge Gorge to Bridgnorth – Could the reinstatement of the original Severn Valley Railway become a reality? With more than 85 plans being put forward for funding under Stage 3 of the Government’s Restoring Your Railway Fund, Great Western Star looks at one of these schemes that could reinstate more of a famous old railway, bring visitors to a World Heritage Site, and take thousands of cars off some of the very crowded roads in the immediate vicinity. We also take an opportunity to talk to one of the key personnel involved in the project. One of the most well-known, well-loved, and respected tourist attractions in the UK must be the Ironbridge Gorge with its many integrated, yet independent sites. It was created a World Heritage Site in 1986 – one of the first in the UK to achieve this prestigious status and, today the 10 Ironbridge Gorge Museums receive more than 545,000 visitors per year, with around 70,000 of these being visits from schools. In addition, many more pay a visit to Darby’s iconic bridge and the town, taking the total visitor number to more than a million. What may seem strange to many people is that, despite these visitor numbers, you can no longer get to it by rail. However, this may all change if plans being floated under the Restoring Your Railway Scheme come to fruition by being chosen as one to be supported by Government funding. With the heritage sites becoming ever more popular and the only way to get down into the Gorge being by road, some alternative is needed. There is already a small, preserved railway – The Telford & Horsehay Steam Railway – which has always had dreams of getting down into the Gorge – dreams that have been held up by the removal of the railway bridge during the building of some of Telford’s (the new town, not the engineer) various road schemes. However, there are hopes that this could change in the future. The railway line that came down from the GWR main line for Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury is still in place, having been used until a few years ago to take coal to the Ironbridge/Buildwas Power Station. In addition, various bits of the Buildwas to Bridgnorth still exist, albeit that some are in private hands.
The Railway Background*
In 1847, the original scheme for the Severn Valley Railway – approximately 40 miles in length – was conceived to join Hartlebury to ShrewsFootnote *”Steam Nostalgia” by Sir Gerald Nabarro
bury. The Severn Valley Railway Company was incorporated in 1853 and the line opened to both passenger and freight traffic in 1862, with the railway being operated by the West Midland Railway. However, this did not last long for the West Midland Railway was statutorily dissolved just a year later with the Great Western Railway accepting all obligations and rights before formally absorbing the Severn Valley Railway Company by exchange of stock in 1872. Just six years later, the Kidderminster loop was opened, thus creating a network from Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Bewdley to Hartlebury and to Kidderminster (the last two were on the GW Worcester-Stourbridge Junction-Wolverhampton main line. During both the 1923 and 1947 grouping and nationalisation, the situation stayed the same. On the 9th of September 1963, the final passenger train ran while freight officially ended on the 30th of November of the same year. The line remained open, however, to deal with coal traffic for colliery and power station mineral trains – the former for the NCB colliery at Highley and the latter for the two power stations at Buildwas and Stourport-on-Severn. In 1965, the Severn Valley Railway Company was formed by steam locomotive enthusiasts in Kidderminster with the aim of saving the line and in 1966, a decision was made to raise £25,000 to purchase 4½ miles of line from Bridgnorth to Erdington and Hampton Loade. They made a deposit of £2,500 in February 1967. In that same year, perhaps in anticipation of a positive future, Collett 0-6-0 No 3205 and four ex-GWR coaches arrived at Bridgnorth for preservation. The following year, a Shrewsbury Planning Enquiry found in favour of the operation of the 4½ miles from Bridgnorth to Hampton Loade and, in 1969, Ministerial Consent was given for the operation of the line, subject to two Light Railway Orders that were finally given in 1969 and 1970. In anticipation of these being granted, the Society formed in 1965 was dissolved in December 1969 and a Company Limited by Guarantee formed in 1967, called The Severn Valley Railway Company Limited took over the membership and assets of the Company. The last BR passenger services were withdrawn from Bewdley to Kidderminster and Bewdley to Stourport-on-Severn and Hartlebury in 1963 and then, on 23rd May 1970, the Severn Valley Railway was re-born at Bridgnorth with steam-operated scheduled services by volunteer unpaid preservationists. This proved extremely Spring 2021
GREAT WESTERN STAR MAGAZINE
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