Bewdley railway station

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 from opening by the West Midland Railway before being absorbed into the Great Western Railway (GWR).

In 1864 the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway opened, with its route through the Wyre Forest branching 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 end of through passenger traffic — firstly on the Wyre Forest line in 1962, 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 January 1970 around the last remaining stations of Stourport-on-Severn, Burlish Halt, Bewdley Foley Park Halt and Kidderminster.

Preservation

Bewdley was disused for only four years before preservationists from the new SVR Company bought the land, track and buildings in 1974 enabling the SVR to extend from Bridgnorth–Hampton Loade to Highley and eventually Bewdley that same year.

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:

Bewdley Tunnel

Just to the East of the station lies the 480 yard long Bewdley Tunnel.

Future services

Due to heavy congestion in the Wyre Forest, there have been calls for Bewdley station to be returned to the National Rail network once more. The idea of Kidderminster to Bewdley trains has been discussed at meetings with Central Trains, its successor London Midland and Chiltern Railways. The obstacle always seems to be who provides the infrastructure and staff. New services could run further than Kidderminster to Birmingham, Dudley or London.

Famous Media Appearances

Bewdley Railway Station is also noted as a filming location for a number of television and cinema productions. These include 1992 Film 'Howard's End', and 2007 film 'Woes of the Departed', and can also be seen as Musborough Junction station from the opening scenes of the 1984 BBC Television adaptation of the John Masefield novel 'The Box of Delights'.(Keen eyed viewers can even spot the Bewdley sign in a reflection in a window in the opening scene.)