Immediately after publishing the article about the most southerly length of the Branch (Part 3), I was contacted by Ian Turpin who built a model of Coalport East Railway Station some years ago. He sent me a copy of the 1″ 1833 Ordnance Survey (revised in the second half of the 19th century to show the railways of Shropshire) which covers the Branch.

In addition, as part of his research for his model railway project he took a number of photographs in and around both Madeley Market Station and Coalport East Station in the late 1980s. This addendum catalogues the pictures that he took. My thanks to Ian for providing these photographs, some of which show scenes which have disappeared since they were taken.

At the end of this article are pictures of Ian Turpin’s layout which he kindly sent to me.

But first, a series of pictures associated with the Branch which have come to light since the three articles were completed. ….

Secondly, Coalport River Severn Warehouse

A close inspection of the 1881 6″ or 25″ Ordnance Survey will show a building straddling two of the sidings in the goods yard to the West of Coalport Station.

Yate notes this warehouse in his shirt description of Coalport East Station: “Two run-around loops gave access to a small goods yard, and to the goods warehouse alongside the River.” [7: p183] By the time of the 1901 Ordnance Survey, the main warehouse element of the building had been demolished, leaving only a truncated section which acted as a good shed. The only picture that I have found of the building dates from after it had been partially removed.

Third, the relevant parts of the 1″ Ordnance Survey of 1833 (revised to show rail routes). …

Fourthly, Ian Turpin’s photos of Madeley Market Station. … Madeley Market Station Building seemed a little isolated and forlorn back in the late 1980s, although it seems not to have suffered any significant vandalism. The pictures were taken with a mind to being able to recreate the facilities at Coalport in model form as the buildings were of similar construction.

Fifth, The bridge over the Branch on the station approach …

Sixth, Buildings at and around Coalport East Station. …

The terrace alongside the line. ….

The pub. …

The Bridge Toll House at street level in the 21st century. The building originated as a warehouse (1793-1808), was in use as house by 1815 and as tollhouse from 1818, when the adjacent Coalport Bridge underwent major repairs. Shropshire County Council became owners in 1922, and it was restored after it passed to the Buildings at Risk Trust in 1994. [9]

The photographs taken by Ian Turpin were all used as background material for the construction of a model railway centred on Coalport (East) Railway Station. The pictures were taken in the period before the road-bridge across the Severn was renovated.

And, before we turn to the photographs of Ian Turpin’s layout, …. two extracts from LNWR publications. The first of these shows the 1905 timetable for the Branch, the second is the LNWR working directions of 1917 for operating Motor Trains on the Branch. Both of these were forwarded to me by Ian Turpin. The working timetable shows that the Branch was worked by two engines. A two-coach motor-train worked the branch from May 1910 until sometime after the grouping with 50ft x 8ft arc roof stock (converted from ordinary non-corridor stock). The Branch was by this time rated third class only. Of the two coaches, one was LNWR No.103 (LMS No. 53450 and the other was LNWR No. 1815 (LMS No. 5338).

Ian Turpin’s layout which featured in The Railway Modeller in the 1990s.

Ian Turpin sent me the superb photographs of his excellent model below. They were taken for an article about his layout which was published in the Railway Modeller in the 1990s. He has very kindly agreed to their inclusion here.

References

1. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EAW019495, accessed on 9th April 2023.
2. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/4899782493373048, accessed on 9th April 2023.
3. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/6875964699088141, accessed on 9th April 2023.
4. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/746637048687634, accessed on 9th April 2023.
5. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/1044493682235301, accessed on 9th April 2023.
6. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594689, accessed on 10th April 2023.
7. Bob Yate; The Shropshire Union Railway: Stafford to Shrewsbury including the Coalport Branch; No. 129 in the Oakwood Library of Railway History; The Oakwood Press, Usk, Monmouthshire, 2003.
8. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594686, accessed on 10th April 2023.
9. https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101061397-coalport-bridge-toll-house-the-gorge/photos#.ZDQmdR4o_Ti, accessed on 10th April 2023.
10. https://www.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/1515364028481595, accessed on 10 th April 2023.

After writing recent articles about the northern section of the branch, I was contacted by David Bradshaw, co-author with Stanley C. Jenkins of ‘Rails around Oakengates’, an article in Steam Days magazine in March 2013. L, offering permission to use material from that article in this series of posts about the Coalport Branch. [1]

Along with discussion of all the railways in and around Oakengates (including the Lilleshall Co. private railways), David Bradshaw and Stanley C. Jenkins looked at the Wellington to Coalport Branch.

David suggested that I should use material from the article to supplement material included in my recent articles. My feeling is that the section of the ‘Rails around Oakengates’ article which covers the Coalport Branch should be reproduced in full. This addendum focusses solely on the relevant parts of the Steam Days article. [1: p168-170, 175, 176-177] ……..

The Wellington to Coalport Branch

The Great Western Railway had taken over the S&BR in 1854, and this may have prompted the LNWR to consider a scheme for converting the Shropshire Canal into a railway. This busy waterway was experiencing severe problems in terms of subsidence and water supply, and there was a major flooding incident in July 1855 when Snedshill tunnel collapsed. It was thought that the cost of repairs would probably exceed £30,000 and, faced with this heavy expenditure, the London & North Western Railway decided that the money would be better spent on the construction of a replacement railway from Hadley, near Wellington, to Coalport, which would utilise, as much as possible, parts of the troublesome canal.

It was then estimated that the proposed Coalport branch line would cost about £80,000, including £62,500 for the purchase of the waterway. Accordingly, in November 1856, notice was given that an application would be made to Parliament in the ensuing session for leave to bring in a Bill for the purchase and sale of the Shropshire Canal and the ‘Conversion of Portions thereof to Railway Purposes, and Construction of a Railway in connection therewith’.

The proposed line was described as a railway, with all proper stations, works, and conveniences connected therewith, commencing by a junction with the Shrewsbury and Stafford Railway of the Shropshire Union Company in the township of Hadley and parish of Wellington, in the county of Salop. at a point about two hundred yards westward of the mile post on the said railway denoting twelve miles from Shrewsbury’, and it terminated in the parish of Sutton Maddock, in the county of Salop, at a point ten chains or thereabouts to the east of the terminus of the Shropshire Canal at Coalport’.

The railway would pass through various specified parishes, townships, or other places, including Wellington, Hadley, Donnington Wood, Wrockwardine, Wombridge, Oakengates, Stirchley, Malins Lee, Dawley, Snedshill, Madeley, and Coalport, ‘occupying in the course thereof portions of the site of the Shropshire Canal’. Having passed through all stages of the complex Parliamentary process, the actual ‘Act for Authorising the Conversion of parts of the Shropshire Canal to Purposes of a Railway’ received the Royal Assent on 27 July 1857.

The canal was closed between Wrockwardine Wood and the bottom of the Windmill Hill inclined plane on 1 June 1858, although isolated sections of the waterway remained in use for many years thereafter. The work of conversion was soon underway, and on Thursday, 30th May 1861 The Birmingham Daily Post announced that the Coalport and Hadley line of railway would be opened on ‘Monday next’, implying that the first trains would run on 3rd May. In the event, this prediction was slightly optimistic, and on 12th June the same newspaper reported that, ‘in accordance with the arrangements arrested’. previously announced’, the Coalport branch had been opened for passenger traffic on Monday, 10tj June 1861.

As usual in those days, Opening Day was treated as a public holiday, and a large number of spectators had assembled at Coalport station to witness this historic event. ‘At the appointed time, the first engine, and train of first, second and third class carriages, moved off from the station, having a respectable number of passengers’.

The newly opened railway commenced at Hadley Junction, on the Stafford to Wellington line, and it climbed south-eastwards on a ruling gradient of 1 in 50 towards Oakengates (3.25 miles from Wellington), which thereby acquired its second station. Beyond, the route continued southwards, with intermediate stations at Dawley (6 miles) and Madeley Market (7½ miles), to its terminus at Coalport, some 9½ miles from Wellington. The final two miles of line included a continuous 1 in 40 descent towards the River Severn. An additional station was opened to serve Malins Lee, between Oakengates and Dawley, on 7th July 1862.

The steep gradients on this new line contributed to three alarming incidents that took place within the space of a few weeks, the first of which occurred shortly before the opening to passenger traffic, when a train of wagons ‘laden with bricks, stone and sand for the works now in progress at the Coalport terminus, under the care of a brakesman, suffered a brake failure and, ‘thus liberated, the train acquired excessive speed, dashed past the court, through Madeley, until it neared the entrance to the tunnel in Madeley Lane. Here, its further progress was arrested by a large plank being skilfully placed across the rails, and the insertion of some spragges in the wheels. Fortunately, no injury was done beyond destruction to the plank’

On 30 August 1860, The Birmingham Daily Post reported a similar incident, when a train of ballast wagons was traversing the line from Madeley’ and ‘a coupling chain gave way, causing the wagons to ‘dash down the gradient at a fearful velocity’. Fortunately, the ‘timekeeper’ at Coalport Works, aware that the runaways were approaching, threw a bar of iron across the line of rail, whereby its further progress was arrested’.

Incredibly, a third near-disaster occurred on the following day, ‘as the engine was returning from the Coalport terminus with a numerous train of empty carriages’. For reasons that were not entirely clear, the train derailed near Mr Eagle’s Chain Manufactory, which was on the highest embankment on the line and, having fallen part way down the 60ft embankment, the engine became deeply embedded in the earth, earth, a ‘great number of men and appliances’ being required to extricate it from its precarious resting place. It was subsequently revealed that the embankment had been subject to almost daily subsidence, which may have contributed to the accident.

The Coalport branch line was, from its inception, geared towards freight traffic rather than passengers, and there were numerous private sidings linked to nearby factories within the Oakengates Urban District. One of these sidings, known as Wombridge Goods, served Wombridge Iron Works, which had a connection with a surviving section of the Shropshire Canal. There was also Wombridge ballast siding and Wombridge Old Quarry siding, while other sidings served the iron foundry of John Maddocks & Son, and also the Lilleshall Company’s steel works at Snedshill.

Successive editions of The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Stations reveal further private sidings on the Coalport branch, including, in 1938, the Exley & Son siding and the Nuway Manufacturing Co siding at Coalport, and at Madeley Market there was the Messrs Legge & Sons’ siding and the Madeley Wood Cold Blast Slag Co siding.

The original train service consisted of three passenger trains in each direction between Wellington and Coalport, with a similar number of goods workings. This modest service persisted for many years, although an additional Thursdays-only train was subsequently provided in response to the increased demand on Wellington market days. In 1888 the branch was served by four passenger trains each way, together with five Up and three Down goods workings. By the summer of 1922 there were five Up and five Down passenger trains, with an additional short-distance service from Wellington to Oakengates and return on Saturdays-only.

In the final years of passenger operation, the timetable comprised five trains each way. In July 1947, for example, there were Up services from Coalport at 6.22am, 8.50am, 11.57am, 4.40pm and 7.40pm, with corresponding Down workings from Wellington at 8.04am, 10.02am, 1.40pm, 6.30pm and 9.15pm; a slightly different service pertained on Thursdays and Saturdays. The final branch passenger service in 1952. consisted of four Up and four Down trains, increasing to five each way on Thursdays and six on Saturdays.

Oakengates (Market Street)

The Coalport line diverged from the Wellington to Stafford route at Hadley Junction, and ran south-eastwards via Wombridge goods station, at which point various private sidings branched out to serve Hadley Lodge Brickworks and other industrial concerns.

Oakengates, the largest station on the Coalport branch, was a short distance further on. The former LNWR and LMS station was renamed Oakengates (Market Street) on 18tj June 1951, to prevent confusion with the nearby GWR station, which was thereafter known as Oakengates (West). The town’s Coalport line station was orientated on an approximate north-to-south alignment, and its layout included Up and Down platforms for passenger traffic, with a level crossing immediately to the north of the platform ramps. The main station building was on the Up (northbound) platform, while the diminutive signal box was situated on the Down platform, in convenient proximity to the level crossing. The cabin was a standard L&NWR gable-roofed box, albeit of the smallest size.

The main station building, which was similar to that at Coalport, was a typical LNWR design, incorporating a one-and-a- half-storey Stationmaster’s house at the rear, and an attached single-storey building, which contained the booking office and waiting room facilities. The single-storey portion faced on to the platform, and it featured two rectangular bays and a central loggia, which was fully enclosed by a wood and glass screen to form a covered waiting area. The residential block sported a steeply pitched slate-covered roof, whereas the booking office portion had a flat roof. The building was of local brick construction, with tall chimneys and slightly arched window apertures. This distinctive structure was erected, as were all the others on the line, by local builder Christopher Bugaley of Madeley. There was a detached gentlemens’ convenience on the Up platform, while facilities for waiting travellers on the Down platform comprised a small waiting room.

Two dead-end goods sidings at Oakengates were provided on the Down side, while the Up side sported a sizeable goods yard and a substantial goods shed. There was also a timber yard siding and an additional goods shed that was used by Millington’s, a local company. The 1927 Ordnance Survey map suggests that the timber siding ran to within a few yards of the local (Oakengates & District) Co-operative Society Depot, and it was hardly a stone’s throw from a connection from the GWR station. For a time I attended the Sunday School at the Methodist Chapel halfway up Station Hill and I was a regular at the classic Grosvenor Cinema, which was close to Market Street station. Halfway up Station Hill, the old canal and Lilleshall Company lines ran under and across the road respectively.

Motive Power on the Coalport Branch

The Coalport branch was typically worked by Webb ‘Coal Tank’ 0-6-2Ts, together with Webb 2-4-2Ts and ‘Cauliflower’ 0-6-0s. In earlier years the route had also been worked by L&NWR 0-6-0 saddle tanks such as No 3093, which was recorded on the line in 1895. The London & North Western Railway ‘Coal Tanks’, which included the still-extant No 58926 (seen on the Coalport line as late as 21 October 1950), enjoyed a long association with the route, but at the end of the LMS era these veteran locomotives were replaced by Shrewsbury-allocated Fowler class ‘3MT 2-6-2Ts, such as Nos 40005, 40008, 40048 and 40058. The goods trains, meanwhile, were worked by a range of ex-LMS locomotive types, including Fowler Class ‘3F’ 0-6-0s, ‘4F’ 0-6-0s, and also the occasional ex-L&NWR ‘Super D’ 0-8-0.

The passenger services, known locally as the ‘Coalport Dodger’ were poorly supported – except on market days in Oakengates and Wellington, and for the locally renowned Oakengates Wakes (Pat Collins Fair) – hence their early demise, particularly as the rival ex-GWR route to Wellington was more convenient. World War II staved-off closure for a few years, but in the early months of 1952 it was announced that passenger services would be withdrawn with effect from 2 June 1952, and as this was a Monday the last trains ran on Saturday, 31 May. Fowler Class ‘3MT’ 2-6-2T No 40058 worked the final trains, its smokebox adorned with black flags, a wreath and the chalked letters ‘RIP’.

Motive power on the line after the cessation of passenger services was often provided by Hawksworth ’94XX’ class 0-6-0PTs, such as Nos 9470 and 9472 (complete with broken front numberplate), or less frequently, by ’57XX’ class 0-6-0PTs. There was an incident when a ’57XX’ was derailed on the catch points just outside Oakengates station, although details are elusive. Wellington shed’s sole ‘1600’ class 0-6-0PT, No 1663, shunted the GKN Sankey sidings near the junction of the Stafford and Coalport lines and it is believed to have ventured up the branch on occasion.

A goods working which appeared at Oakengates after mid-day invariably featured an LMS Burton-based Class ‘3F’ or ‘4F’ 0-6-0, although on one unforgettable occasion, on 14th August 1957, Bath (Green Park)-allocated Stanier ‘Black Five’ class 4-6-0 No 44917, in ex-Works condition, turned up on this humble working. This train had apparently started life as a light-engine working that had left Shrewsbury (Coleham) at 5.10am and, on then reaching Shrewsbury (Abbey Foregate) at 5.35am, it picked up a goods working and eventually arrived at Priors Lee sidings, just outside Oakengates, at 2.20pm.

In the period from July to the end of October 1957, the following locomotives appeared on what local trainspotters called ‘the mid-day goods’ (although it actually arrived in the early afternoon) – Class ‘3F’ 0-6-0s Nos 43709 and 43809, Class ‘4F’ 0-6-0s Nos 43948, 43976, 43986, 44124 and 44434, and of course ‘Black Five’ No 44917 (71G).

It is interesting to note that excursion trains continued to run from Coalport after the withdrawal of the regular passenger services. On one occasion, around 1956, there were two excursions to the North Wales Coast on the same day, both of which were hauled by Class ‘5MT’ 4-6-0s. Only one of these workings stopped to pick-up at Oakengates, as the other ran straight through Oakengates station – it must have been one of the few examples of a ‘non-stop’ passenger working in the life of the line?
On 23rd April 1955 the Locomotive Club of Great Britain joined forces with the Manchester Locomotive Society to run a ‘Shropshire Rail Tour’, which left Shrewsbury at 2.30pm behind ‘Dean Goods’ 0-6-0 No 2516 on a tour of local branch lines, which included the Minsterley and Coalport routes, the fare for this interesting excursion being 15s 6d.

A year or two later, on 2nd September 1959, the Stephenson Locomotive Society arranged a further tour of West Midland branch lines, including the Womborne, Minsterley and Coalport routes, a Swindon three-car Cross Country diesel-multiple-unit being provided instead of a steam-hauled train, ostensibly to ‘improve timings’.

Another abiding memory is of an excursion, believed to have been arranged by the late Cyril Poole, a teacher from Madeley Modern School, which departed behind a Hughes/ Fowler ‘Crab’ class 2-6-0 and returned in a tropical storm behind a ‘Super D’ 0-8-0, running tender-first. The train was made up to ten coaches and it took at least twenty minutes to surmount the 1 in 50 bank into Oakengates. Steaming was not an issue, but there were adhesion difficulties as the engine slithered and slipped up the bank – the noise level was something never to be forgotten!

References

1. D. Bradshaw and S.C. Jenkins; Rails around Oakengates; in Steam Days No. 283, March 2013, p165-179.

History

The history of the Coalport Branch begins with competition between rival rail companies in the area during the mid 1850’s. The GWR had control of the industrial areas of East Shropshire, whereas the LNWR only had access to the area via the Shropshire Canal which ran from Trench down to Coalport.

The Canal was going into disrepair and suffering from water shortages and subsidence. Canals in the area were difficult to maintain as the various mines in the area were causing significant subsidence.

The LNWR decided that it was best to discontinue costly maintenance and instead to build a railway line along the length of the Canal from Hadley to Coalport. Parts of the Canal were converted into railway track bed.

This is the last of a series of posts about the Coalport Branch the earlier two can be found at:

The Railways of Telford – the Coalport Branch of the LNWR – Part 1 – Hadley to Malins Lee Station

The Railways of Telford – the Coalport Branch – Part 1A

and

The Railways of Telford – the Coalport Branch of the LNWR – Part 2 – Malins Lee Station to Madeley Market Station

The use of a canal to provide a route for the railway was something that a number of railway companies pursued. In this case, the Canal provided a route for the railway down the East side of Dawley through what is now Telford Town Park, taking it past Aqueduct, Madeley and onto Coalport by the River Severn.

The Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal.

The history of the LNWR railway branch line is built on the story of the Canal and it is with that story that any investigation should begin. Separate articles cover the route of the Canal and the first of these can be found on this link:

The Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal – Part 1 – The length as far South as Stirchley Iron Works.

Madeley Market Station to Coalport East Station

Immediately to the South of Madeley Market Station was the station goods yard. Trains from Hadley Junction accessed the yard by means of a trailing connection, as can be seen on the Ordnance Survey map extract below.

Legge’s Siding

There was a siding providing access to the Blists Hill site which was known as Legge’s Siding. It is interesting to note that, while there is local confidence that Legge’s siding existed, there is little evidence of it on maps of the area. Dave Cromarty comments: “Legge’s Siding (the connection to the Blists Hill Brickworks)? … Where did it leave the branch? You try finding a map with it on it. When you do, leg it down Legges Way (the road built on that portion of the branch alignment in the 1980s) and try and fathom out where it was. I settled on lamppost MY460 as a best guesstimate, but I’m still not convinced. Just down the road there’s a quite spectacular, by horse tramway standards, bridge which carried a tramway from Meadowpit Colliery in Madeley, to Blists Hill.” [8]

The Legge in the name of the modern road and this siding was George Legge of George Legge and Sons who bought Blists Hill Brick and Tile Works in 1912 and continues in operation there unitl 1938.

Legges Siding and the shorter siding to the South provided access to the Blists Hill site. We have already noted the large number of tramroad line in the immediate area (as shown on the 1881 OS map). Looking in detail at these tramroads is not part of the plan for this article. They will be covered in another article in due course. Anyone interested in the tramroads of East Shropshire will find an introductory article on this link:

Early Tramroads Near Telford – Part 10 – An overview of the East Shropshire Area’s Historic Tramroad Network

The Bridges and the Tunnel over the Coalport Branch at Blists Hill

We saw these two bridges in a Google Streetview image above. The tunnel appears on the second 25″ map extract below, the two bridges on the first.

The first and lowest bridge is a footbridge which originally provided access from Coalport Road, which sits at bridge-deck level, to the Brick and Tile Works.

The second, much higher bridge carried a plateway/tramway incline over the line of the Coalport Branch. the plateway brought coal from Meadowpit Colliery to power the blast furnaces at Blists Hill.

The two bridges as seen from the North soon after the lifting of the track on the Coalport Branch. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Andy Rose on 16th December 2021. [14]

The two bridges viewed from the Southwest with the old Coalport Branch passing underneath them. This image was also shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Andy Rose on 16th December 2021. [14]

The two bridges viewed from the Southwest with the old Coalport Branch in the 21st century. This image was also shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Andy Rose on 16th December 2021. [14]

The tunnel from the South, © Copyright Bruce S, 9th February 2015. [13]

The tunnel during the construction of the surface water storm drain which passes through it. This image was shared on the Telford Memories Facebook Group by Marcus Keane on 7th January 2022. [16]

“The brick-lined tunnel, through which the London and North Western Railway branch line to Coalport ran, was built in the 19th century to carry plateways on top so that materials could be taken from the Lloyds Coppice area to the Blists Hill Ironworks. The tunnel is 60-70 metres in length, with a wonderful echo.” [13]

“The railway track closed in 1964 and the line became part of the Silkin Way in 1977. Underneath the old track bed lies the main sewers and water run-off for the town of Telford.” [13]

Opinion on whether this is a surface water sewer or for foul water differs. It seems most likely that it is a surface water drain.

__________________________________________________________

Addition in March 2025. ……

Recent comments from Rob Breeze clarify the position over the sewers which follow the Silkin Way …… Rob says that there are two sewers, one foul water sewer and one surface water drainage sewer for some considerable distance. He says: “I’m not sure where they merge, but from somewhere north of Blists Hill the sewer pipe is carried on brackets in the upper corner of the stormwater drain. A few hundred yards south of the Blists Hill tunnel there is a concreted area with railings overlooking Coalport Road. At this point the stormwater drain diverges down and to the right to its outfall into the river just downstream of the road junction. The sewer continues underneath the former railway line/Silkin Way to where you saw it passing under the Coalport High Street bridge in your photo. From there it runs roughly parallel to the river to near Sutton Wharf, where it crosses over to the Coalport/Gitchfield Sewage Treatment Works.” …. My thanks to Rob for his comments.

___________________________________________________________

Blists Hill

A detailed history of the site can be found on the ironbridge.org.uk website. [11] Sections of that website are reproduced below.

Blists Hill in the mid to late 19th century. [11]

“Blists Hill’s industrial peak arguably occurred in the early 1870s, when the blast furnaces were their most profitable and a new mechanised brickworks was developing. However, this decade also saw the start of the site’s decline. It was during this decade that Blists Hill’s mine stopped producing ironstone and coal. Brick and tile clay continued to be mined and used by the adjacent brickworks, but the Madeley Wood Company had to begin sourcing its raw materials for Blists Hill’s blast furnaces from further afield and in 1872 built the Lee Dingle bridge to transport materials from Meadow Pit colliery in Madeley to Blists Hill’s furnaces. The mine at Blists Hill continued to operate but by 1900 only 12 people were employed there and following the First World War it was sold several times. Abandonment plans were discussed as early as 1925 but it wasn’t until June 1941 that the mine was completely abandoned, and the shaft was filled in.” [11]

“Blists Hill’s blast furnaces also suffered declining profits from the 1870s. By this time, the furnaces’ technology was old fashioned, but its cold-blast pig iron filled a niche in the market. However, like most of the Shropshire iron industry, it was facing competition from cheaper imports of iron from Europe and America and competition from the steel industry. The lack of raw materials being mined at Blists Hill and the subsequent need to transport them from further afield also increased costs. In 1908, two of the three furnaces were blown out (ceased operating) and following a national miners’ strike in 1912, which severely impacted the supply of raw materials, the final furnace was blown out. By this time, the Madeley Wood Company’s profits were coming from coal mining rather than iron or brickmaking and so they also sold their Blists Hill brick and tile works to George Legge & Sons in 1912. Under George Legge & Sons the works produced handmade and specialist products alongside their mass-produced bricks and tiles and continued to manufacture these products until 1938, when the company was liquidated. From 1945, sanitary pipes were made at the works but this ceased in 1956 and the works was closed.” [11]

Further information about the Hay Incline Plane can be found here and here.

Locomotives and Rolling Stock on the Coalport Branch

In LNWR days the branch passenger service was generally served by small tank locos and goods by 0-6-0 tender locos. However, details are are a bit sketchy. William H. Smith points to allocation of locomotives to Shrewsbury Shed (LNWR No. 30) as a way to narrow down the field of possible motive power on the line. He says that there is only one eyewitness confirmation of a locomotive that operated on the line 2-4-0 LNWR No. 1000. [15] Locomotives from the shed allocation in 1917 which may have operated on the line include, “0‒6‒2T ‘Coal tanks’, LNWR Nos. 119, 292, 2459 and … 2‒4‒2T LNWR No. 1157 … along with 17in Goods 0‒6‒0s 1713, 2437.” [15]

Smith presumes that goods traffic between the two world wars would have been carried predominantly in ‘private owner’ open wagons. He mentions local coalfield owners, Cornish china clay companies, “‘North and Rose’ and ‘St. Austell China Clay Co’ are two such wagons noted from photographs. ‘Lilleshall’ and ‘Madeley Wood Co’ were locals, as was the ‘Mid-Shropshire Coal Co, Coalport’. …. Movement of wagons to and from the Staffordshire and Shropshire Coalfields would be expected and indeed, following a check on some post-war wagon labels from the branch, consignments from Littleton, Baggeridge, Donnington and Rugeley Collieries were confirmed.” [15]

“During the war passenger services were reduced and the branch provided storage sites for ammunition and special trains were observed hauled by Stanier Class 5 4‒6‒0s.” [15]

Nationalisation initially brought little change. “The ‘Dodger’, as it was popularly known, was still hauled by the 0‒6‒2T coal tanks and there was still ex-LNWR 2‒4‒2Ts Nos. 46601 and 46757 around in 1949 and 1950 as a reminder of past days. However, in December 1949 Wellington shed received its first allocation of Fowler 2‒6‒2Ts (40005 and 40006) and these took over much of the passenger work.” [15]

Throughout much of the life of the branch, passenger services consisted of four trains on weekdays, the journey taking 30 minutes. [42] It seems that the quality of the service deteriorated somewhat over the last 2 to 3 years of the life of the line. If a train arrived at all, it was often made up of a single coach. Midland Red replacement bus services became more frequent and passenger numbers became unsustainable.

By 1952, Fowler 2‒6‒2T No. 40058 was in use on the line often pulling a single coach, bunker first down the line to Coalport before running round it’s coach and returning to Wellington smoke-box first. Rumours of closure during the autumn of 1951 “became fact and it was 40058 which hauled the final regular passenger train over the branch on 31st May 1952. Malins Lee station was also closed completely from this time.” [15]

The goods service was also undergoing changes, “in May 1953 the 0‒6‒2T Coal Tanks were withdrawn from the Shrewsbury shed and ex-Midland 2F 0‒6‒0s began to appear on Coalport goods trains. Soon afterwards control of the line passed to the Western Region and Coalport became known as Coalport ‘East’, supplies of stores now arriving from Swindon.” [15]

By December 1960, very little goods traffic was being generated on the southern portion of the line and the section of the line from Dawley and Stirchley Station to Coalport was closed. It seems that traffic from the Lilleshall Company had also ceased. The remainder of the line was clearly in terminal decline and was closed in July 1964. [15]

And finally …

It seems as though the Coalport Branch was given some serious consideration as a home for a Railway Preservation Society. … The group which eventually became the Chasewater Railway (Chasewater Country Park, Brownhills West Station, Pool Lane (Off the A5), Burntwood, Staffs WS8 7NL).

The Coalport Branch was one of three lines under consideration when looking for a permanent home for the railway. These notes were made in 1960 after a visit to Coalport. [43]

“On Sunday, October 23rd 1960, a small party consisting of David Ives, James Slater, T. Jones, Frank Harvey and D. Noel Draycott visited the Coalport to Hadley line in North Shropshire. Built by the London & North Western Railway, it runs from the very attractive Vale of Severn across high land and through an early centre of the iron and steel industry to a junction on the Wellington to Stafford line.

The branch had a terminus at Coalport Station which stands on a long shelf, part cut out and part built up on the steep bank of the Severn. The station buildings comprise a booking office, general and ladies waiting rooms, backing on to the station master’s house. The signal box was demolished and a ground frame installed shortly before services were withdrawn in 1952. The goods shed has also been demolished, but the three short sidings remain in the yard.

Further along the shelf past the station, there is a carriage shed sufficient for four bogie carriages, and an engine shed for two locomotives.  These buildings are in fair condition, and the engine shed contains a large workshop space as well as a pit.  All these buildings back on to the hillside, and on the opposite side there is a pleasant stretch of wooded land before it falls steeply away to the river which forms the boundary of the railway property.

The line rises steeply from Coalport Station with attractive views across and up the Severn Valley before it turns away to cross pleasant rolling countryside to the small town of Madeley.  Here the station building is used as an office by an engineering firm, but the yard of some half dozen sidings is practically disused.

The line then continues to Dawley and Stirchley Station where a total of some 15 wagons of coal showed that an active coal merchant used the yard.  As dusk was falling, the tour of inspection finished at this point.  All the members of the party were impressed by the potentialities of the line for day trippers.” [43]

It seems that, had the decision been made to create a preservation line on the alignment of the Coalport Branch, Telford Steam Railway on the Wellington and Severn Junction line would have been very unlikely to have been formed. The line would, however, have been an excellent partner to the museum developments in the Severn Gorge which were to follow over the following decades, even if there would have been little room for the Silkin Way.

References

1. Bob Yate; The Shropshire Union Railway: Stafford to Shrewsbury including the Coalport Branch; Oakwood Press, Usk, 2003.
2. https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/nostalgia/2020/06/25/party-time-at-the-end-of-the-coalport-line, accessed on 16th March 2023.
3. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Madeley_Market_Station_-geograph.org.uk-_723053.jpg, accessed on 16th March 2023.
4. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.0&lat=52.63516&lon=-2.44497&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 16th March 2023.
5. https://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php, accessed on 16th March 2023.
6. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.63323&lon=-2.44827&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 16th March 2023]
7. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594494, accessed on 16th March 2023]
8. https://www.branchline.uk/fixture-report.php?id=1422, accessed on 16th March 2023.
9. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.62839&lon=-2.45167&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 16th March 2023.
10. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18.0&lat=52.62671&lon=-2.45273&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 16th March 2023.
11. https://www.ironbridge.org.uk/learn/museum-collections/exhibitions-listing/blists-hill-at-50/blists-hills-industrial-past, accessed on 16th March 2023.
12. http://www.superlative-walks.com/new-template-directions-added-information-2, accessed on 17th March 2023.
13. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMNBT8_Blists_Hill_Tunnel_Madeley_Telford_Shropshire, accessed on 17th March 2023.
14. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3072350026334492&set=gm.6986061404745136, accessed on 17th March 2023.
15. http://dawleyhistory.com/Postcards/Coalport%20Branch/Coalport%20Branch.html, accessed on 16th March 2023.
16. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10209180705550278&set=gm.7054705144547428, accessed on 17th March 2023.
17. https://youtu.be/_wyo0rdlb40, accessed on 17th March 2023.
18. https://www.ironbridge.org.uk/media/1112/blists-hill-map.pdf, accessed on 17th March 2023.
19. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10223918879215810&set=gm.5440699525948006, accessed on 20th March 2023.
20. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EPW061722, accessed on 20th March 2023.
21. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594689, accessed on 29th March 2023.
22. https://maps.nls.uk/view/121151432, accessed on 31st march 2023.
23. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coalport_East_railway_station,Shropshire–geograph.org.uk-_334985.jpg, accessed on 31st March 2023.
24. https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/nostalgia/2020/06/25/party-time-at-the-end-of-the-coalport-line, accessed on 31st March 2023.
25. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/5046212988729997, accessed on 31st March 2023.
26. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/1515410175143647, accessed on 31st March 2023.
27. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/1119660834718585, accessed on 31st March 2023.
28. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/1525092054175459, accessed on 31st March 2023.
29. https://m.facebook.com/groups/794448773917764/permalink/5395234133839182, accessed on 31st March 2023.
30. https://m.facebook.com/groups/113082092048275/permalink/1126311514058656, accessed on 31st March 2023.
31. https://www.flickr.com/photos/72213853@N03/8420366847, accessed on 1st April 2023.
32. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.6163667,-2.4421551,303m/data=!3m1!1e3, accessed on 1st April 2023.
33. Just after I completed the first article in this series, David Clarke, who wrote the book ‘The Railways of Telford‘, [34] contacted me to offer some photographs from his collection for inclusion in this short series of articles. I reviewed David’s book soon after we moved to Telford. It was an invaluable first step for me in exploring the railways and plateways (tramroads/tramways) of the area. That review can be found here.
34. David Clarke; The Railways of Telford; Crowood Press, Marlborough, Wiltshire, 2016.
35. https://www.brdatabase.info/locoqry.php?action=locodata&id=406251202&type=S&loco=7755, accessed on 1st April 2023.
36. https://www.brdatabase.info/locomotives.php?loconum=549, accessed on 1st April 2023.
37. https://www.brdatabase.info/locomotives.php?loconum=2516, accessed on 1st April 2023.
38. https://www.brdatabase.info/locomotives.php?loconum=7768, accessed on 1st April 2023.
39. https://www.brdatabase.info/locomotives.php?loconum=40058, accessed on 1st April 2023.
40. https://images.app.goo.gl/LadGMeFx1nnpdena8, accessed on 1st April 2023.
41. David Clarke sent a further batch of photographs by email on 2nd April 2023.
42. http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/BygoneLines/Coalport.php, accessed on 3rd April 2023.
43. https://chasewaterstuff.wordpress.com/tag/coalport-branch-line, acessed on 3rd April 2023.

History

The history of the Coalport Branch begins with competition between rival rail companies in the area during the mid 1850’s. The GWR had control of the industrial areas of East Shropshire, whereas the LNWR only had access to the area via the Shropshire Canal which ran from Trench down to Coalport. The first article in this short series about the Branch covered the history of the line as well as following the line from its junction with the LNWR main line at Hadley as far as Malins Lee Station. It can be found on this link:

The Railways of Telford – the Coalport Branch of the LNWR – Part 1 – Hadley to Malins Lee Station

The Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal.

The history of the LNWR branch line is built on the story of the Canal and it is with that story that any investigation should begin. Separate articles cover the route of the Canal. The first of these can be found on this link:

The Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal – Part 1 – The length as far South as Stirchley Iron Works.

Malins Lee Station to Stirchley Ironworks

Loops of the Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal adjacent to, and South of, Malins Lee Railway Station

A Loop of the Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal near Stirchley Ironworks

Andy Tidy surveyed the route of the Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal in March 2012 the majority of which lies underneath the formation of the LNWR Coalport Branch. He highlighted two areas worthy of note. The first adjacent to Hinkshay/Stirchley Pools and the second to the South of Dawley and Stirchley Railway Station where the Canal was in tunnel during its working life. [15]

Adjacent to the Hinkshay Pools, the Canal alignment deviated from the formation of the later Railway. Andy Tidy provided a plan (below) of the location which I have annotated with the key features he refers to. His pictures of the canal deviation can be seen here. [15]

Dawley and Stirchley Railway Station

Dawley and Stirchley railway station was opened in 1861 and closed to passengers in 1952. [3] When it opened, it was given the name ‘Stirchley’. The station was renamed Dawley & Stirchley in 1923, although closed to passengers as early as 1952 the line through the station site was not finally closed to freight until 1964. Although the goods service which originally served Coalport was restricted to only travelling to Dawley and Stirchley Station in 1960.[4][5]

The London and North Western Railway Society comments on the standard-gauge Coalport Branch as follows: “The first half of the route was originally part of the Shropshire Canal which the LNWR bought in 1857 and filled in, the line opening four years later. The passenger service, referred to locally as the Dawley Dodger, consisted of four trains on weekdays, the journey taking 30 minutes. It was withdrawn in 1952 but a string of private sidings between Wellington and Stirchley helped to keep that section open a further twelve years.” [5]

Through Telford Town Park and on through Dawley and Stirchley Station, the old railway line is now part of The Silkin Way. [6][7]

In the first half of the 19th century, before the LNWR branch line was built the tramway had a wharf on the Western bank of the Coalport Branch of the Shropshire Canal which was sited a little to the Northwest of the bottom of the map extract above. When the Coalport Branch of the LNWR was built the tramway was extended a little to run alongside the standard-gauge railway.

The Stirchley Canal Tunnel and later Railway Cutting

Immediately South of the overbridge the station loop continued as shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey (1883) map extract below.

A very short distance further South, the Canal which preceded the railway entered a 281 yard long tunnel – Stirchley Tunnel. When the railway was built, the tunnel was opened out into a cutting. At this location the Ordnance Survey mapping shows a rock face to the West side of the line.

There is little remaining of the canal structure at this location. However Andy Tidy points out that cottages adjacent to the site are called ‘Tunnel Cottages’ and that “a careful inspection of the west wall of the cutting reveals the unmistakable curve of the old canal tunnel as it was carved out of solid rock spanning 10ft at the waterline.” [15]

Aqueduct village and the GWR Madeley Branch

The OS Map extract below shows the next length of the branch line. To the South of what had been Stirchley Canal Tunnel there was a canal junction. One arm of the canal turned West and ran across towards Lightmoor, the other arm first turned East and then South down the incline near Windmill Farm. Neither branch survived the coming of the railway. The hamlet of Aqueduct straddled the old turnpike road to Bridgnorth which passed under the canal arm to the West. The aqueduct used to carry the canal is still standing in the 21st century although the old turnpike road is not in use as a modern highway. The railway cut through the village of Aqueduct as shown on the map extract.

South of Southall Road Chapel Lane crossed the old railway at level.

Immediately South of the modern A4169, the old Coalport Branch crossed what was the GWR Madeley Branch. The abutments of the bridge remain and can be seen by trekking from the South towards the still remaining Madeley Branch.

Madeley Court Iron Works

In 1845-6, James Foster built three blast furnaces near the newly opened mines on his Madeley Court estate. They replaced his Wombridge furnaces, and Foster moved workmen and plant from Wombridge to create a modern ironworks. For most of their life only two of the three furnaces were in blast together. All the Madeley Court pig iron was sent to the Fosters’ ironworks in Staffordshire and Worcestershire to be blended with other types for the manufacture of high quality bar. The ironworks ceased working in 1902 but in 1912 were taken over by Thomas Parker, an electrical engineer. He and his son C. H. Parker established Court Works Ltd., a foundry firm which, seventy years later, had long specialized in iron castings for the electrical industry. [54]

The tramroads in this are will feature in a future article in the series about Telford’s tramroads/tramways. An overview of the wider area’s tramroads/tramways/plateways can be found on this link:

Early Tramroads Near Telford – Part 10 – An overview of the East Shropshire Area’s Historic Tramroad Network

Madeley Court

Historic England records this Grade II* listed building as being, “Mainly C16 with traces of C13 fabric. Built as a grange to Wenlock Priory. At the Dissolution bought in 1553 by Sir Robert Brooke, Speaker in the House of Commons, and stayed in the Brooke family until early C19. Tenanted by Abraham Darby I from 1709 until his death. Large ashlar house, at time of survey (1980) being restored. Tiled roofs with gables with parapet coping. Large brick shafted chimney stacks. Two-storeys and attics. L-shaped on plan, originally on west wing as well. The north-west hall range extensively rebuilt. Gabled stone attic windows with finials. Large stone mullion transom windows with dripmoulds. Early C17 stone porch to right hand of hall range with moulded round arch and ornate gables with volutes, pediments and strapwork foliage decoration. The east wing contains large C16 timber newel staircase and rooms with bolection moulded panelling and chimney piece.” [39]

Madeley Court to Bridge Street/High Street, Madeley

Returning to the route of the Coalport Branch, we continue to follow the old line in a South-southeasterly direction.

The Coalport Branch crossed Bridge Street on a single-span girder bridge. The road is now known as High Street. These next few pictures show the location through the years.

In a very short distance, the line passed through Madeley Market Station. The line was single through the station and a small goods yard was provided immediately South of the station on the West side of the line.

We complete this segment of the journey having looked at Madeley Market Station.

The next leg of the journey will take us to Coalport East Railway Station as the end of the branch line. This can be found on this link:

References

1. Bob Yate; The Shropshire Union Railway: Stafford to Shrewsbury including the Coalport Branch; Oakwood Press, Usk, 2003.
2. http://www.shropshirerailways.photo-bikes.com/wellington%20to%20coalport.htm, accessed on 27th August 2022.
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawley_and_Stirchley_railway_station, accessed on 18th June 2022.
4. http://www.dawleyheritage.co.uk/cd-content/themes/dawley_heritage/gui/Dawley-Leaflet.pdf, accessed on 18th June 2022.
5. http://www.lnwrs.org.uk/BygoneLines/Coalport.php, accessed on 18th June 2022.
6. https://www.telford.gov.uk/info/20465/walking/5220/silkin_way_walking_route, accessed on 18th June 2022.
7. https://www.telford.gov.uk/downloads/file/3060/silkin_way_-_walking_and_cycling_route, accessed on 18th June 2022.
8. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594470, accessed on 15th June 2022.
9. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.65765&lon=-2.45133&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 18th June 2022.
10. http://www.dawleyhistory.com/Postcards/Dawley%20and%20Stirchley%20Station/Dawley%20and%20Stirchley%20Station%20.html, accessed on 18th June 2022.
11. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3933743, accessed on 18th June 2022.
12. http://www.dawleyhistory.com/Postcards/Dawley%20and%20Stirchley%20Station/Dawley%20and%20Stirchley%20Station%20.html, accessed on 18th June 2022.
13. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=18&lat=52.65952&lon=-2.45156&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 18th June 2022.
14. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol11/pp185-189, accessed on 18th June 2022.
15. http://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.com/2012/03/shropshire-canal-stirchley.html, accessed on 22nd June 2022.
16. This photograph was shared as a comment by Andy Rose on a group post by Marcus Keane dated 27th February 2022 which showed the length of the Shropshire Canal bed directly behind Malinslee Railway Station; https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/7378452445506028, accessed on 29th August 2022.
17. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalport_branch_line, accessed on 3rd March 2023.
18. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594470, accessed on 3rd March 2023.
19. https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dawley_and_Stirchley_station_goods_yard_in_2018..jpg, accessed 3rd March 2023.
20. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/1550626868288644, accessed on 3rd March 2023.
21. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/4090909460927026, accessed on 3rd March 2023.
22. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/7064440986907177, accessed on 3rd March 2023.
23. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/8637445036273423, accessed on 3rdvMarch 2023.
24. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/1805378129480182, accessed on 3rd March 2023.
25. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594470, accessed on 6th March 2023.
26. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594494, accessed on 6th March 2023.
27. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.6571025,-2.4515307,168m/data=!3m1!1e3, accessed on 6th March 2023.
28. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.6546913,-2.4507931,673m/data=!3m1!1e3, accessed on 6th March 2023.
29. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.6470173,-2.4467698,1346m/data=!3m1!1e3, accessed on 6th March 2023.
30. https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101377111-canal-aqueduct-at-national-grid-reference-695-057-dawley-hamlets/photos/73853#.ZAYLvnbP2Uk, accessed on 6th March 2023.
31. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10152157354663862&set=gm.792563120761693, accessed on 7th March 2023.
32. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10202786832937144&set=gm.680566501961356&idorvanity=674238619260811, accessed on 7th March 2023.
33. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1489065254471240&set=pcb.1655109441173719, accessed on 7th March 2023.
34. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2407662872611469&set=pcb.2839476689403649, accessed on 7th March 2023.
35. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10204474116168485&set=gm.2106059992745326, accessed on 7th March 2023.
36. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10202959959945211&set=gm.692805317404141&idorvanity=674238619260811, accessed on 7th March 2023.
37. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/archive/TGA-8728-1-31-210-1, accessed on 7th March 2023.
38. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1352026?section=comments-and-photos, accessed on 7th March 2023.
39. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1352026?section=official-list-entry, accessed on 7th March 2023.
40. https://www.thedicamillo.com/house/madeley-court-madeley-hall, accessed on 7th March 2023.
41. https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/723058, accessed on 7th March 2023.
42. https://m.facebook.com/groups/1730959503584733/permalink/2318531471494197, accessed on 7th March 2023.
43. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.67444&lon=-2.43940&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 10th March 2023.
44. https://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php, accessed on 8th March 2023.
45. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2036718353039258&set=pcb.2318496184835038, accessed on 10th March 2023.
46. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4469098141110&set=p.4469098141110&type=3, accessed on 10th March 2023.
47. http://dawleyhistory.com/Postcards/Coalport%20Branch/Coalport%20Branch.html, accessed on 13th March 2023.
48. https://m.facebook.com/groups/674238619260811/permalink/7378452445506028, accessed on 29th August 2022.
49. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594470, accessed on 13th March 2023.
50. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.66994&lon=-2.44245&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 13th March 2023.
51. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.66547&lon=-2.44615&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 13th March 2023.
52. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.66119&lon=-2.45017&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 14th March 2023.
53. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.64511&lon=-2.44866&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 14th March 2023.
54. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol11/pp40-56#h3-0005, accessed on 14th March 2023.
55. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.64030&lon=-2.44531&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 14th March 2023.
56. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=17.0&lat=52.63623&lon=-2.44475&layers=168&b=1, accessed on 14th March 2023.
57. https://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/EPW061722, accessed on 20th March 2023.
58. David Clarke; The Railways of Telford; Crowood Press, Marlborough, Wiltshire, 2016, my review: https://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/12/26/the-railways-of-telford-part-1-a-book-review

Part A – The Main Line to and from Sutton Wharf

The Lilleshall Company was a dominant force in the East Shropshire area and developed a network of canals and tramroads to transport goods between their many different sites. “The company’s origins date back to 1764 when Earl Gower formed a company to construct the Donnington Wood Canal on his estate. In 1802 the Lilleshall Company was founded by the Marquess of Stafford in partnership with four local capitalists.” [31]

Bob Yate, in his important book, “The Railways and Locomotives of the Lilleshall Company,” introduces the historical development of the transport provision of the Lilleshall Company, referring first to the Company’s canal network. The construction of these canals which, while of some significance, was unable to provide for all of the sites being built and run by the Company.

“In order to reach the workings of the pits, quarries and works that these canals served, a system of tramways was soon developed. These were almost certainly constructed using wrought iron rails from the start, and were definitely of plateway construction.” [1: p36]

Yate goes on to explain that the tramroads/tramways/plateways had various gauges and comments that these short lines “linking the workings to the canals, gradually lengthened as their usefulness became apparent. So it was that in October, 1797 the ironmaster Thomas Botfield agreed with his landlord, Isaac Browne to carry 1,200 tons of coal each month from Malins Lee (about two miles south of Oakengates): to some convenient wharf or quay adjoining the River Severn, and to the railway intended to be made by John Bishton & Co. and the said Thomas Botfield, or to some intermediate wharf or bank between the said works and the River Severn upon the line of the intended railway.” [1: p35]

Yate continues: “This railway was working by 1799, running from Sutton Wharf, near Coalport, to Hollinswood, where it connected with several ironworks and mines to the north in the area of Priorslee. The total length of this line was about eight miles, and it is presumed to have been horse worked. Bishton and Onions, whose ironworks was situated at Snedshill, were certainly involved in the original line, and by 1812 it had become the property of the [Lilleshall] Company. This is recorded on Robert Baugh’s map of 1808, and again on the Ordnance Survey maps of 1814 and 1817, although in the latter two cases it is not shown in its entirety.” [1: p35]

Yate notes that the Company were sending down around 50,000 tons of coal annually and much iron. “However, the Shropshire Canal was not enjoying the most robust of business climates, and attempted in June 1812 to negotiate for the Company’s business, although this seems to have been unsuccessful. However, in April 1815, William Horton on behalf of the [Lilleshall] Company agreed that the tramway would be removed, and that its business would be transferred to the canal. In turn, the Company: received compensation of some £500. as well as favourable tonnage rates.” [1: p35]

This means that the direct tramroad link to the River Severn was very short-lived.

The closure of this mainline tramroad/tramway had little effect on the ‘internal’ network of routes serving the Lilleshall Company’s various pits and works. Yate tells us that, by 1833, the main tramways were: a line running along Freestone Avenue to Lawn Pit, near to Priorslee Hall, and to Woodhouse Colliery; branches east of Stafford Street, Oakengates and north of Freestone Avenue; a continuation of the main line northwards crossing Station Hill, Oakengates to the east of the Shropshire Canal, and on to meet the Wrockwardine inclined plane near to Donnington Wood. [1: p35]

“By 1856, further tramways had been laid around the area of Snedshill Ironworks linking to the canalside warehouses, and branches reaching out to the waste heaps south and west of the ironworks. These spoil heap lines continued to expand in subsequent years around the Priorslee Ironworks, and south therefrom.” [1: p35]

Several of the coal pits in the Donnington Wood area were, by 1837, linked directly to the Old Lodge Furnaces and no longer needed to make use of the canal network. These tramroads were horse-drawn with minor exceptions on short, level runs where trams were manhandled. Yate comments: “It is nonetheless interesting to consider that wayleaves were granted in 1692 at Madeley and in 1749 at Coalbrookdale to permit the use of oxen. Admittedly this was over the roads of the area, but a good case could possibly be made for their employment as motive power on the tramroads, as surely local customs would be a powerful influence.” [1: p35]

Using the canal network became increasingly problematic. The underground workings in the area caused some subsidence and as a consequence canals could require significant repairs and be out if action for a time.

The Lilleshall Company’s tramroads eventually developed into a significant standard-gauge network. The later part of the transport story of the Lilleshall Company is for another time and another article!

In this article we concentrate on, what was, a relatively early (1799 to 1815), wrought-iron plateway tramroad. Perhaps we should bear in mind that it is possible that the Lilleshall Company saw no major financial advantage in lifting the whole line from Sutton Wharf into the Company’s industrial heartland and that elements of this tramroad came to be used as part of a later network of tramroads or railways If this was not true for the wrought-iron plates/rails themselves, it is much more likely that any embankments and cuttings could be used in this way. This may perhaps be something we will discover along the way.

The Tramroad Running North from Sutton Wharf

Savage and Smith provide some information about the line in their research in ‘The Waggon-ways and Plateways of East Shropshire‘. They provide two different series of drawings – the first set are 1″ to a mile plans relating to specific eras in the development of the local tramroads. The extract here is taken from the plan which relating to 1801-1820. [2: p85]

The line is shown in red ink, the Shropshire Canal is the heavy black line. The dotted and dashed thin lines are later railway routes. The short red dashes at the North end of the tramroad indicate that the route of the tramroad is not as certain as the length shown in continuous red ink.

Savage and Smith comment on the tramroad: “In 1808 Robert Baugh’s map of Shropshire shows the line from Oakengates to Sutton Wharf, but not with any great accuracy. Part of it is shown on the two inch ordnance survey of 1814 and 1817, but only as far as Holmer Farm. After this it disappears. Its owners seem to have been the Lilleshall Company and they sent down annually 50,000 tons of coal and much iron. It was agreed to remove it and transfer business to the Shropshire canal for compensation of £500 and a guarantee of favourable rates.” [2: p140]

The second series of plans provided by Savage and Smith are to a scale 6″ to a mile. At this larger scale, it at first seems that they are not prepared to show the same level of certainty over the actual route of the tramroad than on the 1″ to a mile map above. In fact the difference between the two lines shown has as much to do with the scale of the source mapping used. The long dashed red line in the more northerly section of the plans produced here indicates that the route was obtained from a 0.5″ to a mile plan. So they acknowledge that, while the route definitely existed, issues with scaling inevitably mean that there is greater uncertainty over the detailed alignment. We are probably best advised to see the route from Sutton Wharf to Holmer Farm as relatively reliable and to check the detail of the route from that point North. The 6″ to a mile plan is a fold-out plan and because of its length, difficult to photograph.

Savage and Smith also only show the line running to the North of Dark Lane, rather than around the West of Oakengates. With these provisos Savage and Smith show much of the length of the Sutton Wharf tramroad.

My photographs of the 6″ plan are not of the greatest clarity. But the two images provided here give sufficient clarity to make out the significant features that Savage and Smith recorded in the 1960s. [2: p139]

Their contribution is important, as they were able, in their onsite surveys, to record details subsequently lost with the remodelling of the landscape and the construction of new transport arteries by the Telford Development Corporation.

Our investigation of the route of the tramroad begins at its southern end at Sutton Wharf.

Below the key to Savage and Smith’s 6″ to a mile drawings there are a series of maps and satellite images showing the location of the Wharf.

The 6″ Ordnance Surveys of 1881/82, published in 1883 and of 1901, published in 1902 show the railways serving the immediate area to the West and South of Sutton Wharf. The GWR Severn Valley Railway is to the South of the River Severn with its station close to Bridge Inn. The LNWR Coalport Branch is on the North side of the Severn. The two stations are linked by Coalport Bridge.

Coalport Bridge remains in use in the 21st century, the two railways have disappeared. One picture of the bridge as it appears in the 21st century is provided below. The LNWR line is now the Silkin Way which links the River Severn with the centre of Telford. The Severn Valley Railway Coalport Station is, in 2023, a site with a variety of different holiday accommodation available.

As an aside, here are some details about Coalport Bridge as provided on Wikipedia: “Architect and bridge-builder William Hayward (1740–1782) designed the first crossing over the Severn at Coalport, based on two timber framed arches built on stone abutments and a pier. It was originally built by Robert Palmer, a local timber yard owner based in Madeley Wood, and opened in 1780. The bridge, known as Wood Bridge, connected the parish of Broseley on the south bank of the river with the Sheep Wash in the parish of Madeley and Sutton Maddock on the north bank. … The wooden bridge was short-lived and lasted less than 5 years until 1795, when severe winter flooding virtually washed away the mid-stream supporting pier.” [9]

The bridge remained closed from 1795 until the Trustees had it rebuilt in 1799 “as a hybrid of wood, brick and cast-iron parts, cast by John Onions (Proprietor’s Minute Book 1791–1827). The two original spans were removed and replaced by a single span of three cast iron ribs, which sprang from the original outer sandstone pier bases. The bridge deck was further supported by two square brick piers, the northern one constructed directly on top of the stone pier base and the southern one set back slightly towards the river bank. The remainder of the superstructure was built of wood and may have reused some of the original beams. However, by 1817, this bridge was failing again, attributed to the insufficient number of cast iron ribs proving inadequate for the volume of traffic. Consequently, the bridge proprietors decided to rebuild Coalport Bridge once again, this time completely in iron. The quality of the castings is good, especially by comparison with the castings of the Iron Bridge upstream. The bridge was recently (2005) renovated and the static load lowered by replacing cast iron plates used for the roadway with composite carbon fibre/fibreglass plates, with substantial weight saving.” [9]

“The date of 1818 displayed on its midspan panel refers to this substantial work which allowed the bridge, subscribed to by Charles Guest, one of the principal trustees, to stand without major repairs for the next 187 years.” [9] In 2004-2005, during the closure (which lasted about a year), not only were major works undertaken to the span of the bridge, it was also necessary to reconstruct the two brick arches supporting the verges at the south side of the bridge. The bridge “still takes vehicular traffic, unlike the more famous Iron Bridge, albeit limited to a single line of traffic, a 3-tonne weight limit and a height restriction of 6 ft 6in (1.98 cm).” [9]

From the Wharf, an inclined plane was needed to gain height to the land above the Severn Gorge. The location of the incline is shown below.

The next opportunity to look at the line of the tramroad comes at the point where its route is joined by a footpath which appears on the 1882 Ordnance Survey above and still is in existence today. The route appears on the modern 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey Explorer Series mapping as shown below.

Two collieries appear on the 1901 OS mapping – Halesfield and Kemberton Collieries. These would not have been present when the tramroad was active in this area. By the 1950s these two pits were worked as one by the NCB and together employed over 800 men. “John Anstice sank Kemberton Pit when director of the family company in 1864 mainly for coal but it also produced ironstone and fireclay. … Halesfield was sunk as an ironstone and coal mine in the 1830s and continued to work coal until the 1920s, it later became the upcast and pumping shafts for Kemberton pit.” [13]

Apart from the A4169 at the bottom of the satellite image (which is already shown above), the only modern road which crosses the line of this section of the old tramroad Is Halesfield 18. Google Streetview images in this area were taken at the height of Summer in 2022 when vegetation was at its most abundant and as a result show nothing of note.

Our discussion about the old tramroad alignment is essentially speculative. We are in a better position than Savage and Smith were to trace routes using modern technology, but even so our possible route remains speculative. I have reproduced in in approximation on the same modern satellite image as were encountered above. Should it be correct, then some of its route can be followed and some locations can be photographed but all with a healthy sense of scepticism.

Holmer Lake is a reservoir owned by Severn Trent Water and serves Telford and the surrounding areas. The land around Holmer Lake includes areas of woodland and grassland. [19] Mad Brook was dammed in in 1968-70 to create a balancing reservoir at the behest of Telford Development Corporation. [16][17]

The next length of the old tramroad brings us passed the site of Grange Farm and Grange Colliery, Stirchley Ironworks and close to Randlay Pool. Mad Brook meanders North, initially close to the line of the old tramroad, moving away West beyond Grange Farm and then getting lost in the midst of Stirchley/Oldpark Ironworks.

These images are taken at and around the site of Grange Colliery. On the image above, the spoil heaps from the colliery were immediately off-screen to the left the colliery yard ahead to the North. The image below was taken a from a point just to the North of the bins awaiting collection and looking to the left.

Grange Colliery probably opened by 1833. The extent of seams that could be worked was restricted by the Limestone fault, east of which the coal lay deeper. [21][17] By 1881 all the pits except Grange colliery had been closed. Despite the lease of mineral rights at Grange Colliery to Alfred Seymour Jones of Wrexham in 1893, the colliery was closed in 1894. [21][17]

The closer satellite view of part of Telford Town Park above gives us a good point to stop to think about the historical timeline in the immediate vicinity of Stirchley Chimney. The tramroads in this immediate area were looked at in an earlier article in this series which can be found here. [22]

Savage and Smith [2] and other sources provide sufficient information to allow us to pull together that timeline. We have already noted that the tramroad was operating by 1799 and abandoned by 1815. Other Tramroads around Stirchley and along the route of the Shropshire Canal came along, generally, in piecemeal fashion.

The canal predated the Tramroad. It was built to link Donnington Wood with Coalport on the River Severn, a distance of about 7 miles. Construction commenced in 1789 near Oakengates and reached Blists Hill relatively quickly. A shaft and tunnel were intended to get loads down to river level. However, it seems as though natural tar was found oozing out of the tunnel wall and it was turned into a tar extraction business. In its place the Hay Incline was built to bring tub boats down to river level. [23] The incline has also been covered previous articles: here [24] and here. [25]

Once the canal has been completed a number of businesses decided to use the canal as a route to the outside world. Before 1830 a wharf had been established on the West side of the Canal close to Hinkshay/Stirchley Pools which provided for colleries, brickworks and ironworks to the West and North.

The 1840s saw minor additions to the tramroad network around Madeley (South of Stirchley), the next decade saw considerable developments alongside the canal as shown on the next Savage and Smith extract below.

There was little change in the immediate area over the next 15 years. The next image covers the period 1876-1900 and again only shows minor changes to tramroads in the vicinity of Stirchley The railways now dominate the transport landscape.

Missing from Savage and Smith’s 1″ to one mile drawings is the GWR branch parallel to the LNWR branch and running from the North down towards Stirchley. The route of that line is shown below in a turquoise colour on the mapping supplied by RailMapOnline.

The next few photographs take us along the route of what is the old tramroad from Sutton Wharf and that of the GWR Mineral Line along the East side of Stirchley Chimney which still stands in the 21st century.

The information board reads: “From at least 1882, the Great Western Railway (GWR) ran a mineral railway from Hollinswood down the Randlay valley to serve the coal and iron industries in Stirchley. Within the Town Park, this followed a course from Randlay Brickworks to the Grange. … The Mineral Railway stopped travelling South to the Grange between 1903 and 1929 and terminated at the Wrekin chemical works. [These were at the present location of Stirchley Chimney.] Its use finally reached the end of the line in 1954. The line of the Mineral Railway is preserved today on this pathway and evidence remains including posts, buildings and artefacts.” There is also a note on the board about a network of sidings which linked various industrial works to the main line of the mineral railway alongside a sketch-map of the area.

North of Randlay Pool the line of the old tramroad and the line of the GWR Mineral railway plunge into undergrowth and the topography of the area beyond this point for some distance is very unlikely to be the same as that present in 1901. In the top half of the satellite image above the lines crossed three modern roads, Stirchley Avenue, Queen Elizabeth Avenue and Dale Acre Way, then run geographically along the line of Downemead for a short way.

On the extract from the satellite imagery below the line is picked up running approximately along Downemead before crossing Dale Acre Way once again. At the point where Downemead meets Dale Acre Way at its North end, Dale Acre Way is running approximately along what was Dark Lane shown on the 6″ Ordnance Survey immediately below. Comparing the two images immediately below shows how much topographic change has occurred in the 120 years since the 1901 Ordnance Survey. Effectively the only feature which remains in the 21st century is the Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton Mainline railway which runs from top-left to bottom-right across both the map and the satellite image.

From the North side of the M54 as far as Hollinswood Road, the modern ladscape is heavily wooded and it would be impossible to pick out important features on the ground as the satellite image below shows.

Beyond the buildings shown above the old tramroad route crosses the A442 slip road which is just beyond the industrial estate as shown below. …

It is at this point that we leave the old line. We are close to Oakengates and there was at one time a very large number of different tramroads ahead, part of the Lilleshall Company’s internal network. We will pick up this tramroad when we look at that network.

References

1. Bob Yate; The Railways and Locomotives of the Lilleshall Company; Irwell Press, Clophill, Bedfordshire, 2008.
2. R.F. Savage & L.D.W. Smith; The Waggon-ways and Plateways of East Shropshire; Birmingham School of Architecture, 1965. Original document is held by the Archive Office of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust.
3. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594689, accessed on 8th February 2023.
4. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.61334&lon=-2.43435&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 8th February 2023.
5. https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=16/52.6122/-2.4342, accessed on 8th February 2023.
6. https://planning.org.uk/app/32/QQSNFYTDLXO00, accessed on 8th February 2023.
7. http://www.dawleyhistory.com/Maps/1808.html, accessed on 8th February 2023.
8. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Coalport_br1.jpg, accessed on 9th February 2023.
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalport_Bridge, accessed on 9th February 2023.
10. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594494, accessed on 9th February 2023.
11. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.63640&lon=-2.42745&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 14th February 2023.
12. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.64436&lon=-2.43028&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 14th February 2023.
13. https://www.shropshirecmc.org.uk/below/2007_3w.pdf, accessed on 14th February 2023.
14. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=14.6&lat=52.65918&lon=-2.43605&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 20th February 2023.
15. https://maps.nls.uk/view/101594470, accessed on 20th February 2023.
16. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol11/pp185-189, accessed on 20th February 2023.
17. A P Baggs, D C Cox, Jessie McFall, P A Stamper and A J L Winchester; Stirchley: Manor and other estates; in ed. G C Baugh and C R Elrington; A History of the County of Shropshire: Volume 11, Telford; London, 1985, p185-189; via British History Online, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol11/pp185-189, accessed 20th February 2023.
18. Christopher Greenwood; Map of the County of Salop, 1827; Facsimile Copy, Shropshire Archaeological and Historical Society, 2008.
19. https://www.telford.gov.uk/info/20629/local_nature_reserves/6525/holmer_lake_with_kemberton_meadow_and_mounds, accessed on 21st February 2023.
20. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.66125&lon=-2.44016&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 21st February 2023.
21. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/salop/vol11/pp189-192, accessed on 22nd February 2023.
22. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2022/06/24/ancient-tramroads-near-telford-part-6-malinslee-part-2-jerry-rails
23. http://www.canalroutes.net/Shropshire-Canal.html, accessed on 22nd February 2023.
24. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2020/10/21/coalport-incline-ironbridge
25. https://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/06/10/coalport-incline-ironbridge-addendum-2021
26. https://www.railmaponline.com/UKIEMap.php, accessed on 23rd February 2023.
27. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.67026&lon=-2.44101&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 23rd February 2023.
28. https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2007/04/26/brickworks-at-turn-of-century, accessed on 23rd February 2023.
29. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.67807&lon=-2.43952&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 24th February 2023.
30. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16.0&lat=52.68562&lon=-2.43991&layers=6&b=1, accessed on 24th February 2023.
31. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilleshall_Company#:~:text=The%20Lilleshall%20Company%20was%20a,operated%20a%20private%20railway%20network, accessed on 4th March 2023.