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Rifle Range Halt was located between Kidderminster and Bewdley. The rifle range was situated on the open heathland near "The Devil's Spittleful", the large sandstone outcrop on the right just before the Safari Park as you travel towards Bewdley. During the First World War it was used mainly by volunteers from the Yeomanry. Its location is shown on the extract from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1888-1929. The map of that time still referred to the railway between Kidderminster and Bewdley as the “Loop Line”.
The Halt was located immediately on the Kidderminster side of the [[Devil's Spittleful (Rifle Range) Bridge]]. The Halt was only open between 1905 and 1920, and no traces of it remain today.The halt was initially served by a [[GWR Steam Railmotor | steam railmotor]] service which began in January 1905, lasting until 1918.
Although the Halt closed, the area retained a military connection. In late 1943 two large hutted camps were built along nearby Burlish Top (the wooded area on top of the hill on the opposite side of the line from the Rifle Range). These held some 6-7000 American troops, the headquarters of the US Army VIII Corps (Dec 1943 to Apr 1944) and IX Corps (Apr 1944 to July 1944). During World War 2 the easterly part of the heathland became a tented camp used by the 297th U.S. Army Hospital. The area towards the west, between the Safari Park and the SVR, was also used for tank training.
Today the heathland area is a nature reserve, managed by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.
==See also==
[[List of stations#Historic SVR stations | List of Stations]]
==References==
Nature Reserve information boards <br><references />
==Links==
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust [http://www.worcswildlifetrust.co.uk/reserves/devils-spittleful-and-blackstone-farm (Link)]<br>
