Alveley Sidings

6388 passes large numbers of coal wagons at Alveley Sidings in October 1959 (Sellick Collection)

Alveley Sidings were located between Highley and Hampton Loade, and opened on 30 January 1939 to serve Alveley Colliery, which was located across the river. Alveley Halt, which was located at the south (Highley) end of the sidings, was used by miners travelling to the colliery by railway.

The sidings remained in use for coal traffic after the closure of the line to passengers between Bewdley and Shrewsbury in 1963, accessed from Bewdley. However, the mine became uneconomical to work and was closed in 1969, with the sidings and line north of Bewdley being closed at the same time, as no other source of traffic remained.

The area at the north (Hampton Loade) end of the sidings is usually referred to on the Railway as Alveley Woods.

Operations

GWRGreat Western Railway plan of Alveley Sidings

A concrete arched bridge was built across the River Severn between 1936 and 1937. Coal was brought from the colliery to the sidings and colliery, initially by a 21" cable-worked tramway across the bridge, and from 1960 by an aerial ropeway above it.

• 

  The river bridge and tramway.

• 

  The ropeway as seen from the Severn Valley branch

The sidings were accessed via two ground frames, Alveley Sidings (North) and Alveley Sidings (South), which were unlocked by the Highley-Hampton Loade token. An intermediate token instrument was provided in a cabin between the two ground frames, with direct telephone lines to Highley Signal Box and Hampton Loade Booking Office, as well as the Worcester Exchange-Bridgnorth signal box omnibus line. The intermediate instrument allowed trains to be locked in so that other traffic could pass on the main line whilst shunting took place in the sidings.

The layout on the GWRGreat Western Railway side consisted of a front loop line, with a capacity of 50 wagons, and a number of other sidings and headshunts. Two connections to the private sidings were provided, one at the South end leading to the empty wagon sidings, which held 40 wagons, and another at the North end leading to the loaded wagon sidings, holding 36 wagons. The two rakes of private sidings were connected internally via the coal screens (opened in 1939), the large buildings visible in the Sellick photograph, where coal was loaded into the wagons. GWRGreat Western Railway locomotives were used to set down and pick up wagons on these sidings, but were otherwise not allowed in the private sidings.

The GWRGreat Western Railway locomotives which operated coal trains from the sidings were subject to the Severn Valley Branch's 'dotted blue' route classification between Bewdley and Ironbridge. Heavier 'Red' locomotives were banned, although on at least one occasion the running department accidentally allocated a GWR 5600 class locomotive which reached the sidings before the footplate crew realise that it should not have been there.

Preservation

The sidings were acquired by the SVRSevern Valley Railway as part of the southern section of the line to Foley Park which was purchased from BRBritish Rail or British Railways in December 1972, subject to Light Railway Orders being granted. In November 1973 the sidings was one of the locations used in the television series Carrie's War, with the evacuees' train filmed making several run pasts there. The LROLight Railway Order allowing passenger services between Hampton Loade and Bewdley was eventually granted in March 1974, with the line opened from Hampton Loade to Highley on Easter weekend, 13 April.

A number of scenes featuring static rolling stock were also filmed at the sidings for the television series Survivors, Season 3 episode 3 ‘Law of the Jungle’ (first broadcast 30 March 1977).

The sidings were deemed unsuitable for the storage of SVRSevern Valley Railway stock due to the remoteness of the location and the resultant risk of vandalism. They were therefore eventually dismantled, with much of the rail and point-work later being re-used elsewhere on the line.

In 1996, Country Park Halt was opened on the site. The river bridge linking the main country park on the east bank with the Halt on the SVRSevern Valley Railway was replaced in 2006. It is also used by National Cycle Route 45.

Following extensive flooding in February 2020 land movements were observed in Alveley Woods. Electronic ‘tilt monitoring’ equipment was fitted in February 2021. In March 2021 contractors installed a small drainage system adjacent to the landslip to assist with removal of rainwater, to reduce the amount of water reaching the slip plane and take a degree of pressure off the embankment. A second phase envisaged a mixture of soil nailing and partial replacement of the embankment material. In the event, in August 2022 a geotechnical specialist company 'Geobear' instead trialled a pioneering geo-polymer injection stabilisation system, at zero cost to the SVRSevern Valley Railway.

Photographs

• 

  GWRGreat Western Railway Notice covering the opening and operation of Alveley Sidings. 1 of 2.

• 

  GWRGreat Western Railway Notice covering the opening and operation of Alveley Sidings. 2 of 2.

• A series of photos of 1420 and 4555 with an SLS railtour at Alveley Sidings, by flickr user "ricsrailpics", 19/09/1965. Image 1, Image 2, Image 3. The sidings were still in use at this time.
• A photo of the 4555 on the same railtour, by flickr user "Prof2940", 19/09/1965. Link. The sidings were still in use at this time.
• A series of photos of the SVRSevern Valley Railway, including six at Alveley Sidings, Alan Thwaites, 1974. Link.
• Two photos of 5764 and 45110 passing Alveley Sidings, RCTS Mystery Photographs. Image 1, Image 2.

See also

• Alveley Miners Halt level crossing
• Pre-1963 map
• List of historical Signal Boxes and Ground Frames

References

• "Alveley". Wikipedia article. Link. Accessed 09/01/2015.
• "Alveley Colliery". Shropshire History article. Link. Accessed 09/01/2015.
• "Alveley Sidings at 144m 8 1/2c in the Section Highley-Hampton Loade". GWRGreat Western Railway Notice No. W472, 28/01/1939. Part 1 and Part 2.
• Leslie Oppitz. "The Severn Valley Railway". BBC Shropshire article. Link. Accessed 09/01/2015.
• Transactions of the Alveley Historical Society, 1995-2003. Link. Accessed 09/01/2015
• "Railways of Highley". Highley.org.uk article. Link. Accessed 09/01/2015.

Links

"Mines and miners" on www.highley.org.uk