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→Highley Colliery: Later use of the sidings
Highley Colliery (1) was situated west of the River Severn, around 300 yards uphill from [[Highley | Highley Station]]. Coal extraction began at Highley in the late 1870s. By 1900, about 240 men and boys were employed, and sidings were built alongside the Severn Valley Railway south of Highley Station, on what is now the site of [[The Engine House]]. Main line railway trucks were filled with coal at the colliery, and then run down a standard gauge incline to the sidings, the layout of which can be seen on the extract from the Ordnance Survey Map, 1888-1913 series. One of the main destinations of the coal was the carpet factories of Kidderminster.
The Highley Mining Company ran the colliery successfully for many years, with the workforce increasing to 670 by 1937. As the workings moved under the River Severn towards Alveley, a new shaft was opened at Alveley. Once the Alveley and Highley workings had joined up in 1937, men and equipment were transferred to Alveley, and by 1940 Highley Colliery itself had closed, although the pithead remained open for ventilation. The former colliery sidings then became the landsale yard for Alveley Colliery.
The area of the former sidings was eventually bought by the SVR and is now the site of [[The Engine House]]. [[LNER 223162 Mineral Wagon]] painted in Highley Mining Company livery is normally on display at [[The Engine House]]there.
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