Kidderminster Station Sweet Shop

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The sweet shop at Kidderminster

The sweet shop at Kidderminster is in a partial reconstruction of an original 1930s-era W.H.Smith & Son newsagent bookstall. This originally stood on Manchester Victoria Station, before being donated to the SVRSevern Valley Railway by W.H.Smith in 1989. When a group from the SVRSevern Valley Railway went to Manchester to inspect the kiosk and take measurements, they found that contractors has already begun to demolish it. The roller shutters were still intact and, using these and other remaining parts, the SVRSevern Valley Railway were able to reconstruct the present bookstall which is around 12ft x 6ft smaller than the original. The bookstall was formally opened on 27 September 1989; the name W.H.Smith & Son being displayed under license[1].

W.H.Smith & Son obtained advertising rights on the Oxford Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway in 1856. They opened a bookstall at the original Kidderminster station in December 1861, by which time the railway was operated by the West Midland Railway. The bookstall closed in 1905 when the GWRGreat Western Railway requested too high a price for renewal of the contract[1].

See Also

List of shops and sales coaches on the SVR

Links

Friends of Kidderminster Town Station
  1. 1.0 1.1 SVR News 94, article by David Wilcock