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→Stourport station canal basin and interchange sidings: additional info from Goods stub article
==Stourport station canal basin and interchange sidings==
An ironworks had been established at nearby Wilden in the 17th century, which was connected to the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal via the River Stour and a short link canal. By the 1880s its business had grown, leading to the construction of an interchange basin next to Mitton Bridge (the only main line railway/canal interchange throughout the canal) to allow for the delivery of iron and coal via the railway.<ref group="note">The construction of a short branch line to serve the works was apparently not considered.</ref> The cost of the basin was authorised by the GWR Board on 5 March 1884 at an estimated cost of £4,771 .<ref name=Marshall89>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 89.</ref> An invitation to tender for construction of the canal basin and goods warehouse was advertised in early July 1884,<ref>[https://postimg.cc/SYGzjwfc Herapath's Railway Journal - Saturday 12 July 1884]</ref> and a tender from S.C. Frayne of £1,516 was accepted on 30 July. Construction was finished around the end of February 1885 with basin being filled the following month.<ref name=Marshall89>[[Bibliography#Books|Marshall (1989)]] p. 89.</ref>
The interchange sidings were access via a facing junction with the up line just east of the station. A steep descent led to three sidings, two on the north side of the basin and one the south where there was also a goods shed.<ref name=Marshall89/> Much of the early traffic arriving by rail consisted of steel from south Wales and coal from [[Collieries served by the Severn Valley Railway#Highley Colliery|Highley Colliery]], which were transferred by canal to the nearby ironworks at Wilden and Stourvale.<ref>[[Bibliography#Other References|Langford (1974)]] p. 174.</ref>
