Stourbridge Basin
Encyclopedia
Stourbridge Basin was a canal basin
at the end of the Stourbridge Branch Line in Stourbridge
, West Midlands
, England
. It was built in the 1850s. The last 700 yards (640 m) of the line were used for goods traffic only, to the basin where goods could be interchanged with the terminus of the Stourbridge Canal
.
was axed in 1967 (after surviving the Beeching Axe
) and the bridges over Foster Street and Birmingham Street were demolished, severing the link. The interchange area, including the portion of the canal east of Stourbridge High Street (A491 road
), was then redeveloped as an industrial estate.
A further stretch of line was closed, when Stourbridge Town station was moved back some yards. A bus station was built on the land thus recovered.
The rest of the line survives to this day at the urban railhead
.
Canal basin
A canal basin is an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to allow room for turning, thus serving as a winding hole...
at the end of the Stourbridge Branch Line in Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It was built in the 1850s. The last 700 yards (640 m) of the line were used for goods traffic only, to the basin where goods could be interchanged with the terminus of the Stourbridge Canal
Stourbridge Canal
The Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.-History:The Stourbridge and Dudley canals were originally proposed as a...
.
Axed
The stretch of line between here and the town stationStourbridge Town railway station
Stourbridge Town is a railway station near the centre of Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It is situated at the end of a short branch line linking the station with Stourbridge Junction just 0.8 miles away, where passengers can change for mainline train services...
was axed in 1967 (after surviving the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
) and the bridges over Foster Street and Birmingham Street were demolished, severing the link. The interchange area, including the portion of the canal east of Stourbridge High Street (A491 road
A491 road
The A491 is an A road in Zone 4 of the Great Britain numbering scheme.-History:The road north of Oldswinford forms part of an ancient road, probably of Anglo-Saxon origin, joining the burhs of Worcester and Stafford...
), was then redeveloped as an industrial estate.
A further stretch of line was closed, when Stourbridge Town station was moved back some yards. A bus station was built on the land thus recovered.
The rest of the line survives to this day at the urban railhead
Railhead
The word railhead is a railway term with two distinct meanings, depending upon its context.Sometimes, particularly in the context of modern freight terminals, the word is used to denote a terminus of a railway line, especially if the line is not yet finished, or if the terminus interfaces with...
.