Bentley station opened on the Wolverhampton and Walsall's newly built line in 1872 and was
served by services between those two towns provided by both the LNWR and Midland Railways - the line linking, as it did,
the LNWR's Stour Valley Line (originally planned to link with the GWR's line into Wolverhampton Low Level)and Ryecroft
Junction, over the latter of these the Midland had running rights at that time. Unfortunately, due to a contractual wrangle
between the MR and LNWR, the latter bought the line 3 years after opening and sold it to the Midland a year later who closed
the station some two years later due to lack of passenger receipts. Above we see the site of the railway bridge that carried
the line across Bloxwich Lane: the station lay to the right in an inaccessible spot now part-obliterated by the M6. |
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Unfortunately, I have not come across a period photograph of the station and there is no discernible
evidence of the station today - not surprising after 130 year though. Therefore, above, we see closer the remains of the railway
itself as it crossed Bloxwich Lane, the station being to the right, up on an embankment just before the now-removed
bridge - the base of which can be discerned here. Above-right is the other side of the bridge and is a more
impressive relic as we look in the direction of North Walsall station. |
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