Blackwell Station opened in 1840 on the Midland Railway's Birmingham to Bristol main line at the top of the 1 in 37.75 gradient of the Lickey Incline. It is in a very rural setting which contributed ultimately to its demise due to lack of use, the Station closing in 1965. Above we see the station in 1939 (photo: Don Powell collection). The photographer is standing roughly in the spot shown by the two photos below and the station house can clearly be seen beyond the Blackwell totem to the right of the Fowler's 4F 0-6-0.

Above-left we are in the grounds of the Station Cottages looking at the track across where the platforms once stood and the station building itself which was between the photographer and the trackbed: note the small ground frame just to the centre-right of the shot. Above-right we are in the same spot but looking to the right - the station house seen at the top of the page is just behind the tree to the right. Nothing remains of the platforms and station building today.

Above-left we see the rear of the Station House (note the sign on the gate) - the railway runs directly in front of this building. However, the keen-eyed may notice that this does not appear to be the same building as the one seen in the photograph at the top of this page and I feel obliged, therefore, to provide something of an explanation. The building above-left is indeed a railway 'cottage' however, the building seen at the top of the page is to the left of the shot off camera. When I arrived at the site (not wishing to incriminate myself), the station approach road leading to the spot where the trackbed photos above were taken was, I thought, an access road leading to the station house seen at the top of the page. However, that house is now a private residence and the access road is their driveway - I didn't realise this until I climbed the bank to the spot where the old platforms once stood and realised I was in the middle of their garden! I still took the two shots of the track but couldn't get a good shot of the station house without walking into the middle of their lawn and thought better of it - my apologies to the homeowners should they view this page: it was an innocent mistake. Above-right we are looking at the bridge on Station Road as a Virgin HST approaches the station site on an express to Bristol: the old station site being to the right of the shot.