Above-left we have the entrance driveway to our rear and are looking along the trackbed
into the wharf warehouse with a myriad of warhousing facilities and a further branch of the railway to our right.
The sanitised housing estate has completely oblitered all trace of these elements with Leyfield Close now
occupying the foreground. I recall well the site of the derelict facilities
in 1978 when I regularly travelled the newly opened Cross City service and was fascinated by such a large, oppressive-looking
facility. The facility itself lost its rail traffic from 28/05/76 with the closure of the wharf warehousing shortly after
this date. As with other sites covered in Rail Around Birmingham, if only I'd had a camera then! Above-right
we are roughly parallel to the above-left photograph but this time on the canal towpath with Leyfield Close
to our right. The bay area marked in the canal ahead and to the right mark the wharf stite proper.
Above-left we take a closer look at the 'loading bay' on the canal side: if my memory serves me
correctly, the small pier immediately nearest to the photographer housed a pedestrian drawbridge linking wharf
with towpath that consisted of a wide 'plank' and winch: no trace remains! Above-right we are wharfside, standing on the
trackbed of the railway, looking to the same area of canal with the transhipment warehouse seen on the
first page of this section lying immediately ahead.
Above-left, if you imagine standing where the horse is standing on the towpath
in the old photograph and looking in the same direction, this is the view you would get today. The crumbling
embankment reinforcements mark the front of the transhipment area. Above-right we have walked ahead just out of shot
from the previous photograph and can see the rotting remains of a pair of lock gates: unfortunately, I could
not work-out a purpose for these as there doesn't appear to be evidence of any others on this stretch of canal - I would
be interested to hear from anyone with more information.
Above-left we are in the same spot but looking towards the City: remember that the whole of the right bank
formed the facilities at Cadbury Wharf: as an indication of the sheer scale of the area, if you enter the canal at Bournville station - the other side
of Bournville Lane road bridge from the wharf - a sign indicates it is 1km to Raddlebarn Road bridge. As you
have seen, Raddlebarn Road is only just beyond the bridge carrying the Cadbury Railway from works to wharf. Back
on a firm railway footing, this was my most enjoyable part of my study as I have seen many photographs of the bridge
spanning the railway and canal but none from bridge level itself showing where it goes. The residential development
now occuppying the site comes very close to the bridge's end - I did wonder whether or not the bridge actually
arrived in someone's back garden such is its close proximity to the site! However, between two bungalows on Raddlebarn
Farm Drive is a short driveway to a very small car park to the rear of the properties: above is the view you
get when you enter this car park. The bridge end is quite impressive but unfortunately, heavily overgrown, has had a rasonable amount
of rubble (now too overgrown) dumped at its mouth and has large iron gates firmly locked.
Above-left we see the aforementioned gates and the thicket of brambles now serving
to further protect the entrance to the bridge. I am no stranger in my exploration of bygone railway sites to
fighting my way through stinging vegetation but even I drew the line here at attempting a better 'across bridge' shot.
Above-right we have moved a couple of yards to the left of the previous photograph to get a perspective
of the bridge in relation to the canal and Midland line looking across to the works. The railway itself spurred
into two after coming off the bridge with one branch travelling to our left-rear to serve the wharf and another
right-rear to a buffer stop and siding fronting Raddlebarn Road which formed the other, and more
convenient for large road traffic, road entrance to the site. This is truly a fascinating site on a grand scale
but the lack of remains is somewhat disappointing. The Cadbury Railway's 1976 demise from the days when three quarters
of the factory's output was sent by rail was due, as with many other industrial lines, to cheaper road
transport and the simple fact that railways didn't go to all your outlets (and your suppliers too were
converting from rail to road) and road haulage was still required to get goods from your trains to your outlets.
