Old Hill Hight Street Halt sat on the GWR's Dudley to Halesowen line a short
distance from Old Hill station and proved a convenient stop for Old Hill town centre - a short
walk away. Opening in 1905, the halt was one of four on the line, served by six trains each way daily and saw the use of the
GWR's 'Rail Motors' traversing the lines. During the early-1960s, in a time of great change for the
railways, research showed that almost no one used the service from Old Hill to Dudley - only the other
way around during peak periods: and then the services were hardly working to capacity! Unfortunately, these
results led to the line's demise with passenger service being withdrawn in 1964. Although the line staggered on
for goods use for a few years, the halts were to see no use and during the late 1960s - early1980s, virtually
all trace of them has been erased. Above we are looking towards Dudley in 1966 (photo: A. Muckley) and can
just make-out the parapet of the bridge over Garretts Lane beyond the 1960s-built concrete
platforms (they were wooden previously - public money well-spent on the upgrade!). |
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Above-left we can see just how much of a 'trace' of the halt has been removed: we are on
Garretts Lane with Wrights Lane to our right - the halt stood on a steep embankment where the small cluster of trees
now stand centre-right. Above-right we have walked back from the previous shot and are looking at the line of the embankment
still in situ running from right to left behind the old house in the foreground. When in use, a bridge crossed Garretts Lane beyond the
house with the halt immediately to it's right. |
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Above-left we are again looking to where the embankment and halt once stood on Garretts Lane with
Wrights Lane to our left. However, before becoming too solemn at the loss of all traces of the railway, on the extreme
right of the above-right shot you can just make-out the still in situ support of the long-gone bridge that spanned
Garretts Lane. |
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Above-left we have moved to Wrights Lane with the halt's site to our right to take a clear look
at the remaining brick bridge support on Garretts Lane. Unfortunately, I could not fathom a 'safe' way to
get to the top of the embankment/bridge support - in particular as it was a wet day and a possible route
resembled a mud slide - so we will have to make do with this shot. Above-right, we are looking at the trackbed - running
horizontally across the middle of the shot - in the direction of Dudley: again I couldn't work-out how to get
onto it! All-in-all an interesting site to visit but in terms of remains, yielded little of interest. |
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