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Old Hill High St Halt 1966 (A. Muckley)
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Old Hill High Street Halt

1905 - 1964

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 Unfortunately, these results led to the line's demise with passenger service being withdrawn in 1964.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!).

 
Old Hill High Street halt site from Garretts Lane
Old Hill High Street halt, corner of Garretts Lane and Wrights Lane
 

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.

 
Old Hill High Street halt looking towards Old Hill from Garretts Lane
Old Hill High Street halt looking towards Old Hill from Garretts Lane
 

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.

 
Garretts Lane bridge support
Old Hill High Street halt looking towards Dudley
 

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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