South Staffs Railway (Ryecroft to ) and Anglesey Branch Canal

An RCHS & North West Groups Walk

Thursday 29th August 2019

Today’s walk is the third in a series exploring the history of canals and railways in a small part of South to the north of . It focuses first on the Ryecroft to Brownhills section of the South Staffs Railway line of 1849 between Walsall and Wychnor Junction where it formed a link with the line between and Derby; and then, after lunch, the Anglesey Branch of the Wyrley & Essington Canal.

Ryecroft Junction is in the centre of the map overleaf and Brownhills is approximately half way between Walsall and . The walk is flat and, nowadays, largely rural in nature; partly wooded but with views over open land. It may be damp in the short cutting approaching Brownhills but is otherwise dry and on firm ground.

Outline of Agenda & Route

Start in Park Street entrance to ; since 1978 also the entrance to the Saddlers Shopping Centre.

Briefly consider the history of stations serving the town centre whilst waiting for all to arrive, before taking the short (3 minutes) walk to Walsall Bus Station (stop J/K).

Take the 10 minute bus ride to the Lichfield Road/Boat House stop – then a 5 minute walk to the northern end of Ryecroft Junction (Ryecroft Cemetery).

Walk (4.25 miles) along the track bed of the 1849 SSR/LNWR line to the site of Brownhills Station.

View various sites including those of Rushall and Pelsall Stations, Norton Junction and sidings.

Lunch in Brownhills: Smithy’s Forge pub (on the station site) or various cafes and coffee shops nearby.

Bus (service 10A at 14:24) from Smithy's Forge pub to Chasetown – a 20 minute journey.

Walk (0.5 mile) over grass covered area formerly the site of Chase Colliery No1 to Reservoir.

View the reservoir dam, Anglesey Basin and a section of the alignment of the line to Anglesey sidings.

Walk (1.1 miles) along Anglesey Branch Canal to Middleton Bridge.

Optional add-on: continue walking the final 1/3 mile of the Anglesey Branch to . This will add approximately 40 minutes to the day. (Return #10/10A bus from Lichfield Road/Ogley Road stop)

Return to Walsall Bus Station: by bus (no 10/10A; 40 minutes) from Middleton Bridge (referred to as Newtown Bridge in local bus timetables). Walk to Walsall Railway Station (3 minutes) arriving between 16:15 and 16:30. There are frequent buses for the return journey allowing for more time to be spent at Chasewater and the Anglesey Branch canal for those who wish to do so.

Note: alternative bus services to other destinations, including Birmingham, and Lichfield will be explained on the day

These Notes are intended for the personal use of members of the RCHS attending the walk or who are otherwise 1 interested in them. They should not be copied or stored in any retrieval system, electronic or otherwise. . South Staffordshire Railway

BRINDLEY HEATH

The curve shown linking the MR Wolverhampton to F line to the SSR line south of Rushall was never built. Construction was started and there is clear evidence of the embankment it would have travelled over to the north of Ryecroft Junction.

F – Anglesey Sidings

Adapted from: The South Staffordshire Railway, vol 1 by Bob Yate (Oakwood Press, 2010) 2

A Brief History of Railway Stations in Walsall

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In the 18th century the town was centred around and a little way to the west of St Matthew’s Church (lower right of picture). This changed with the coming of the canal (from 1790s) mineral railways to the canal (1820s) and main line railways (from 1847). Prior to that time, the effective western boundary was the race course; shown here as the MR goods yard (centre of picture below Railway Station). Marsh Street (to left of railway station) and Long Street are roughly on the line of the eastern boundary of a manorial park – hence Walsall Manor Hospital and Moat Street which are just beyond the western boundary of the map. Remains of the moat were visible into the 1970s; the manor house has long gone. Near to the original moat, the first Walsall reservoir was opened by the South Staffordshire Water Company (1858).

There is a long history of wind and water mills (along a brook that ran north-south – through the centre of the map), quarrying for limestone and iron works in and around Walsall, as well as the manufacture of horse furniture. The heritage of the latter is recognised in the nickname (The Saddlers) of the town football team. By the 3rd quarter of the 18th century it was clear that the town was being placed at a disadvantage in terms of communication, particularly in comparison with the Black Country and Birmingham, due primarily to the earlier development of canals in these two areas. By the date of the map, the brook, a tributary of the Tame, had been culverted. Today it runs underground through the current town centre, in front of the George Hotel (a square named The Bridge) and follows the line of the South Staffs railway to the south.

The first station to carry the name “Walsall” was to the south of the town on the . For the first four years following the opening of the GJR it was known as Bescot Bridge. This was changed to Walsall in 1841, with a coach service (a yellow one-horse omnibus) running between the station and the George Hotel. The name reverted to Bescot Bridge when the line opened (from Besot Junction) to Walsall proper in 1847. At this point the station ceased to serve trains between Birmingham and Walsall. It may be that the omnibus continued to serve passengers travelling from Wolverhampton. Any problem was resolved with the opening of the Pleck Curve (between Junction and Pleck Junction) in 1881. Quick reports the station as being closed in 1850, re-opened as Wood Green (Old Bescot) in 1881 and closed finally in 1941.The site is now covered by the SW slip road of M6, J9.

The second station, and the first near to the town centre, was a temporary station off Bridgeman Street. The site was to the west of the current Bridgeman Street Bridge, opposite Station Street. The railway continued over Bridgeman Street initially by a level crossing but, with the lowering of Bridgeman Street after an 1870 report that 600 trains a day were passing over the crossing, the level crossing was replaced by a bridge. The temporary station was used between 1847 and 1849 at which point a new “permanent” station was built to the north of Bridgeman Street. This coincided with the opening of the line to Wychnor Junction. The station building was also the headquarters of the South Staffordshire Railway and was accessed from Station Street – where the current station access was moved to in 1978.

By the 1870’s this (3rd in our sequence) station was deemed to be too small to accommodate the burgeoning traffic created by both the LNWR and MR providing passenger services to the station. In addition to the LNWR running trains over the former SSR lines, the MR was running passenger services into Walsall via Ryecroft Junction; having opened lines from Wolverhampton in1872 and Birmingham (via the Sutton Park route) in 1879. Between 1879 & 1883, the line from Pleck to Ryecroft was quadrupled, the station was enlarged and facilities were improved. These changes resulted in an enlarged station with its station building facing on to Park Street – at its junction with Station Street – being opened on 1st January 1884. Its carriageway off Park Street was provided with a porte-cochere of cast iron and glass giving cover for travellers arriving by cab. The interior was equally grand. Three stone archways, aligned with the three bays of the canopy, gave access to the booking hall with its central vaulted roof flanked by two gabled roofs and decorative panels. The MR and LNWR had their own designated booking offices. The platforms were not moved but were reached by a long half-glazed corridor, still at street level, which divided to reach the footbridge across to the platforms.

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A fire occurred in 1916 starting in the booking hall destroying part of it and the high level corridor providing access to the platforms. As a result the front entrance could not be used. It was covered in tarpaulin and timber supports and the 1849 Station Street entrance had to be re-instated. This situation was protracted by the war and a reconstructed station was not opened until 1923. Most of the iron and glass porte-cochere was retained at the, now reopened, Park Street entrance, still with its decorative iron finials but with the roof being altered to be a pitched roof. Inside the, by now curved booking hall, which was 70ft in length, was lined with oak panels (not unlike St Pancras in concept but curved and rather grand) and supported by pairs of Corinthian pillars with circular medallion mouldings. The original restaurant was retained and a lengthy bookstall was also provided. (At some point a W H Smith was opened in Park Street opposite the station entrance. This included the traditional curb-side stall selling newspapers and magazines).

Decline began (reportedly) with the conversion of the restaurant to a standard BR Buffet in the 1950s and continued through to 1978 when the whole station was demolished, including the 1849 SSR building and the porte-cochere. The iron canopy was initially stored by Walsall Corporation Parks Department for preservation but subsequently disappeared. The station was submerged into the Saddlers Centre and its access reverted to Station Street. In his history of the South Staffs Railway, Bob Yate describes the result as “altogether a most unattractive station” – some would say this rather flatters the situation.

1884 Station with Porte-Cochere. Theatre 1890-1936. Frontage remodelled (1923) after fire of 1916.

The interior of the 1923 station: looking towards Park Street The 1849 SSR station viewed from Station Street

Further Reading: Walsall Routes by Vic Mitchell, Middleton Press, 2013) The South Staffordshire Railway, vol 1 by Bob Yate (Oakwood Press, 2009) Industrial Locomotives of South Staffordshire by Ray Shill (Industrial Railway Society, 1993) Industrial Locomotives of West Midlands by Ray Shill (Industrial Railway Society, 1992) 5 These Notes are intended for the personal use of RCHS members attending the walk or who are otherwise interested in them. They should not be copied or stored in any retrieval system, electronic or otherwise.

South Staffs Railway - Ryecroft to Brownhills: Walking the Line

The walk joins the SSR line of 1849 at the site of Cartbridge Lane level crossing (centre top of map). There was an entrance to the cemetery at this point (NE corner) although the lodge and main entrance were at the southern end of what was essentially a triangular layout. The crossing gates were operated by a crossing keeper, whose cottage (visible on the map below) was alongside the up (to Walsall) line, just to the south of the crossing.

The line runs to the north on a gradual climb over open ground, with the Ford Brook to the right, towards Rushall station and then, on level ground towards Pelsall. Rushall station opened with the line in 1849. It was closed in 1909. The village, some half a mile east, was better served by local tramways and omnibuses. In his book on the SSR, Bob Yates comments on the station being more popular with visitors to Pleasure Grounds to the west, in what is now the residential area of Coalpool. The Pleasure Grounds site was close to a relatively isolated mission church (one of many in the area) opened in 1892, closed in 1965, and demolished in 1970. The signal box at Rushall Crossing continued in use until the complete closure of the line in 1984.

Rushall Crossing signal box and level crossing (August 1975) looking north. Rushall station, closed in 1909, was located on the far side of the crossing. (R Selvey) 6

The line continues in a northerly direction, crossing Ford Brook several times, After passing under the road from Walsall to Pelsall and Hednesford (now B4154) the line arrives at Leighswood Sidings. There were two reception sidings on the up side of the SSR line, from which the line to Leighs Wood colliery ran. The signal box on the down side controlling the sidings closed in 1965.

SSR line looking north at Leighswood Junction. The sidings and the line to Leighswood ran south under the ornate, cast iron footbridge and off to the right of the picture. (R Selvey)

Pelsall Station was on the eastern edge of the village having crossed Fordbrook Lane on an ornately-panelled cast iron bridge. It consisted of two platforms with the station master’s accommodation being the two-storey gable-ended brick building on the down platform at right angles to the line. The goods yard to the north of the station on the down side consisted of two north-facing sidings with a crossover to the up line. The westerly of the two sidings finished in a single-road brick goods shed, the rear of which almost abutted to the station master’s house. Goods facilities continued after closure of the line to passengers in 1964 (station officially closed in Jan 1965) until 1984. The station was demolished in 1977.

Pelsall Station looking north on Christmas Eve 1962. The footbridge appears to disappear behind the station master’s house on the left. It formed part of a public right of way as well as crossing point for passengers. (R Shenton)

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Looking towards Norton Junction Goods shed

Up platform Station building waiting room in in outline outline

Station Road

Public footbridge at north end of station building

Looking towards Norton Junction Goods shed in outline Up platform waiting room Station building

Station Road

South elevation of station building with goods shed behind – footbridge omitted for clarity

Down platform station building (west elevation) from Station Road Down platform station building looking south (towards Walsall)

Main platform building on down platform Goods shed

(From: Walsall Routes by Vic Mitchell, Middleton Press, 2013)

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This OS map (1919) of the area around Pelsall Station shows the arrangement of the footbridge to preserve a public right of way – see footpath across Pelsall Common to the west and then east from the northern end of the up platform. Station Road was re- aligned to the west to accommodate the station.

There is a long history of pits (bell pits or just open pits) in Pelsall. However the W&E canal had little impact on industrial activity in the area and it was the railway of 1849 that led to its expansion.

The branch from Ryders Hayes and its associated sidings serving Pelsall ironworks and furnaces together with the increasing number coal pits and mines around Pelsall Common were built between 1865 and 1884. The junction is shown lower left of the map. The Pelsall pits closed in the early 1900s but the branch continued in use for hauling spelter from the Pelsall slag mound. The Pelsall coal mines were among the first to close in this area of the Cannock Chase coalfield. The branch, together with the lines around Pelsall Common, had all been lifted by 1920.

The level crossing remained and the signal box (see p11) controlled access to siding from Ryders Hayes up to its closure in Sept 1953. By this time the sidings at Norton Junction had expanded considerably and the Ryders Hayes sidings had become part of this complex and accessed from the north.

The Norton Branch (centre top of map) ran from the junction shown here (Norton Junction) to East Cannock Junction (south of Hednesford) on the 1858/59 line from Walsall to (now known as the Cannock ). The branch was opened to Norton Colliery in 1858 and extended to East Cannock Junction in 1879. There were no scheduled passenger services. An extensive area of sidings and marshalling yards were built alongside the branch to both the east and west of the through line (see p10) between 1899 and 1927. They were all officially closed in 1981 and the area is now Ryders Hayes & Norton Junctions, 1883 (Alan Godfrey maps) covered by houses. However, they appear not to have encroached beyond the area of the sidings towards the9 alignment of the main line.

(fro Brownhills looking Station, south

m Walsall Routes Mitchell) by Vic

Mitchell)by Vic No 1 Box Looking

north

in 1982

towards Norton Junction

(fro

m Walsall Routes

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The photograph above shows the SSR up line (south towards Walsall) in front of the signal box.

There was a station (Ryders Hays) which opened in April 1856 and closed in May 1858. It was situated to the south of what had become an ungated crossing. No photographs are known to exist and the extent of any station buildings is also unknown.

To the north of this point the Norton Branch left the main line, and another branch went off to the right. This was the Walsall Wood branch. It ran to Walsall Wood Colliery but also had a junction with the MR line from to Brownhills This MR line, opened in 1882, ran from a junction to the west of Aldridge station up to the coal field between Brownhills and Cannock. Passenger services ran as far as a station in Brownhills. At the time of Grouping this MR station was renamed Brownhills Watling Street – the SSR/LNWR station became Brownhills High Street. The latter reverted to its original name (Brownhills) when the MR station was closed in 1930. The MR line served a network of colliery lines north of the Wyrley and Essington Canal’s reservoir, now known as Chasewater. It closed in 1960. Very little remains of Brownhills Watling Street but some brickwork can be spotted on the west side of Brownhills Common.

As the SSR/LNWR line approaches Brownhills from Norton Junction it goes over the Wyrley and Essington Canal. It then went under the MR line. The bridge has been removed but the site can be identified. Brownhills is approached through a cutting. Passenger services at Brownhills were withdrawn in 1964 and the station was closed in January 1965.

The Chester Road in Brownhills has been much changed over recent years, although the track bed remains open and accessible. What was the main road, north and south, above the railway station now forms part of a traffic roundabout dominated by a large statue of a coal miner in its centre. This is known locally as “The Tin Man”. Had it been built before 1957, it would have dominated the far centre ground of the picture of Brownhills station on the opposite page.

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There is now a pub situated between the site of the station building and the road bridge – at road level. The site of the Working Men’s Club is now within the pub car park.

Brownhills Station: a train preparing to depart for Walsall in 1909 (Reece, Gerald (1996). Brownhills: A Walk Into History. Walsall Local History Centre.) The original station building became the station masters’ house.

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The “Tin Man”

One of Brownhills' most prominent landmarks is a 46 feet (14 m) stainless steel sculpture of a coal miner, erected in May 2006 on a roundabout at one end of the High Street, where the A4124 Pelsall Road and High Street A452 (Chester Road) cross. The colossal sculpture, by John McKenna ARBS, commemorates the town's mining tradition. A competition was organised to choose an official nickname for the statue. The winning name was Jigger after Jack "Jigger" Taylor who died when the roof of Walsall Wood pit collapsed in 1951. However, “Tin Man” appears to be the name now used locally. As the statue is intended to commemorate all coal miners, even though the statue is not made of tin, a non-personal name may be more appropriate. Why not “Brownhills Miner” is an obvious question. McKenna referred to it as the “Brownhills Colossus”.

The "Brownhills Miner" statue in Brownhills created by John Sections leaving McKenna’s workshop McKenna (ChrisTheDude at the English Wikipedia) (https://www.a4a.co.uk/brownhillsminer.html)

The statue was made in sections at McKenna’s workshop in Turnberry, Ayrshire. After being lifted through the (removed) roof, the sections were transported to Brownhills. The statue was then erected on site, in the centre of the roundabout, in May 2006.

Left: A goods train approaching Brownhills from Norton Junction (c1962). The train is approaching the cutting and an area now covered by the roundabout with the Tin Man statue. The train is close to the far left of the picture below. The cutting (left) and the station site (right) are obscured by trees.

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The Anglesey Branch Canal and Anglesey Sidings

The Wyrley & Essington Canal was incorporated in 1792 to connect Wolverhampton with Wyrley Bank and adjacent collieries. In fact, before the canal was completed the line up to Wyrley became a branch with the main line continuing to Birchills (north Walsall). Subsequently, the main line was extended from a junction less than half a mile north of Birchills basin to join the Canal at which is to the east of Lichfield, 23.5 miles from the junction with the BCN at Horsley Fields Junction (Wolverhampton).

There were a number of branches notably in the area around Wyrley and to the south of Cannock. The main line of the canal was opened in stages (from west to east) between 1794 and 1797. For 16.5 miles from Horsley Fields, the W&E (known locally as the “Curly Wyrley”) was built as a contour canal and was free apart from five locks on the Essington Branch off the Sneyd Junction to Wyrley line. The 7-mile section from Ogley Junction (the junction of the Anglesey Branch and the main line) to Huddlesford where a junction was made with the included 30 locks.

What is now referred to as the Anglesey Branch Canal was designed and built as a feeder from the W&E’s Cannock Reservoir (now referred to as Chasewater) in 1800. It was widened to be a navigable canal in 1850-51. Unlike the Leek Branch Canal which was originally planned to be part of a feeder but built as a canal, the Anglesey Branch was built as a feeder but widened to be a canal – some 50 years later.

During the widening, parts of the route of the feeder were straightened and the small reservoir associated with it taken out of use. During the course of building the railway between Brownhills and Lichfield (1847-49), an aqueduct was built suitable for carrying a navigable canal. The resulting navigable branch canal formed a junction with the Wyrley & Essington main line at Ogley where an iron bridge built by the Horsley Company was put in place. It is thought that this bridge was originally supplied to Eyre Street Junction on the BCN and was relocated to Ogley Junction. 14

The canal widening followed the opening of the South Staffordshire Railway between Walsall and Lichfield in 1849.In 1852 a canal basin was built beneath the reservoir dam as well as railway sidings to serve it. The line leading to these sidings was from a junction with the main line between Ogley and Hammerwich – at a spot later to become known as Anglesey Sidings.

Initially the two means of transport served Cannock Chase Colliery #1 (sunk in 1849) and Cannock Chase #2 (sunk in 1852). The network of colliery railways expanded with the opening of a further eight pits by 1870. Not all 10 pits were ever open at the same time and from 1870 production was concentrated on six pits. Pit tubs were hauled in specially adapted wagons to the canal wharf with conventional wagons being used for coal routed on the SSR.

The OS map of 1884 (below) shows the site of Anglesey Wharf, Cannock Chase Colliery No1 and Cannock Chase Colliery No 2 as well as a section of the railways built to serve pits in the area. No 1colliery was sunk in 1849 and No 2 colliery in 1852 – the wharf was opened in 1850 and the railway connection to the SSR, at Anglesey Sidings, in 1852. The No 1 pit was the first of the 10 pits sunk by the Cannock Chase Colliery Company to close: probably by 1860. For many years, No 2 colliery was the site of locomotive sheds until the railways became redundant with the closing of all but one pit in the 1950s. Canal operations ceased in the 1950s and the rail system was lifted in the 1960s.

Site of Cannock Chase Colliery No 1

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1858 1862

1894 1879

1858

Development of Railway Lines and Bus Services in the Eastern Cannock Chase Coalfield between Brownhills & Hednesford

1859

East Cannock Junction 1862 1858

1881 1867 1867 1879

1867 1856-7

1884 1852 1858

1884 Norton Junc 1849

Adapted from: The South Staffordshire Railway, vol 2 by Bob Yate (Oakwood Press, 2011) Following its first use of petrol-driven omnibuses in North Wales, the LNWR built a garage at Brownhills, near to the W&E canal wharf (just off lower centre of the map on p10). Omnibus services began in October1912. Initially the service ran between Brownhills and Hednesford via Norton Canes. In June 1913, the fleet was enlarged to number four vehicles and a second route was added: Brownhills to Cannock via Chasetown. WW1 intervened and, with the vehicles being commandeered for use in France, services halted in April 1915. The LNWR never restored its omnibus services after the war and, in July 1919, the routes were taken up by Walsall Corporation which introduced a regular Walsall to Hednesford service via Brownhills. In this picture (left), the buses to the left and right are Commer 34- seater 32 hp acquired in 1913. In the centre is a Milnes Daimler 34- seater 32 hp acquired in 1912.

The Milnes vehicles, of which there were two in the fleet purchased from the Associated Omnibus Company of London,, retained their London (LC) registrations, whilst the two Commer vehicles carried Birmingham (BM) registrations – perhaps an indication of the extent to which the LNWR was expanding its road interests at the time. 16