Birmingham and Local Stations A-K in Colour

Covers Bournville, Brighton Road, Camp Hill, Hazelwell, Kings Heath and Kings Norton

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Bournville

Three fascinating pictures of Bournville Station. The top picture from 1956 is a little out of focus but shows Cadbury's to the left and provides a glimpse of the old 'Waterside' wharf to the right. The middle picture shows the road bridge that carries Mary Vale Road. Finally, my favourite is the bottom one that is of the station entrance in Bournville Lane. Note the Cadbury's van heading under the bridge.

Brighton Road (Site of)

Alas, Brighton Road station on the Camp Hill line had long since disappeared when my father visited the site in 1957. The Rail Around Birmingham site tells us that is closed in 1941 and had wooden platforms so there is nothing left to see above.

I originally said that the picture was taken on the site of the city bound platform looking towards Moseley but Peter got in touch with these comments:-

"I’m afraid that I’m going to disagree with your caption to this picture.

If you look at the pictures of King’s Heath and Moseley, the telegraph pole route is on the city-bound side of the tracks. It therefore seems reasonable to me that it would be in the same place at Brighton Road, so I believe that the picture is looking towards Camp Hill, not Moseley.

I also believe that the colour-light signal that we can see the back of is the Brighton Road Intermediate Block Home signal that was provided here when Brighton Road box was abolished. The signal was operated from Camp Hill box and broke up the section between there and King’s Heath, so that two freight trains could be climbing the bank between Camp Hill and King’s Heath, separated by the IB signal. The distant for the colour-light was a lower arm beneath Camp Hill’s Down Starting signal, which was situated on a bracket on the embankment by the bridge over Ombersley Road."

Camp Hill

For those of you hoping to see a colour picture of the station, I apologise. But I don't think you can complain! The picture of 43926 was taken from Camp Hill Box, just north of the station itself. The tall building behind the plume of smoke was and grain store and was part of Camp Hill Goods. The tower to the right of centre indicates the position of King Edward's Camp Hill School.

The second picture is closer to the station but still reveals nothing of the buildings themselves. The bridge in the foreground was over Montpellier Street. To the left we can see a water tower and, beyond that, Highate Coal Wharf. The signal box where the upper shot was taken from can just about be seen to the right of the grain store.

Hazelwell

Two excellent shots of Hazelwell station. The upper picture was taken from just south of Cartland Road and that is the road being carried by the bridge that dominates this shot. A small section of sidings can be seen to the right. The lower shot shows the approach to the station from the entrance in Cartland Road. Again, a small section of sidings can be seen just beyond the station itself.

Kings Heath

Kings Heath box looks very spick and span. The same can not be said of the decaying station building...

Both pictures are taking looking towards the city. The road bridge carries Kings Heath High Street. Just under this bridge was Kings Heath Ballast Sidings and my father took a cracking shot of this on 30 May 1955.

Kings Norton

Three shots that clearly show the importance of Kings Norton station in the 1950's.

The uppermost not only shows the four platform station but also shows a section of goods yard and shed. To the right, the carriage sidings can be seen. In the middle picture, my father has captured the northern half of the station from under the footbridge.

The bottom picture is taken looking in the opposite direction to the other two - out of city and towards Northfield. The signal box from which the top picture was taken can just about be seen under the footbridge.