The Severn Valley Railway, disused section,Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth Part 1

A walk on the lesser known disused section of The Severn Valley Railway from Shrewsbury to Bridgnorth. In this first part of two I discover what is left of the line in Shrewsbury and make my way through Cross Houses and Cressage on my way into the Ironbridge Gorge. Will steam ever return to the Severn Gorge through Ironbridge? With the power station closing within two years we can only hope so.

[@DrFod]

I've only just discovered these wonderful videos, so sad there will be no more. RIP Malcolm.

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

He will be sadly missed

[@mattlawton4715]

Has this guy died 😪

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

@@mattlawton4715yes

[@mikeyaureliush9017]

I think others will agree that it was very short-sighted to build houses over the course of the line. Even if the railway never gets restored, old trackbeds make excellent cycleways and footpaths, which are usually havens of relative quiet which also act as corridors of nature, with the adjoining verges encouraging a lot of wildlife.

[@holdenwebs]

Yes totally agree Mikey

[@kilosalamanca]

If the government wanted to they could ( compulsory purchase order )

[@Bobrogers99]

In some places public transport is being expanded, and rail is more fuel-efficient than buses. It is very short-sighted to give up these rights of way that may serve an important public purpose in the future. Nowadays, acquiring a right of way for rail or road is hugely expensive.

[@2112pk]

beeching himself advised against selling and redeveloping any land BR owned, not the fool butcher we all take him for. marples however, had other ideas

[@terryjones6026]

The railway was closed down but the old railway track is now part of the route 45 cycle network it a great route takes you up into iron bridge

[@cow-millaparker-bowles7353]

Thanks - What a lovely way to get through the lockdown by watching yr film. Bravo (thumbs up)!

[@timothysharp3105]

I must be one of the people left who has traveled from Shrewsbury to Bridgenorth on this line. Back in the '50s I always went from Bridgenorth to Hartlebury to catch the Worcester train.

[@WightWanderer]

Anyone in 2024 still come back and re-watch Malcolm's vids ... though he is no longer here he left a great legacy in this channel. He also inspired me to start my own channel exploring the railways of the Isle of Wight, I hope he knew how much of an inspiration he was 🙏

[@Sonya_Makepeace]

Oh that's sad. What happened to Malcolm?

[@zacharyrollick6169]

Stuff like this reminds me of the time I went to go see the Endor Furnace. Giant old iron furnace that looked like a castle.

[@jamessaunders5863]

The line between Berrington and Bridgnorth is actually still fairly intact if the Severn Valley Railway association wanted to extend the line all the way back to Shrewsbury then what they could do is have the line going north out of berrington but reroute it a bit so it joins the mainline just south of the a5 I really do think they could do it

[@jackchatfield5464]

I agree....... a full length line, with mainline connections is a good option and idea.

[@roderickspode6657]

The section from Cressage to Buildwas is actually fairly intact, and it is possible to walk most of it, although much of it is quite overgrown nowadays - even three or four years ago it was a lot easier to walk. It's a really nice walk as in the middle section it runs right next to the Severn. There are bridges, walls, cuttings etc still there. The only section impossible to follow is the Cressage to Sheinton section, although even here the line of the track is mostly obvious.

[@ramonwilliams5721]

Just found your video which I enjoyed, as a ex steam fireman and driver, at Stourbridge shed we had a great little job,light engine to Dudley, pick up RAF train from Cardington to Bridgnorth, unload the lads and empty stock to Shrewsbury, and back light engine, great little job.Kind Regards

[@alisonlee3314]

Your videos are really interesting. Great detective work!

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

There’s a halt between Berrington and Cressage and it’s cound halt the station opened in 1934 and closed here 29 years later

[@peterballan7952]

That 'Oliver Cromwell 'is one HELLUVA lump ! I saw it on the East Lancs run, on one of the steam anniversary sessions. Impressive seems to be an understatement !

[@TOB-mi2do]

I can’t see them ever reopening it sadly, perhaps to some degree of the route, but shrewsbury could never happen. financially as well it would be a poor move to advance as the railway doesn’t have the funds, it’s brillaint what they do at the moment and there is continuously so much to keep paying for each year, repairs etc. Keep it up severn valley railway :)) 👍🏻👍🏻

[@ScottishNSRailFan]

Very enjoyable. Never new the line went from Bridgnorth to Shrewsbury. Always stay in Shrewsbury after attending Dapol open day each year, all the way from Scotland

[@Hard-Boiled-Bollock]

Thanks for uploading this, shame to see that it'll almost certainly never be possible to extend it back it into Shrewsbury

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

Buildwas station was a junction station because this is where you change here for the wellington to craven arms railway and as of today nothing of the station survives

[@likklej8]

Love those Gresley coaches. Remember them on the Kings Cross -Cambridge flyer.

[@CeliceJ]

I live near the green way through Sutton and often use it to walk and cycle into town. What a shame it is not possible to cycle the old route to Bridgnorth.

[@sapper82]

Ironbridge power station is now closed and the towers demolished. I was on one of the last track inspection trains to Iron Bridge before the power station shut and the line from Maideley closed along with it.

[@MRHIRSTY999]

Thought I recognised your voice, great job Malcolm

[@shortnewsitemsinfrenchwith1831]

Superb research. Thank you.

[@beardyface8492]

If memory serves, they're basically stuck at Bridgenorth, getting out would require reinstating a low bridge across a busy road. I've severe doubts they'd ever get permission to reinstate it over an A road regardless of the state of the track-bed out of there.

[@W7DSY]

You like to do what I do here in the U.S. Railroad archaeology. There is much to be seen by those who care to see. Thanks!

[@jayh9529]

Hidden Arizona I heard they dug rail roads up from previous era

[@davehodges6258]

Great clip taken there"! As you stated and from what one can see there is no chance to get the line to shrewsbury" BUT""" From what i have seen from Bridgnorth it could easy get to Ironbridge (Old Power station site) and then to join up with the Telford railway, Lets hope this may work,.

[@JimTLonW6]

V. Interesting, I used to cycle along the Shrewsbury section quite frequently as it cut out a lot of busy roads in Shrewsbury. As conservation volunteers we also repainted the crossing gates in the Ironbridge Gorge! This was in about 1985.

[@holdenwebs]

Well done for the work you're doing in conservation. I will be doing the same in retirement i'm sure in the future

[@pencils1951]

Excellent.

[@holdenwebs]

thanks

[@pamfulcher6037]

Thanks for this

[@formidable38]

Such a shame, so much lost in the name of the rubber tyre and tarmac and look where its got us!

[@briansanderson480]

I was beginning my RAF National service and our troop train took us to RAF Bridgenorth Also on this line at coalport spent some time evacuated from the bombing in Birmingham

[@JR-bj3uf]

In the US railroads were and still are in private hands. At the time of the majority of rail building, in the pre & post Civil War era, the railroads and the government were notoriously corrupt. This gave railroads surprising power over their rights of way. In fact railroads have a control of these narrow paths that is not unlike a small state. It is very rare that a railroad will relinquish rights to these lands here in the US.

[@danieldavies3881]

Well in theory the line could go all the way back into Shrewsbury but rejoin the mainline just outside. Maybe join onto the Marches/Heart of Wales Line at the South side of Shrewsbury. It would actually keep in line as far as Shrewsbury. Would be amazing if this happened.

[@mikaelabowen5781]

This is both fascinating and sad to see. I would love to see steam return to the Ironbridge Gorge. I actually live a few yards from the trackbed of another (connected) line that I would dearly love to see brought back to life, but am afraid I am unlikely ever to see either happen. The shortsightedness that destroyed or built over the trackbeds has never ceased to astonish and depress me. Our national love affair with roads and the motor car that looked so promising in the Beeching era proved not to be perhaps the utopian dream everyone expected. Now that we need to think of more sustainable ways to move people and things about, so many wonderful opportunities are likely to be beyond reach, simply because to reverse forty years of thoughtless and lazy planning and the resultant buildings would be so fantastically expensive. Closing the lines was bad enough, but eliminating the chance to reopen them again in the future always struck me as madness. I'm no rail expert (to say the least!), but it strikes me that rail has to be among the most energy efficient forms of transport across land - once the groundworks and infrastructure are complete, surely it takes less energy to move a thousand tonnes by rail than it does to drag it uphill and down-dale by road. Also trains can be run on electricity so much more simply than road transport, with its dependency upon batteries (I wonder how environmental those will turn out to be in the long run?). Plus the geographical footprint of even a double tracked mainline is a fraction of that of a motorway. I know there are many here who can fill in the facts, whereas I (in my comparative ignorance!) can only guess and hypothesise, but I'd be fascinated to know how the tonnage of goods and number of passengers carried, and the fuel/energy required to do so, by even a single track line like this one, compares to the equivalent road use.

[@holdenwebs]

Totally agree Mikaela

[@mikaelabowen5781]

Silas Fatchett I referred to the "Beeching era", meaning the time during which so many of these closures occurred. I realise that Beeching himself was simply one cog in the government machinery that prioritised roads over rail.

[@benters3509]

Yes, the real blame for the destruction of our railways was Ernest Marples and his government that was in the pocket of the Road Haulage Association.

[@nickthorne1442]

🚂👍

[@Bobrogers99]

Dramatic changes in a relatively short period of time!

[@perrywilson2897]

Ive not been there in years

[@marcel911]

I am interested in your video workflow. To the untrained eye this video appears full of jarring jump cuts, ever varying horizons and radon frozen frames. I take it this was all intentional?

[@carolinegray5297]

Good video

[@germancarfan]

Houses and road! Why did they ever build on it

[@ThePserafin100]

Hi Holden, good video, but why no coalport station that is preserved and has two refurbished coaches as holiday let's?

[@MRHIRSTY999]

peter hencher-serafin why does everyone call Malcom 'Holden' ?

[@philiptaylor483]

problem is most of the footpaths are owned by sustrans,and they won't allow anyone to take over rebuilding train lines

[@holdenwebs]

+Philip Taylor That's a great shame

[@amosmaclin4665]

I would love to get the old station and tracks built again u no how much economy it would create jobs money and international trade for all weres all the equipment at these days

[@holdenwebs]

It would be fantastic, but it will never happen north of Bridgnorth.

[@simontay4851]

Ironbridge is actually closer to Telford than Shrewsbury. If it were ever rebuilt, a junction to the Shrewsbury - Wolverhampton line would make more sense. The Sutton Park roundabout is where the tracks used to go across the road. A level crossing would not be possible.

[@holdenwebs]

Sadly it will never come north of Bridgnorth, not unless there is a massive switching of minds.

[@ButtChinsAreHereToStay]

Great job, truly fascinating stuff. Give this man his own programme like Fred Dibna.

[@holdenwebs]

+YouRideAHorseRatherLessWellThanAnotherHorseWould Thanks, still waiting for the BBC to ring.......lol

[@ivancarter7564]

I heard that they were talking of physically linking the gloucester via worcster to kiddiminster...any truth

[@bstrutt]

very good video and interesting .but who will put the money up? SVR

[@jamessaunders5863]

If the Severn valley railway can never get back to Shrewsbury why not try to get it back to berrington

[@holdenwebs]

Would be a good plan......

[@reginaldwallace6199]

not be possible they removed bridge at much wenlock and house been built on where the road crosses the line at cressage and bridge removed where line crosses ths a458 at cross houses

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

I’m afraid due to the roads and the house and of course the Shrewsbury bypass has prevented the line from coming back to Shrewsbury

[@ianker7924]

Very interesting video. Thank you. However, I wish you were better able to hold your video camera horizontal, as some of the angles are really disconcerting and limited how much of the video I could watch at a time without getting a headache.

[@dazzaas4184]

Isn't Shrewsbury a type of crappy biscuit

[@anthonymcdonnell6615]

just build around the houses or find a way to have them demolished

[@ianprice7757]

.

[@laurenceskinnerton73]

Never say never,it doesn’t what’s in the way if the national will demands it,it will return…

[@laurenceskinnerton73]

Doesn’t matter I meant to say,change the law so that houses can be replaced by new houses elsewhere,so the ridiculous concept of compensation can be finally laid to rest…

[@mermaidmimsy]

Could they join up to Ludlow’s line as that is in use?