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History of the Railways in Herefordshire

Navvies

Sources

The Woofferton and Tenbury Line (SMR 30842)

In the north of the county was a line that ran off eastwards from Woofferton Junction on the Hereford to Shrewsbury Railway. This line included stations at Wooferton Junction, Easton Court and Tenbury Wells (out of county). For most of its route it ran along the disused canal bed of the Kington, Leominster and Stourport Canal, which had been intended to link up a route to the River Severn as well as the industrial Midlands.

Left: The route of the track can still be seen at Woofferton, near the Salwey Arms crossroad on the A49.

The Tenbury Railway Company was granted permission for the line by an Act of Parliament on the 21st July, 1859, the same year that the canal had closed. The first section of the line from Woofferton to Tenbury Wells was opened on the 1st August, 1861 and was operated by the Great Western Railway Company. In 1864 the Tenbury & Bewdley Railway Company opened up the remainder of the line to Bewdley and this was also worked by GWR. The two lines were later incorporated into one company, although a few trains continued to run only between Woofferton and Tenbury. Later a 3 mile section from Bewdley to Kidderminster was opened, which meant that it was possible to get through trains from Woofferton to Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

Remains of the rail bridge to the east of Little Hereford

After World War II the line suffered from competition from road transport and the line from Wooferton to Tenbury was closed on the 31st July, 1961 and Wooferton Station was subsequently destroyed.


The trackbed at Little Hereford	Railway Cottages east of Little Hereford