GWR Route: North Warwickshire Line

GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Bordesley Station: gwrbg2267

A 1931 GWR publicity photograph of Bordesley warehouse seen from the GWR Oxford to Snow Hill main line. The following article appeared in the Great Western Magazine of October 1931 (page 427).

A New four floor warehouse beside the main line at the Bordesley end of the Small Heath goods yard, which was authorised early last year, is now practically completed. This is one of the schemes undertaken by the Great Western Railway Company with Government assistance, the actual work having been carried out by the contractors, Messrs Wilson Lovatt & Sons Ltd of London and Wolverhampton.

The main accommodation consists of a reinforced concrete building with four floors, three above ground level, which contain an area, in all of well over 6,000 square yards. The ground floor is served by a new siding, running through the building, and extensive platform or storage space on this level is served by hand operated overhead runways, with a capacity of 1 ton, for transporting articles between rail, platform and road vehicle. There are also offices, etc, on the ground floor for the staff employed in the building.

The portion of the ground floor that projects beyond the main building has a special glazed roof to ensure the maximum natural lighting and affords ideal conditions for dealing with the non-ferrous metals which will be stored in this part of the accommodation. The upper floors are connected with the rail level by two 3 ton electric lifts, with cages 10 feet by 8 feet, and four 10 cwt electric jigger hoists. There are also the usual spiral staircases. These floors will be used for general traffic, such as grain, provisions, etc. The accommodation is equipped with electric lighting throughout.

Robert Ferris

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