GWR Route: The North Warwickshire Line

GWR Route: Stratford on Avon to Hatton

Stratford on Avon Station: gwrsa3898

Interior of the Beer Shed in Birmingham Road Goods Yard, photographed on 30th April 1966. This was called the ‘Beer Shed’ because it had been extensively used by the adjacent Flowers & Sons Brewery. With the exception of Coal traffic the goods facilities at Stratford had closed on 1st January 1963, although it appears that this shed was still being used for wagon storage.

After the West Midland Railway branch line from Honeybourne to Stratford Sancta Lane station was connected to the nominally independent Stratford Railway from Hatton in July 1861, a new through station was built beside the Alcester Road and this opened in January 1863. The relatively new overall roof of the Stratford Railway’s Birmingham Road Terminus station was re-sited to the new station, where it remained for forty-five years until the station was rebuilt (see 'gwrsa3041'). The rest of the Birmingham Road station site was relegated to a goods yard and the Beer Shed was erected before 1886, possibly on the site of the old passenger terminus. If that was the location considerable alterations appear to have taken place as the original terminus had two mixed gauge tracks, while the Beer Shed contains only a single standard gauge track. The platform has also been constructed with a four board wooden edge, which is a feature associated with goods sheds (the wood helps to reduce damage to goods being off-loaded from wagons).

Although a Goods Yard, occasional excursion trains continued to use the Birmingham Road facilities until 1868, in particular during the April of 1864 which was the 300th anniversary of the Bard. At this time several new sidings were added in the yard for stabling the carriages associated with the extensive excursion traffic.

Robert Ferris

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