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London North Western
Railway:
Midland
Railway:
Stratford
Midland Junction Railway
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Radford Road
What seems to have been lost in the mists of time is the
fact that a station was planned and indeed built on the Coundon side of what is
now known as Radford Road, on the Coventry to Nuneaton Railway. However for
reasons currently unknown, the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) chose
not to open the station to the public. What is known is that the station had
been constructed at least by 1855. A letter published in the Coventry
Herald on 23rd March 1855 refers to the 'new station in the
Radford-road'. 'It was constructed some time ago'. The letter goes
on 'Either it will be an accommodation to the public, or it will not. If the
latter, it need not have been constructed; but if the former, the sooner the
accommodation is placed within reach of the public, the better'. This seems
to infer it was constructed sometime after the line was opened to the public in
September 1850. A mention in the Coventry Herald in November 1855 brings
up the question again and goes on 'I well know what it is to wade through
dirt and filth from the Roman Catholic Chapel to the Counden [note the
spelling; Coundon Road station opened initially as 'Counden Road'] station, and
as so many persons are so anxious for this new station to be opened, allow me a
corner in your next number to state it will never be opened; for the Directors'
Inspector has distinctly refused to sanction it as a fit and proper place for a
station'.
This seems to throw some confusion into the situation - why
build it (if it ever was properly built, but some later maps show platforms in
place as well as the station building) if the location wasn't 'fit and
proper'?? Another piece in the Coventry Herald of 5th December 1856 says
that the 'Town Council' are to make efforts to get the station 'in
the Radford-road opened for public use'. It goes on 'We trust the
movement will be successful, as there cannot be two opinions as to the greater
eligibility of the new station over the one at Coundon, both as it respects its
nearness to the Town, and its superiority of the road leading to it, the
approach to the Coundon station (especially in the winter evenings) being dark,
dirty and lonely'.
By Friday 13th February 1857, great chunks of Spon End
viaduct had collapsed. The Lord Mayor reported that the 'Board' (ie Coventry
Council) had written to the LNWR once again asking when the Radford station was
going to open. Seeing as the arches had collapsed trains were terminating at
Coundon Road. The LNWR's view was that the 'Coundon-road Station was nearer
to the City and to the main station, than the Radford-road station, and that at
present it is not desirable to open a station at Coventry'. The Lord
Mayor's view was that 'though further from the main station, the
Radford-road station was closer to the City and more convenient than that at
Coundon'. The LNWR's response was that arrangements were in place for the
'present month' (!!]) and could not be altered (!!!). More on this when
we find it.... On the same date, 'Mr T Hill wished to know whether steps
could be taken to clear a footpath at Spon-end, where the arches had fallen-in?
At present, foot passengers were subject to great inconvenience'.
There is no doubt that the station at Radford was built,
despite its closeness to Coundon Road. The station house was built, but not in
the same sandstone as Coundon Road station, Spon End Viaduct and all the other
bridges on the section of line between Spon End viaduct and Foleshill. That
includes the bridge on the Radford Road alongside which it was built.
Ron Kosys
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