Blowers Green railway station

Blowers Green railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line.

Blowers Green railway station
Location
Place	Dudley
Area	Dudley
Grid reference	52.50427
Operations
Original company	Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway
Pre-grouping	Great Western Railway
Post-grouping	Great Western Railway
Platforms	2
History
1878	opened as Netherton
1878	renamed Dudley South and Netherton
1921	Renamed Blowers Green.
30 July 1962	Closed to passengers
1965	Closed as an emergency escape point
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
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History

It was opened in 1878 by the Great Western Railway intending to serve the communities of Woodside and Netherton. Soon after opening it was renamed Dudley Southside & Netherton. It was opened immediately north of Netherton station which it replaced.

Three railways/routes served the station - originally the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway and the South Staffordshire Railway, which later became the Great Western Railway and London, Midland and Scottish Railway (through amalgamation of the London and North Western Railway) respectively. There were also services from Dudley to Old Hill along this route as part of GWR's service. The junction to Old Hill diverged between here and Harts Hill.

The line had reasonable passenger usage until about the early 1880s, when it began to slump at several stations, leading to the line becoming a largely freight only operation in 1887. It would remain open for goods traffic, which was considerable at this time, as the district had become highly industrialised in the then heyday of the Black Country's industrial past.

This station was known as Dudley Southside and Netherton until 1921, when it was renamed Blowers Green.

As the local industry declined and road transport became more common, the station entered a post-World War 2 decline.

British Railways closed the station to passengers in 1962 even though trains from Dudley to Old Hill passed through the station until 1964. It remained as an emergency escape point and access point for railway engineers until late 1965.

Today's usage

The station building has been bricked up. The forecourt has been fenced off since 2004 due to youths' anti-social behavior, structural decay and periodical use by vagrants. Bill-posters are occasionally stuck to it from time to time.

Midland Metro

The site of the station is earmarked as the location of a Midland Metro stop which will be opened on the completion of the local tram network's second line in about 2011. A £1,100,000/15-year-long regeneration project will see the station become part of the local tram network with the line reopening between Walsall, Dudley Port railway station, Dudley railway station and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre for trams on one track and for freight on the other. The freighters would continue on pat Brettell Lane railway station and on to the mainline at Stourbridge junction. The closed section of railway through Dudley is expected to re-open during the 2010s, as a combined Midland Metro tramway and a heavy rail line for goods trains. Almost half a century after its closure, the station building is still standing. The railway below is currently disused, having been closed in 1993. It is set to re-open by 2012 as the second phase of the Midland Metro.

Historic imagery of the site

• Blower's green 2.jpg

  Blower's Green station forecourt in 2002. It has been fenced off since 2004 due to youths' anti-social behavior, structural decay and periodical use by vagrants.

• Netherton Signal box (2) in 2004..jpg

  Netherton signal box in 2004.

• Blowers Green station in 2004.jpg

  Blower's Green station building in 2004.

• Blowers Green station tracks 2004..jpg

  The line below Netherton signal box and Blower's Green station building in 2004.

References

• Rail Around Birmingham and the West Midlands: Blowers Green railway station
• chasewaterstuff.wordpress.com
• localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk
• streetvi.com
• bescot.plus.com

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Dudley		Great Western Railway Later British Rail Bumble Hole Line (1878-1964)		Baptist End
Dudley		Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway Later Great Western Railway, then British Rail Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton (1852-1962)		Harts Hill
Dudley		South Staffordshire Railway Later LNWR, then LMS, finally BR South Staffs Line Dudley-Stourbridge Junction section (1852-1962)		Harts Hill