1. The Welsh Marches north of Hereford-01.08.81

THE ARCHIVE FILES > Archive-1981 > 13. The Welsh Marches & the North Wales coast-01 & 02.08.81 > 1. The Welsh Marches north of Hereford-01.08.81

We left Graham's house in Combe Down (Bath) early on Saturday morning with our first stop being Hereford for fuel. The day was hot with plenty of sunshine that was forecast to last into the following day.

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Images 1-30 of 30 displayed.

JFJ 873, 1949 Daimler, Hereford
Daimler bus JFJ 873 is seen receiving some attention at a garage located on the A49 to the south of Hereford. This bus is well known in the preserved bus fraternity and still does the rounds of the rallies today now being over seventy years old. It spent its entire working life on the roads around Exeter in revenue service for Devon General between 1949 and 1966. It has gone through a number of restorations and has had a number of owners since being preserved.
Keywords: JFJ 873 1949 Daimler Hereford

Moreton-on-Lugg signal box (GWR, 1943)
Moreton-on-Lugg signal box is seen in the summer sunshine. It is the next box north of Hereford on the route towards Shrewsbury. The 1943-built forty-four lever box demonstrates the GWR more austere design of box with a much simpler gabled roof that is clad with corrugated white asbestos sheets. I last visited the box in 2016 and found the box recognisable to what it did back here in 1981 even down to the notice on the gate in the background, see...... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/25752988204/moreton-lugg-signal-box
Keywords: Moreton-on-Lugg signal box GWR 1943

Woofferton Junction signal box (LNW & GW Joint, c.1875)
The signalman permitted graham and me access to the track to take this photograph of his box. Wooferton signal box is a LNW & GW structure dating from 1875 and is similar in design to a number of such boxes on this route between Hereford and Shrewsbury. I visited this location a few months earlier to take a photograph of steam-hauled Welsh Marches Express positioning myself at the bridge in the distance, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/30022609709/x6000-welsh-marches-express-10-15
Keywords: Woofferton Junction signal box LNW & GW Joint.1875)

Bromfield signal box (LNW & GW Joint, 1873)
The LNW & GW joint signal box at Bromfield is a smaller version of the previous box at Woofferton and what a smashing design they are! This 1873 structure is perfectly symmetrical and has a beautifully simple design. It is located just to the west of the village it is named after with Ludlow racecourse immediately behind it just out of view in this photograph. I took a photograph from a near identical position when I revisited the location in 2016 with the similarities clear to see..... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/25752986804/bromfield-signal-box
Keywords: Bromfield signal box LNW & GW Joint 1873

Former Bromfield station
The remains of Bromfield station are seen on the line between Hereford and Shrewsbury. The station closed to regular passengers in 1958 having been open for just over one hundred years. However, until 1965 it infrequently handled race traffic for the adjacent Ludlow racecourse. This remnant of the station building still stands very much the same as is seen here even down to the picket fencing.
Keywords: Former Bromfield station

Onibury signal box (BR, 1977)
An unusual design, Onibury signal box was just three years old when this photograph was taken. This 1977 BR structure, sitting in a semi-elevated position on a concrete slab staddling a stone wall, replaced a traditional LNW & GW joint box located on the opposite side of the tracks and the northern side of the A49 level crossing. This view shows the rear of the box taken from a field but I did manage a semi-front view during my most recent visit in 2016, see....https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/25752986404/onibury-signal-box
Keywords: Onibury signal box BR 1977

Craven Arms Crossing signal box (GW, 1947)
I am very glad that I took this photograph of Craven Arms signal box back in 1981 as today, whilst a box is still extant it is totally different to this 1947 Great Western design, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/25752986204/craven-arms-crossing-signal-box Railtrack demolished it from within the new structure that encased it in 2000. This box was replaced due to rot making it beyond repair. The box is located at a level crossing to the north of the town and the station.
Keywords: Craven Arms Crossing signal box GW 1947

Marshbrook signal box (LNW & GW Joint, 1872)
Marshbrook is a tiny village nestling in the bottom of the valley just south of the Strettons. The Marches line and the A49 pass through the valley with the B4370 heading westwards towards the A489. Where the B road crosses the railway is a level crossing controlled by this superb 1872 LNW & GW Joint signal box with its pyramydal hipped roof. It is one of the oldest manual boxes in use of this type and when this photograph was taken it still controlled some mechanical gates. Notice that the wooden nameboard spells the village's name as two words but it is generally written as just one.
Keywords: Marshbrook signal box LNW & GW Joint 1872

Church Stretton signal box (LNW & GW Joint c. 1872)
Rather shaded from the strong August afternoon sunshine Church Stretton signal box is seen on the platform end. Another lovely example of a LNW & GW joint box dating, as per a number of the others, from 1872. This box was permanently switched out of circuit in 2003. It sat empty, unused and deteriorating until it was dismantled in the spring of 2009 and rebuilt in a nearby park but I have yet to see any further information or images of this.
Keywords: Church Stretton signal box LNW & GW Joint 1872)

Dorrington signal box (LNW & GW joint, c.1872)
Dorrington was another location where the signalman permitted Graham and me trackside access to take a reasonable photograph of the box. This was a lot more than Andy and I could manage when we visited in 2016, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/25752985404/dorrington-signal-box This was the final example of the LNW & GW joint box of our trip with his lovely example again dating from 1872.
Keywords: Dorrington signal box LNW & GW joint 1872

Wrexham General station
A view from the northern end of Wrexham General station there is an impressive collection of semaphores and no fewer than two boxes almost opposite each other! The box to the left was the ex-GCR Exchange and to the right the ex-GWR North box. The GWR heritage is also clear in the signals that are all lower quadrants but it's a shame that the single starter to the right has lost its finial.
Keywords: Wrexham General station

Wrexham General station
A view along Wrexham General station looking south reveals its unmistakable GWR heritage. The first station was opened on this site in 1846 with the present-day one opening in 1912. The station has two large and ornate wrought iron ringed towers above the entrance, a design found elsewhere on the GWR network, for example at Truro, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/24717823604/frontage-truro-station.The Grade II listed station has recently undergone a thorough restoration and a very nice station it is now.
Keywords: Wrexham General station

Wrexham Exchange station (disused)
To the western side of Wrexham General station and linked to it by a footbridge is Wrexham Exchange station. This was originally opened in 1866 as a separate station to General by the Wrexham, Mold and Connah's Quay Railway that was later to be absorbed by the Great Central. Interestingly it was later to become part of the LNER of all railway companies under grouping and was one of their few stations in Wales. When we visited in the summer of 1981 the station building seen here was on a platform with no track laid and thus closed but the other platform seen to the left had just been brought back into use by BR as General's platform four two months previously. Notice the Class 116 DMU standing at what I believe to be General's platform three in the background.
Keywords: Wrexham Exchange station disused

Croesnewyedd North Fork signal box (GW, c. 1906)
If there was ever a prize for the signal box with the longest name this could well win it! Croesnewyedd North Fork signal box or Croes Newydd North Fork, to give its alternative name, is a fine and substantial Type 27c GWR box opened around 1906. It is still extant at the time of writing in 2022 but has lost a lot of its classic looks due to plastification, the control of the wooden crossing gates and all of the semaphores having had a Unipart entrance-exit signalling panel in 2009. The road that crosses the line here is named Watery Road and is a particularly busy place for a level crossing as it leads to the huge Wrexham Maelor hospital
Keywords: Croesnewyedd North Fork signal box GWR Great Western Railway

GWR backing signal & converted gas lamp, Croesnewydd North Fork crossing
Opposite Croesnewydd North Fork signal box (Wrexham) where these fine pair of GWR antiquities. First is the GWR backing signal with its associated route indicator. This permitted access to sidings to the south of the level crossing on which I am standing. These quirky signals were another type of signal used, primarily by the GWR, to help with special movements. Backing signals were placed to authorise wrong line running at stations or junctions with caution if a ground or subsidiary signal did not cover the movement. The second thing of interest in the photograph is the converted gas lamp. I am not sure of the lamp's origins but it would have been one of possibly three others located on the level crossing where Watery Road crosses the line south of Wrexham station that can be seen in the distance with a DMU in a platform.
Keywords: GWR backing signal converted gas lamp Croesnewydd North Fork crossing

Croesnewyedd North Fork signal box (GW c.1906) & level crossing
A second photograph of the magnificent Croesnewyedd North Fork signal box now complete with the mechanical crossing gates and the superb four-doll-up junction bracket signal. The submissive (the shorter) left hand doll controlled access to the Brymbo steelworks line that closed in 1990. When the steelworks closed the railway route also closed. The taller dolls control the former GWR mainline south of Wrexham towards Shrewsbury. Whilst the box still stands it contains an entrance-exit signalling panel with everything else having been swept away in this scene.
Keywords: Croesnewyedd North Fork signal box level crossing GWR Great Western Railway

Down bracket signal, Wrexham station
Quite how Graham and I (he is seen with his back to me returning to the station) managed to simply wander off the end of Wrexham General station and take this photograph remains a mystery to me! Either way, it does show a rarely seen face-on view of Wrexham's down starter bracket signal. Notice that severe track rationalisation has meant that a huge gap has opened up between where the signal is standing and the running lines that it controls. A DMU sits in Wrexham station awaiting its next duty, unfortunately, my very detailed notes from the time make no mention of this that seems very remiss of me looking back some forty years on!
Keywords: Down bracket signal, Wrexham station

25085 & 25032, return leg of The Welsh Marches Pullman, Shrewsbury-Chester, Croesnewydd North Fork signal box
Graham and I had been hoping for a bit of steam action on this, the first day of our two-day trip to North Wales. We were not too sure as to when the 'Welsh Marches Pullman' hauled by the NRM's Black 5 5000 would be passing us in the Wrexham area in those pre-internet days! Unfortunately, the Black 5 failed at Shrewsbury on the return run so a scratch pair of 'Rats' was summoned to lead the charter. 25085 and 25032 are seen passing Croesnewydd North Fork signal box with an associated trail of exhaust from the leading locomotive. Fellow rail photographer Ingy The Wingy documented this train a little later in the afternoon at Chester shown on his Flickr site..... https://flic.kr/p/hE7voh
Keywords: 25085 25032 return leg of The Welsh Marches Pullman Shrewsbury-Chester, Croesnewydd North Fork signal box

Croes Newydd East signal box
I have been able to glean very little information about Croes Newydd East signal box that is seen here basking in the afternoon summer sunshine. I am not even sure where it was located so would appreciate it if anybody could furnish me with any further information. It is a later and simpler GWR design with its gabled roof rather than the more common hipped design. It was switched out hence our bold trackside photograph that will have involved some sort of illicit access! Incidentally, notice that the nameplate on the box spells Croes Newydd as two words where as all the other boxes spell it as one!
Keywords: Croes Newydd East signal box

Croesnewydd West signal box (GW)
Another GWR signal box but a much later example and of an even more austere design! Its gabled roof and corrugated roof dates it to the 1940s just prior to nationalisation but I do not have an exact date...help anybody? Croesnewydd West signal box was switched out like its East cousin which meant that we could get illicit access to take this photograph. Not knowing its location today I suspect that it was located on the then freight-only line (now closed) to the Brymbo steelworks.
Keywords: Croesnewydd West signal box

Rossett signal box (BR, 1960)
Rather disparagingly referred to as 'plywood wonders' the British Railways (Western Region) boxes built in the 1950/60s era were a cost-effective way of replacing a life-expired or damaged box. Further examples could be found at other locations, for example.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/25386595404/x50031-up-working-hungerford-station. They were pretty much universal in their design that could be positioned either way round and with doors pre-installed at either meaning that the steps could be positioned easily as appropriate to the site. Rossett signal box replaced an earlier GW box that was located on the other side of the track and the level crossing on which I am standing to take this photograph. Rossett station closed in October 1964 and by the time of our visit here in 1981, all that remained were the platforms that still saw very occasional use by specials conveying pupils to and from the nearby Moreton Hall Girls' school. By 1986 the line through the station was singled but this was again doubled during 2016 between here and Saltney Junction (Chester).
Keywords: Rossett signal box

Green Lane Crossing signal box (GW, c. 1925)
Green Lane Crossing signal box contained a twenty-one lever frame and was the first box south of Saltney Junction (Chester) on the route towards Wrexham. It also controlled the delightful mechanical crossing gates with their red warning lamps seen in this photograph. Notice that the box appears to have some structural problems with some rather crude repairs to the masonry having been undertaken. The box is an example of the later and more economical design used by the GWR with a much simpler gabled roof. The box was shut in 1986 when the route was singled with control of the crossing coming under the auspices of Chester PSB via CCTV monitoring.
Keywords: Green Lane Crossing signal box (GW, c. 1925)

Frontage, Chester station
Chester station's Italianate frontage was designed by the renowned architect Francis Thompson and was opened 1848. With its three hundred and five-metre long two-storey façade built out of Staffordshire blue brick and pale grey Storeton sandstone, it is undoubtedly an impressive structure that was making a real statement of intent by Robert Stephenson's new Chester and Holyhead Railway! I took a similar photograph to this 1981 view when I revisited in 2021, see.... https://www.ontheupfast.com/p/21936chg/30021093933/frontage-chester-station The lineup of 1970s cars, is notable for the fact that it includes just two foreign interlopers in the form of a Datsun Sunny and a Daf 33. The remaining fourteen home-built cars include no fewer than six Fords such was their dominance at that time! Our trusty Austin 1100 (UVJ 129J) is seen parked to the extreme left in the line up.
Keywords: Frontage Chester station

Chester No. 3A signal box (BR, 1963)
The rear of Chester's No. 3A signal box is seen with a Class 101 DMU behind displaying Rock Ferry on its destination blind. The box is a Type 15 British Railways (London Midland) structure that opened in 1963 replacing a lovely LNWR Type 4 box. If the BR box seen here seems familiar this is probably down to it being the type used by Hornby for their OO version enjoyed by many a railway modeller!
Keywords: Chester No. 3A signal box BR 1963

Chester No.2 signal box. jpg
The fantastic LNWR Chester No. 2 signal box was a dominant feature at the eastern end of Chester General station until its demise at the start of May 1984. Carrying its LNWR nameboard (post-1935) it also carries a huge British Railways (Midland) enamel with a matching example on the other side pointing to Chester station with a large double-tailed arrow. Number 1 signal box was a British Railways Type 15 box just a short distance from this box under the bridge to the extreme left. It's a shame that my photograph of the box is of such poor quality as it is the only one in my archive of this fine structure.
Keywords: Chester No.2 signal box Number 2 no2

Chester No. 4 signal box (LNW, 1904)
In the fine evening sunshine, Chester No. 4 signal box is seen resplendent with its British Railways (Midland) enamel acting as a giant running-in sign for passengers. It was located just east of the station with the A56 Hoole Road bridge in the background. The box was another large LNWR structure with this example dating from 1904. It contained a large one hundred and seventy-six lever frame and was double manned. I suspect that BR was particularly pleased when it, and all the other mechanical boxes in the Chester area, was closed in early May 1984 with control moving to the PSB located on a piece of land to the east of the station near the No. 2 box.
Keywords: Chester No. 4 signal box LNWR 1904 number 4 no4

Interior, Chester No.4 signal box
Over time I have forgotten how Graham and I were invited into the huge Chetser No. 4 signal box. However, to prove that we were here is a photograph of the interior looking along the length of the impressive one hundred and seventy-six lever frame. By this stage of its operating life with just three years left in use, there are many levers painted white and out of use. One of the two signalmen on duty looks like he has just pulled off a blue lever that would control some sort of ground frame. I am not at all sure what the green tape wrapped around the handles of some of the levers was for.
Keywords: Interior, Chester No.4 signal box number 4 no4

BR (M) enamel, Chester No. 4 signal box
Catching the last of the evening summer sun a British Railways (London Midland) running-in sign is seen attached to the front of Chester No. 4 signal box. Notice that the sign is made up of four large enamel pieces bolted together. As always when I see these items in my old photographs, and knowing them to no longer be there (No. 4 box was decommissioned in early May 1984 and knocked down during the following summer) I wonder where this fine sign ended up......?
Keywords: BR London Midland enamel Chester No. 4 signal box

Chester No. 5 signal box (GWR LNWR, 1874)
Chester No. 5 signal box was probably the least busy of all the boxes in the vicinity of the station and the various junctions that surrounded it. It was located on the Birkenhead line at the point where the avoiding lines from Chester No. 6 joined (that I sadly never got to see and was so close to where I stood to take this photograph). No. 5 box was different to all the others being one jointly commissioned by the GWR and LNWR being built in 1874. It was extended twice during its life in both 1908 and 1915 with evidence of this work seen in this photograph. I am not at all sure how I managed to get this photograph but I will probably have scrambled down the embankment from Brook Lane's bridge. Notice the Chester wagon works in the background to the right and the diesel depot to the left that the signal box controlled moved to and from.
Keywords: Chester No. 5 signal box number 5 no5

Graham, camp site Kelsterton SJ275704
Having cooked some supper Graham relaxes leaning against his Austin 1100 (UVJ 129J) painted in a delightful shade of beige that British Leyland optimistically referred to as Bedouin with an Autumn Leaf vinyl interior that you and I would describe as brown! We have set up camp for the night in a field just outside Connah's Quay near the village of Chesterton. Having had a cracking day on the Welsh Marches we were now looking forward to the delights of the North Wales coast!
Keywords: Graham camp site Kelsterton SJ275704

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