Clarence Road Bridge

Clarence Road bridge in the 1970s.

The view towards Malvern from behind Clarence Road bridge, also 1970s.

The Colin Allbright Collection Part V: The Bridges of Malvern County

Another out-of-sequence post this week, this time showing the area between Great Malvern station and Tewkesbury Junction. Of particular interest here are the pictures of the old coal yard and the site now occupied by County Builders - another view of the old junction between the GWR and LMS railways which has now been lost to the undergrowth. The fourth shot too has been lost to the ages, taken from the embankment just south of Clarence Road bridge. I'm not even sure how you would get up there any more today! Bringing up the rear are two more photographs of the bridges that carry the railway south away from Great Malvern station: not a lot has changed in these, but they are interesting nonetheless (especially for fans of 'vintage' cars!)

The old coal yard at Tewkesbury Junction.

This is a great angle, showing the old junction sidings site before it became hidden.

Clarence Road bridge.

The view towards Malvern from behind Clarence Road bridge.

Woodshears Road bridge.

Thirlstane Road bridge.

The Colin Allbright Collection Part III: Malvern Wells (GWR)

Yes, I know I'm uploading these in the wrong order, but I wanted to put this set up before I show you Part II (which will show the old buffers outside Colwall Tunnel). The reason for this is that I have finally found a picture of what is now a tumbledown old shed outside Malvern Wells station before it fell into disrepair. This collection from Colin Allbright shows the old GWR stop around fifteen (we think) years after its demise, providing an fantastic snapshot of a site clearly in decline but with a few interesting features still visible.

The Wells signal box from the south. The corrugated hut to the right still stands today.

A slightly closer-up shot of the above.

The Wells box with the windows open on a hot day.

The old station shed, still in remarkably good condition and with windows intact.

Peachfield Bridge. This view is now obscured by security fencing.

The view from Peachfield Road down across the old Wells station.

The Colin Allbright Collection, Part I: Colwall Tunnel

Well, no sooner do I decide to stop updating this blog every week than someone comes up with me with a new supply of amazing photos. These pictures were taken by Colin Allbright in the late 1970s (or possibly early 1980s) and show the railway around Colwall Tunnel on what seems to have been a very nice summer's day! Colin himself writes:

'My Grandad, Albert Jordan was in the home guard. His platoon guarded the old tunnel during the war. As the Sarg in charge he decided one night to walk the entire tunnel to find no one was guarding the other end. Ever since he told that tale I wanted to see the tunnel myself and been a life long railway enthusiast I decided to record the line just in case I decided to make a model.'

Some of the angles in Colin's shots have now probably passed into history; the growth of trees and shrubs near the line has meant that many of these views are now obscured and may actually have been lost forever. The good news, however, is that there are plenty more shots in Colin's collection and so I will begin to upload those on a regular cycle for the next few weeks. Hopefully, this will give me some time to get out into the countryside to take some more of my own! I hope you enjoy them.

The tunnel portal at the eastern end of Colwall tunnel.

The disused original Colwall tunnel.

The view towards the tunnel with the ruins of a brick shed in view.

A view westwards along the tracks.

The reverse view back towards Malvern.

The pedestrian underpass at Fruitlands.