More Pictures from Ripple

This week's blog post shows some of the pictures I took at Ripple during a quick visit there last summer. It was a gorgeous day in late May and a pretty busy one for me - after snapping the old M50 bridge and the village bridge in Ripple, I managed to have lunch and a pint by the river in Upton before tackling the embankment by the rugby pitch there. I hope the good weather returns soon but in the meantime please enjoy these pictures!

Not a railway pic, but nevertheless: St Mary's in Ripple.

A clue as to the village's history.

The bridge joining Station Road to Bow Road, the last road crossing before Ripple Station.

The south wall of Station Road bridge.

The view over the north parapet is pretty overgrown!

More Pictures from Ripple and Malvern Hanley Road

I've been clearing up a few old images from my archive this week and found these two pictures to share with you. The first is from Ripple, taken just south of the old station there. The second is a great shot of Malvern Hanley Road seven years after its closure, with a rare view of the roadside entrance to the station.

South of Ripple, late 1950s.

'Road Entrance, Malvern Wells LMS Station', November 1959.

New Pictures: Great Malvern Station, Tewkesbury Junction, Brotheridge Green, Ripple, Malvern Hanley Road

A slightly random assortment of miscellany this week as I again try to tidy up some of the contributions which people have sent me over the past few months! This week's post features some original signs from Great Malvern Station, a couple of shots of the old coal yard at Tewkesbury Junction on St Andrew's Road during the 1980s, two salvaged signs from Malvern Hanley Road and Ripple stations, and finally an original sign from the embankment at Pigeon House Farm. I've also got some wonderful recollections from John Clements, the farmer at Pigeon House, to share with you, so make sure to check out that page as well.

Ripple M50 Bridge

On its way south from Ripple, the Malvern-Ashchurch branch followed the course of Bow Lane, a road linking the village with Puckrup. However, in the late 1950s the government decided that the country needed a new motorway to link the Midlands with South Wales, and so the new M50 was constructed south of the village to connect what would later become the M5 (to the east of Ripple), with Ross-on-Wye (to the west). This meant installing a single-track railway bridge to enable trains to cross the motorway: an effort which all too soon became pointless when the moribund route closed to passengers in 1961. The map below is from 1946 and so does not show the motorway, but rather the railway as it was originally.

Today, the motorway has outlived the unique railway bridge, which was removed in 2012 after falling into disrepair. The bridge is still in place and can be crossed either by car or on foot, but the attached railway crossing has been demolished, leaving dismembered stone walls on either side. In truth, the site is largely unremarkable now and these small relics offer the only clues that a railway once ran through here.

By far the most prolific photographic chronicler of the railway bridge's early years was Ben Brooksbank, whose extensive collection of pictures have been made freely available through his Geograph.org.uk profile.
 

'SE view along Bow Lane near Ripple', 9th August 1959. The disconnected railway can be seen on the left. Picture taken by Ben Brooksbank, courtesy of Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

'M50 Motorway under construction', 17th August 1960. This is the view from Bow bridge looking west. Picture taken by Ben Brooksbank, courtesy of Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

'M50 Motorway under construction: railway overbridge', 25th March 1961. Picture taken by Ben Brooksbank, courtesy of Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

Dereliction & Demolition

The railway bridge from the road.

'Former railway bridge over the M50'. Picture by Phil Halling, used under Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

'Former railway bridge over the M50'. Picture by Phil Halling, used under Creative Commons Licence 2.0

'Former railway bridge over the M50'. Picture by Phil Halling, used under Creative Commons Licence 2.0

'Former railway bridge over the M50'. Picture by Phil Halling, used under Creative Commons Licence 2.0

Cracks showing in the bridge during its final days.

'Dismantled railway bridge'. Picture by Phil Halling, used under Creative Commons Licence 2.0

Modern Remains

The bridge in its late 1950s heyday.

The matching shot showing the bridge shortly before demolition in 2012...

...and the same shot from 2016.

Bow Lane, looking north towards Ripple.

The view south in 2016.

'Bow Lane, Ripple, at bridge over M50 Motorway', 11 July 1997. This is the view south along Bow bridge. Picture taken by Ben Brooksbank, courtesy of Creative Commons Licence 2.0.

The same scene in 2016.