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Mikkel

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I have a thing for GWR stable blocks.  The subject isn't systematically covered in the literature, so in a previous post I tried to obtain a tentative overview of the major types and styles. Since then I’ve been searching Britain from Above, Google street view and old online  maps looking for past and present traces of stable blocks. It's all a bit esoteric, but for what it's worth here is a selection of my favourite 'finds'.

 

 

Westbury

 

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It's 1929 and a plane soars over Westbury, capturing the photo above. The small stable block with the distinctive roof vents can be seen at the entry to the goods yard, a common and logical location for them (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).

 

 

 

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The stable block at Westbury can be seen in this 1901 map.  The station and goods area was later extensively rebuilt, as can be seen in the photos below and in this map. The stables here were built in 1899, with capacity for three horses. Many of the standard stable blocks on the GWR were built around the turn of the century, when the GWR decided to rely less on agents and do more of its own cartage (National Library of Scotland, Creative Commons).

 

 

 

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A grainy close-up, showing also the cattle dock. There must have been a lovely whiff in this part of the yard! (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).

 

 

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Toboldlygo of this parish has modelled Westbury stables, using the 4mm Timbertracks kit.

 

 

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Note the manure pit, a standard feature. Thanks to Toboldlygo for allowing use of the photos, there's more about the build in his thread.

 

 

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So, does anything remain of the Westbury stable block today? A look on Google maps suggests that there is in fact a building more or less in the location where the stables were situated!  (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

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But alas, it is only the signal box that was built later. Nothing seems to remain of the stable block (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

Basingstoke

 

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The stable block at Basingstsoke has had a happier fate. Well, sort of. Lost in a sea of cars, it is seen here on Google Maps in the guise of - appropriately - a car wash. Thanks to Western Star for the tip (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

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This 1949-68 series map shows how  the stables at Basingstoke were originally located at the perimeter of the goods yard, near the road. The structure does not appear in pre-1914 maps (National Library of Scotland, Creative Commons).

 

 

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The Basingstoke stable block in Google street view. Looks like the car park has been covered since the first photo was taken (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

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Details of the roof vents on the Basingstoke block, which appear to be in original condition (though not the colour!). The vents are often a useful distinguishing feature when looking for stable blocks in aerial photos etc (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

Chipping Norton

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The stable block at Chipping Norton was built in in 1904. In 1929 it was converted - like a number of other stables - to a garage for GWR motor buses  (National Library of Scotland, Creative Commons).

 

 

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Alan Lewis' excellent photo of the Chipping Norton stable block in 1983 (Copyright and courtesy Alan Lewis).

 

 

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The stable block at Chipping Norton lives on today, the only remaining building of that station (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

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There's a Royal Mail facility next to it, so the delivery theme hasn't entirely gone (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

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The stable block itself seems to be on private property now. It isn't much to look at from the road, but think of all the stories it could tell ! (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

Slough

 

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Moving on to the larger types, this is the stable block at Slough in 1928, again conveniently situated between road and yard (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).


 

 

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The Slough stable block was a fairly large example of what I call the "Archetype" design. The large variants of this design were simply "stretched" versions of the smaller versions. Note the horse drawn vehicles outside. I wonder if they were parked there overnight  (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).

 

 

 

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Like most stable blocks of the standard designs, the one at Slough had no windows at the back, presumably to keep things quiet for the horses. Prairies on the line!  (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).

 

 

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Today’s, er, view. The stable block was approx. where blue container/lorry is (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

Park Royal

 

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An aircraft passes over modern day London NW. The red line below shows the extent of what used to be the main GWR goods yard at Park Royal (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

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Back in the heyday of the GWR, Park Royal had a 12-stall stable block  (National Library of Scotland, Creative Commons).

 

 

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The stable block at Park Royal was almost identical to the one at Slough, but had an extra door and room for fodder. It is seen here in 1930, illustrating how substantial these buildings were (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).

 

 

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Here is the Park Royal stable block again in the 1950s, now a good deal shorter! Part of the building has been torn down and has been turned into a garage or similar (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).

 

 

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My 4mm model of the Park Royal stable block. Details here.

 

 

Handsworth & Smethwick

 

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Multi-storey stable blocks were only found in the major urban areas, where space was in high demand. So far the smallest multi-storey block I have come across is the one at Handsworth & Smethwick, as seen on the Warwickshire Railways site

 

 

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The two storey stable block is seen at the bottom of this map, showing one of the yards at Handsworth & Smethwick. A single storey stable block was located next to it, and can be seen to the right in the photo above  (National Library of Scotland, Creative Commons).

 

 

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I was intrigued to find that the lower sidings of the yard can still be seen on Google maps at the time of writing, now apparently a scrap yard (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

 

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It's hard to be certain, but I wonder if the yellow structure top center in this view is in fact the cut-down and shortened remains of the old two-storey stable block? The location and door/window relationship fits - though one window on the left side is missing (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

Paddington Mint

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Lastly, a look at the big one - Paddington Mint stables. (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted.)

 

 

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The original stables here were built in 1878, but expanded and rebuilt several time since then.  I've often thought that the interior yard and ramps would make an interesting diorama. There's good info and drawings in Janet Russel's "Great Western Horsepower" (Getty Images, embedding perimitted).

 

 

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A modern day view of the Mint stables (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

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The stables now house St Mary's Hospital (Google Maps, Map data ©2019 Google, Google Fair Use principles).

 

 

 

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I found a 1922 view of Paddington Mint on  Britian from Above, and zoomed in. Two horses can be seen on the upper level, bringing life to the scene (Britain from Above. Embedding permitted).

 

 

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I tried to zoom in further to see the horses better. But it's a funny thing, the past: When you try to pin it down...

 

 

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....it slips through your fingers.

 

Edit: If the images re-appear following the Dediserve failure, see the following in the discussion below:

* Tim V's excellent photos of the stable blocks at Witney, Shrewsbury, Westbury, Shipston and Abingdon

* Methusaleh's find of the remaining stable block at Birmingham Hockley

* Ian Major's views of the stable block at Littleton & Badsey

 

 

Edited by Mikkel

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Watched without the sound on... Bits and pieces from all over - the tram destinations give some clues: Longsight suggests Manchester but Malone Rd, Belfast. Green's Cinematograph suggests Glasgow - and perhaps it's all Green's film.

Edited by Compound2632
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Mikkel;- The music noted on the YT posting is;-

 

Song

Arco Noir (a)-14016

Artist

Richard Allen Harvey PRS

Album

WOM 192 Strings Of Sorrow

Licensed to YouTube by

AdRev for Rights Holder, AdRev for a 3rd Party (on behalf of West One Music (West One US) (West One Music Group)); AdRev Publishing, LatinAutor, Abramus Digital, and 11 Music Rights Societies

Song

Chanson du Soir (a)-14016

Artist

Richard Allen Harvey PRS

Album

WOM 177 Reflections

Licensed to YouTube by

AdRev for a 3rd Party, AdRev for Rights Holder (on behalf of West One Music (West One US) (West One Music Group)); AdRev Publishing, and 10 Music Rights Societies

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Thanks, I didn't think of looking there. Strings of Sorrow is on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCID1qpejyQ

 

Not exactly festive and yet I feel strengthened by it.

 

Anyway, there's a nice G3 model of a GWR stable here: http://monktonpriors.gauge3.co.uk/gallery.html

Similar to Tim's photos of Shipton (for Burford) from earlier in the thread:

 

On 29/01/2020 at 18:01, Tim V said:

How about this! Shipton (for Burford) in 1981. A small stables, modified.

 

Shipton_8_August_1981_HP5_OM1_217-008.jpg

 

(for more pics see page 2 of these comments)

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Just wanted to share this great find that @Methuselah has made on Google Earth. It shows the two-storey stable block of Birmingham Hockley on the right (sic), still largely intact. Even the ramp  for horses to access the upper floor is still there, now partly rebuilt as stairs.

 

Note: Compare it with this period photo of the very same scene on the Warwickshire Railways site: 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrhd682.htm

 

image.png.206cdc5c2927b9e5e50e8e2625beeaf8.png.a8d5ca17c19bc96cab22b4f3a10c2076.png

 

And a bit closer:

 

Hockley.JPG.4b7e699a313a873c4818237a88af50ba.JPG

 

Google Earth coordinates :

52°29'27.00"N

1°55'20.13"W

 

Google Streetview:

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4911121,-1.9233583,3a,75y,289.59h,91.09t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sCCuHTWbNZiB9gRsprkpRaA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

Many thanks to Methusaleh for sharing his find!

 

Edited by Mikkel
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Yes thanks for that Mike!

 

The older one storey stable block at Hockley can be seen in 1927 on the Warwickshire website: 

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/gwr/gwrhd704.htm

 

That photo also shows the wall in the background along Pitford Street (mentioned in the caption).  Is that the same wall there now? Same stepped design but the stretcher bond and bricks seem too modern? This part of Hockley was extensively rebuilt in 1938. 

 

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Streetview link:

https://www.google.com/maps/@52.4904443,-1.9209263,3a,75y,348.11h,75.83t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1soWTqZP26plI7_oSCTUOkRQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

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Edited by Mikkel
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 This image, of the internal GW driveway ;-

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- is taken from here, looking North West.

 

52°29'20.70"N    1°54'50.44"W This is the south eastern end of the whole site, SW of the Ickneild Street road tunnel.

 

     If you look at google Earth, the masonry/revetments there are original GW, and there is a short tunnel under still in-situ I believe. Flip into the older 1945 imagery, and you can see the curved revetment in both 1945 and modern images.

 

     The canopied loading-dock and driveway/road, between the building in this image can also be seen from the opposite direction here, both looking south-east. That's Pitsford Street to the right with all the parked cars, with Vyse Street crossing at the top of the hill;-

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The gable-ended building behind the now demolished arc-roofed sheds can still b seen in Google Street View;- 

 

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4 hours ago, Mikkel said:

That photo also shows the wall in the background along Pitford Street (mentioned in the caption).  Is that the same wall there now? Same stepped design but the stretcher bond and bricks seem too modern? This part of Hockley was extensively rebuilt in 1938. 

 

If you showed me that wall without any other context, I'd say 70s/80s - with those capping bricks, more likely 80s. And for once I'm talking 1980s, not 1880s.

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Many thanks for putting that straight, Stephen and Stephen. Yes there's something of the 80s garishness about those bricks in the photo I posted, whereas some of those in Stephen's post above look much more original.

 

8 hours ago, Methuselah said:

The gable-ended building behind the now demolished arc-roofed sheds can still b seen in Google Street View;- 

 

It has a sign outside saying "Rebel chicken". So much for industrial grandeur.

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Mikkle,

I may be totally wrong here, but while doing a bit of research (and I appreciate its not GWR) but am I right in thinking these were the former GNR/LNER stables for King's Cross Goods Depot?

 

https://goo.gl/maps/pJUeSKqq2Xjnc9pU8

 

Going on to street view shows the fully restored building. Obviously all been restored external as part of the King's Cross Redevelopment, but being on Stables Road, it seemed too coincidental!

 

Rich

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Hi Rich, I have no idea but what an interesting structure! Good to see it is still there. A model of a two-storey horse stable really would be special. It's something I'd really like to do, with horses seen moving up the external ramps. I wonder if this one had the ramps on the outside?

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A quick Google, and no more than that would say that these buildings were coal drops,

 

https://www.gasholder.london/2018/10/16/coal-drops-yard-the-early-history/

 

https://www.architectural-review.com/buildings/the-experience-is-everything-coal-drops-yard-london-by-heatherwick-studio/10044419.article

 

with the stables elsewhere

 

https://www.kingscross.co.uk/granary

 

http://www.crht1837.org/history/horsesstables

 

There is as has been mentioned before the two storey tables in Praed Street, Paddington.

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The buildings are round "Coal Drops Yard".  As ChrisN says, Camden Railway Heritage Trust website includes a detailed description of and drawings for the multi-storey stabling at http://www.crht1837.org/history/horsesstables.  The whole area has changed enormously since we took our small children to 'Marine Ices' opposite the old Camden Round House - they are now taking their own children there as it's still trading. 

Kit PW

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I'm going to quote this excellent post by Ian here (from the workbench thread), which includes a lovely shot of the Littleton and Badsey stable block, and some wonderful additional information!

 

On 25/08/2020 at 14:32, Ian Major said:

Mikkel,

 

This photo may be of interest to you. It is the GWR weighbridge in the yard of Littleton and Badsey Station. This station was located between Evesham and Honeybourne on the OWWR.  I took the photo on 31st December 1965. The yard had closed and its rails lifted the year before. The weighing mechanism had been removed by this time. The station was officially closed on 3rd January 1966 but in practice the last train had already gone - it was also the end of steam on the WR. All the buildings were demolished soon after. 

 

The building is an interesting variant with the entrance door on the front. In line with Stephen's comment the door frame has a recess to the rear indicating it opened inwards. 

 

This being the Vale of Evesham, in the background are fields of sprout plants. On the horizon are rows of fruit trees (plums). Fruit and veg grown in the area made this yard very busy at one time.   

 

 

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Since I am here, I will add another picture!

 

This was taken same day and to take it I turned 90 degrees to my right. It was the yard stable building. The advert on the end was replicated on the other end. Barnett Emanual bought asparagus from the local growers (including my Father) for Covent Garden Market, London,

 

The buildings behind to the left are those of the Littleton and Badsey Growers Association. This was a co-operative for the local growers and was a big source of railway traffic including seed and agricultural equipment. BTW its chairman was Charles Binyon. His better known brother Laurence wrote the poem "To the Fallen"  ("We Will Remember Them") which is recited every Remembrance Day.  As my South Wales friends would say "There's distinction". 

 

I will go back to sleep now.

 

Ian.

 

 

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Edited by Mikkel
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Mikkel,

 

I am pleased they are of interest.

 

I dug out another picture I took of the stable building days before it was demolished. I am afraid it is not top quality since it is a detail from a photo that I took of my grandparents garden. It shows the road facing side and it was one of my first colour photos. Notice all the "public facing" walls were painted whilst the yard facing wall was untreated brick. 

 

1117048592_Blackminster04ed.jpg.4f7f9811e9f70cfba813f0ad30a240d9.jpg

 

Going back to the previous photo of the stable building. The L&B Grower's buildings were originally built for use as a chocolate factory and are shown as such on the 1923 O/S map. The tallest building to this day is called the Cadbury Building. Bournville is 25 or so miles away along country roads. This leads to the notion of a small country railway yard handling Cadbury traffic during pre-grouping times! 

 

Ian.

 

 

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Ian commented;- This leads to the notion of a small country railway yard handling Cadbury traffic during pre-grouping times! 

 

Oddly enough, the famous Cadbury site at Bournville had it's very own private railway system - like a 1:1 train-set.....!

 

I worked on site as an outside contractor in the early 1970's. By that time, the internal railway system was mothballed, but as well as steam shunters still in the engine shed (I believe the locos have survived to this day.), there was a fascinating collection of very old covered and open wagons, almost all of which were already well over a century old even then. I presume they were sold off cheap by the railways. Sadly - I did not possess a camera in those days. These old wagons never left site even when in use, as there was also a canal transhipment dock called Waterside on the other side of the canal and LMS mainline;- (Originally the old single-line Birmingham West Suburban Railway, that terminated at Granville Street Station.). To access this canal dock, the Cadbury's shunters took the wagons up an incline and over a bridge which, I think still survives, then down another incline via a reversing headshunt.

 

image.png.3a6b5e868cda41bbaf4c797653a31a4f.png

The headshunt and the dock sites are now built-over with housing. I believe the wagons were all scrapped on site, but I always wondered if any of these most venerable vehicles made it into preservation.....

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Ian, another interesting photo - even the roof vent has been painted white.

 

On 26/08/2020 at 22:58, Ian Major said:

The L&B Grower's buildings were originally built for use as a chocolate factory and are shown as such on the 1923 O/S map.

 

Ah yes, here it is. I tried to identify the stable block but failed. Britain from Above don' t seem to have any hits for the area. Certainly an interesting station, also lime kilns I see (bottom of map).

 

ACtC-3fmmZP8F9qPYOnp9k4qujdZeML9fsCxnHpH

OS 1923: https://maps.nls.uk/view/120901621#zoom=5&lat=6061&lon=3956&layers=BT

 

Edited by Mikkel
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15 hours ago, Methuselah said:

The headshunt and the dock sites are now built-over with housing. I believe the wagons were all scrapped on site, but I always wondered if any of these most venerable vehicles made it into preservation.....

 

14 hours ago, Northroader said:

There’s a few piccies on the Warwickshire Railways site:

https://www.warwickshirerailways.com/misc/cadburys-railway.htm

 

Methuselah, that's a lovely shot of the canal and bridge, though it looks like you're more likely to hear birdsong than industrial bustle now!

 

Apart from Northroader's link, this page also has some lovely shots of the Cadbury Bournville site: https://www.miac.org.uk/bournville2.html

 

A 7mm layout was attempted on here, though I'm not sure if it has ever been finished. Lots of information though: 

 

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That thread is good find, Mikkel. The things that are going on in RMweb that I miss completely! I think the stables at L and B are the block on the map close to the level crossing, above the railway line, and to the left of the road.

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Mikkel,

 

Northroader is correct. I have put keys on the map to identify some of the buildings.

 

A was the stable block.

B was the weighbridge.

C was the goods shed which was more of a large lockup.

D was a wooden platelayers shed. A grounded body from a ex 4 wheel carriage was later added for the shunters.

E was my grandparents cottage from which I took the above colour photo.

F were a set of wooden buildings that originally housed the L&B Growers.

.

 

2083709627_LittletonandBadseykey.JPG.dec59930b0e8d2dbe1ce93fc79f0f13a.JPG

 

Virtually every model I see of GWR country stations a cattle dock is included. This station did not have one. The records that I have see show that very small numbers of livestock were handled here. Nor was there any form of crane.

 

The triangular area of fruit trees to the south of the yard was and is Tolkien's Nursery. Now where have I seen that name before?

 

Ian.

 

Tried to upload this last night but RMWeb died in the middle of my attempt!

 

 

Edited by Ian Major
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Mikkel,

 

I have dug out a couple more photos of the two buildings from my filestore. They were taken by Alan Bunting and remain his copyright. He sent them to me with permission for publishing on the Badsey website 25 years ago. In the event I was rather slow off the blocks and someone else published them before me. You can see more of his photos at http://www.miac.org.uk/alanb.html  but it does not include these two photos.

 

Both show scenes of tomato picking. (Backbreaking).

 

In the background of the first picture is another view of the stable building.  

 

1944958676_LB16.jpg.159119b5bcbdcd6be9b44dae4eb5f432.jpg

 

The second shows the same group of growers but this time the rear of the weighbridge can be seen.  It shows the building had a rear window (and the chimney pot was still in place).

 

Alan's photos were taken in the late '50s and early '60s.

 

 

 

156572651_LB17.jpg.f7d0d31b0907e11df1976e591776a122.jpg

 

Somewhere I have a photo from an LB Growers  calendar which shows the stable building in the 1920s from the road. If I can get permission I will put a copy here. If I remember correctly it shows the widening in the brickwork just above ground level. The slope up in to the yard buries this widening on the yard side. The photo also has an interesting collection of road vehicles.

 

I can but ask!

 

Ian.

 

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Many thanks Ian and Northroader for pointing out the stable block. I should have guessed it was that one, they were usually found close by the road. 

 

And thanks Ian for the overview of the other structures. Your grandparents' cottage was very nicely sited!

 

Interesting photos of the tomato pickers.  I have worked in fields but that was either kneeling or standing, this looks frustratingly in-between.

 

I wonder what was in the 'sheeted' van in the first photo.

 

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Mikkel,

 

The back road on which the sheeted van stands was used for coal. I think the vans on this road had loads such as fertiliser and seed. The van would be sheeted because the roof leaked. The centre roads were mainly fruit (and veg) vans.

 

I have another of Alan's pictures that shows 2209 pulling a train of approx 25 wagons. The first 9 are vans which are all sheeted. See image here on the Railways in Worcestershire site. Everything was a bit run down at that time.  

 

Ian.

 

Edited by Ian Major
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