Baptist End Halt formed the first stop on the GWR line from Dudley to Halesowen after
leaving the OWWR/GWR Dudley-Stourbridge Junction line between Blowers Green and Harts Hill. Opening in
1905, along with three other halts on the line, the halt lasted 59 years before succumbing to closure to
passenger services (along with the rest of the line) in 1964. Above we see Baptist End halt in
1956 (photo: John Edgington) looking in the direction of Dudley as a GWR Rail Motor pauses on its way to Halesowen.
Although the shelters and platforms seen are wooden, the halt did receive a rebuilt of a more permanent nature in the early 1960s
prior to the decision to close the line! |
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Above-left we are entering the halt from Round Street - the halt would have been directly ahead with
Dudley to the left and Halesowen to the right. Above-right we are looking out towards Halesowen with the halt site
immediately to our left with the culvert ahead of us, now drained, discernible in the 1956 shot to the left of
the halt. |
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Above-left we are on the trackbed proper with the halt to our rear. This is the end of the
embankment and ahead is where a bridge would have carried the tracks over Baptist End Road: there being no traces of
the line the other side of Baptist End Road today. Above-right we are in the same spot looking back at the halt site in the
direction of Dudley. As with the other 'Bumble Hole line' sites, scant evidence remains to attest to its
existence. This is, of course, in part due to the change in 'use' of much of the Black Country with what were
previously sites surrounded by coal mines, foundries, and various heavy industries, now being used for
residential properties. This has necessitated great changes in the landscape with much that was observable surrounding
the railway in past shots being completely obliterated, levelled, filled-in or built-upon. |
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