Wood Green (Old Bescot) railway station

Wood Green (Old Bescot)
Wood Green (Old Bescot)
	Wood Green railway station
General information
Location	Bescot, Walsall; England
Coordinates	52°34′00″N 2°00′15″W / 52.5668°N 2.0041°W
Grid reference	SO998965
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	Grand Junction Railway
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
4 July 1837	Opened as Bescot Bridge
1 August 1850	Closed
1 February 1881	Re-opened as Wood Green (Old Bescot)
5 May 1941	Closed
Location

Wood Green (Old Bescot) railway station was a railway station that opened on the Grand Junction Railway in 1837. It served the Wood Green area of Wednesbury and Walsall. It closed in 1941. It was located near to where junction 9 of the M6 motorway has been located since the late 1960s.

First station

It opened as Bescot Bridge on 4 July 1837, and was the Grand Junction Railway's main station for Walsall and Wednesbury being located between the two towns. The station was also known as Walsall station and this is how it was initially called in Bradshaw's guides.^[1]^[2] There is some confusion as to the station name and on what dates it changed. Neele (1904) recalls that it was originally Bescot Bridge, became Walsall and reverted to the original Bescot Bridge in 1847 when the South Staffordshire Railway opened the line between Bescot Junction and Walsall.^[a]^[4]

The station was a second class station and therefore not all the trains stopped there, in 1837 there were two trains in each direction, by 1839 there were four trains in each direction that stopped.^[2]^[5]

Bescot Bridge station closed on 1 August 1850 when it was effectively replaced by Bescot Junction.^[6]

The station was located approximately 9¼ miles from Birmingham Curzon Street in a shallow cutting that was crossed by the Walsall to Wednesbury turnpike road, the station was slightly north of the boundary between the two towns.^[7] It would appear that Walsall provided the most passengers as a light van ran between the station and the town.^[5]

Second station

Wood Green (Old Bescot) station was opened by the London and North Western Railway on the same site on 1 February 1881.^[8]

The station had two platforms, one either side of the double running line, both platforms were access from the road overbridge, there were no goods facilities, the station only dealt with passengers and parcels.^[7]^[9]

The station closed on 5 May 1941.^[8] The line remains open.^[10]

Preceding station	Historical railways		Following station
Darlaston James Bridge		Grand Junction Railway 1837-1846	Newton Road
		London and North Western Railway Grand Junction Railway 1846-1850	Newton Road
		Station closed 1850-1881	Bescot Junction
		Station re-opened as Wood Green (Old Bescot) 1881-1941	Bescot Junction
	Existing situation
Darlaston James Bridge Station closed, Line open		Wood Green (Old Bescot) Station closed 1941, Line open	Bescot Stadium Station open, Line open

References

Notes

^ There are several examples of Bescot being spelt Bescott, see for example Freeling (1841).^[3]

Citations

^ Baggs, Baugh & Johnston 1976, pp. 165–169.
^ ^a ^b Bradshaw 1839, p. 13.
^ Freeling 1841, p. 19.
^ Neele 1904, p. 16.
^ ^a ^b Drake 1837, p. 88.
^ Quick 2022, p. 78.
^ ^a ^b "Wood Green Station on OS 25 inch map Staffordshire LXIII.14 (Walsall; Wednesbury; West Bromwich)". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
^ ^a ^b Quick 2022, p. 489.
^ The Railway Clearing House 1970, p. 591.
^ Network Rail. "Table CC04-Stetchford to Bushbury Jn via Bescot" (PDF). Network Rail. Retrieved 26 October 2020.

Bibliography

Baggs, A.P.; Baugh, G.C.; Johnston, D.A. (1976). "Walsall: Communications". In Greenslade, M.W. (ed.). A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 17, Offlow Hundred (Part). London. Retrieved 25 October 2020. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Bradshaw, George (25 October 1839). Bradshaw's Railway Time Tables and assistant to railway Travelling with illustrative maps & plans. London: Shepherd and Sutton, and Wyld.
Drake, James (1837). Drake's Road Book of the Grand Junction Railway from Birmingham to Liverpool & Manchester. Birmingham: James Drake.
Freeling, Arthur (1841). Freeling's Railway Companion, from London to Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester with guides to the objects worthy of notice in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham and Time and Fare Tables. London: Tilt & Bogue.
Neele, George P. (1904). Railway Reminiscences. London: McCorquodale & Co.
Quick, Michael (2022) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (PDF). version 5.04. Railway & Canal Historical Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 November 2022.
The Railway Clearing House (1970) [1904]. The Railway Clearing House Handbook of Railway Stations 1904 (1970 D&C Reprint ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles Reprints. ISBN 0-7153-5120-6.