The Minsterley branch was a short

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

line that ran from

Cruckmeole Cruckmeole is a small hamlet in Shropshire, England. It is located on the A488, where a lane which connects Cruckmeole to the B4386 crossroads at Cruckton forms a three way junction near to Hanwood. It is within the civil parish of Pontesbury ...

Junction on the

Cambrian Line The Cambrian Line (), sometimes split into the Cambrian Main Line () and Cambrian Coast Line () for its branches, is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury in England, westwards to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales. Passenger train services ...

just south of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

to Minsterley in

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. The six-and-a-half mile

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

line was the only section built of a plan to connect Shrewsbury with

mid Wales Mid Wales ( or simply ''Y Canolbarth'', meaning "the midlands"), or Central Wales, is a region of Wales, encompassing its midlands, in-between North Wales and South Wales. The Mid Wales Regional Committee of the Senedd covered the unitary autho ...

. It was part of a joint venture between the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

and

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

companies.

History

Plans

The route, which was conceived in the late 1850s, was planned to connect Shrewsbury via Hanwood on the Cambrian Line, with

Pontesbury Pontesbury ( ) is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, and is approximately eight miles southwest of Shrewsbury. In the 2011 census, the village had a population of 1,873 and the parish had a population of 3,227. The village of Minsterley ...

, Minsterley, Montgomery and Newtown. Services would also be able to continue to the Welsh coast. At Pontesbury station, transfer sidings connected the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Snailbeach District Railway, which ran to lead mines at Snailbeach.

Opening

On 14 February 1861, the first section of line was opened from

Junction, on the Cambrian Line, to Minsterley. However, with the northerly section of the Cambrian main line into Wales opening the following year (connecting Newtown via

Welshpool Welshpool ( ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community in Powys, Wales, historically in the Historic counties of Wales, county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn. The c ...

to Shrewsbury), it became apparent there was little need to continue beyond Minsterley. The station became the terminus of the truncated line.

Decline and closure

Passenger services ceased to Minsterley in 1951, although Hanwood station on the Cambrian Line remained open to passengers until 1960 and to goods until 1964. The branch line continued to carry goods (mainly for the Minsterley Creamery) until 1967 when the line was closed. The track was lifted after closure.

Preservation

The above photo is of a different line heading towards nesscliffe from cruckmeole. Much of the old trackbed has now been redeveloped though some rail infrastructure remains, such as bridge abutments. The Minsterley station site has been used as a meat processing factory. A large dairy-related factory also exists on either side of the old trackbed (just before the terminus) and the

stationmaster The station master (or stationmaster) is the person in charge of a railway station, particularly in the United Kingdom and many other countries outside North America. In the United Kingdom, where the term originated, it is now largely historical ...

's house has been converted to a private residence.

References

* {{coord, 52.6541, -2.8779, region:GB_dim:10000, format=dms, display=title History of Shropshire Rail transport in Shropshire 1861 establishments in England