• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Snow Hill Station

Jeepwolf said:
To further this thread, i remember the Evening Mail doing a pull-out supplement on Snow Hill Station, i think it was about the same time as the tunnel walk. The supplement mentioned that Snow Hill tunnel was haunted by the ghost of a shunter driver called Billy Richards. He was killed in the tunnel when a light engine hit him. It was said that some folk had seen an image of a man walking out of the tunnel on several occasions dressed in a 30s railway uniform during the night time. Has anyone else heard about this ?
Click to expand...
my brother worked at the old snowhill,on the parcels. i spent a lot of time on the station.and mooching in the old tunnels,and lifts, i never saw the ghost. i did look :grinning:
 
Oh those memories of the walk...I did that as well...and still remember the stalls that had repro shed plates for sale, it was interesting to see the soot still on the tunnels that remained after the passing of time, I also went back a year or two after to wander around the station and where the lines went down towards the end of Livery Street.....somewhere I still have a roll of 35mm black & white film I took while there....and no one else about......only the weeds that were heading skywards !!!
 
My memories of the tunnel go back to the 1950s when we went through it on crowded steam trains to holidays in Cornwall or Devon. The last time I went through it was in September 1956 on a journey to RAF Cardington to start two years National Service. Photo below shows the tunnel before reopening in August 1987.
IMG_1337.JPG
 
In 1867 there were one hundred and thirty horses stabled at Snow Hill Station with most having stalls under the railway arches alongside Livery Street, but in addition, leading off from Snow Hill Tunnel was a blacksmiths shop and a stable with four stalls. These were for the shunting horses which operated at the south end of the station. .........what a load of poo:grinning:
 
I always wondered what became of him. With his knowledge he could and should have wrote that book about monument lane. He knew his stuff about Snow Hill also.
 
oldMohawk said:
My memories of the tunnel go back to the 1950s when we went through it on crowded steam trains to holidays in Cornwall or Devon. The last time I went through it was in September 1956 on a journey to RAF Cardington to start two years National Service. Photo below shows the tunnel before reopening in August 1987.
View attachment 153904
Click to expand...
not being a train goer and at the risk of sounding thick but are these tunnels still in use...i know someone will know

lyn
 
Thats a new one on me, i didnt realize they were there. I presume they have been blocked off, any members know the answer to this ?
 
I am not aware of any vents, but it would be useful to know of where they might have been located. Steam locomotives have worked through the tunnel since reopening and as far as I recall the smoke came out of the ends.

It has to be noted that the arcades over the tunnel were added later and there were open spaces which are shown on the 1870's rate maps. In the building of those arcades, smoke escape channels may have been created, and again that is an issue to be resolved, and how, if it ever was.
 
There does not appear to be anything marked on the fire insurance maps on the arcades as far as I can see
 
Lots of smoke drifting out of the Moor St end of the tunnel in #556 so maybe no vents.
index.php
 
If there were smoke vents they would need high chimneys to disperse the smoke etc. This 1949 aerial view shows the glazed roof of the arcade and a nearby high chimney with an extension pipe on top. The chimney position is however away from the arcade so might not be connected with the tunnel. It could be a heating boiler for the large Greys store seen in the view.
1949ArcadeView.jpg
 
Started working on Snow Hill Stn in 1959 as a porter although that included loading parcel vans destined for the south west Snow Hill was also the main line to London Paddington which a few of used to go to London for a booze up and come back on the parcel train which got into Birmingham at 04.00 in the morning quite often we would wake up in sidings at Wolverhampton where the train terminated after about two years I transfered downstairs onto the parcels department as a driver delivering parcels that I did till they closed the station about 1960 I was then transfered to Curzon Station parcels where I gained my heavy goods vehicle licence I then moved to Lawley Street and drove heavy goods vehicle until I had to pack up work in 1992 due to heart problems not worked since then. I regard myself lucky that I have had a reasonably happy working life and miss it but we all get old eventually.
 
Welcome Gille. We have a Snow Hill Station thread which you might be interested in. I shall move your post to that thread. Thanks for posting your memories. Viv.

Edit. Posts now moved to here.
 
GILLE said:
Started working on Snow Hill Stn in 1959 as a porter although that included loading parcel vans destined for the south west Snow Hill was also the main line to London Paddington which a few of used to go to London for a booze up and come back on the parcel train which got into Birmingham at 04.00 in the morning quite often we would wake up in sidings at Wolverhampton where the train terminated after about two years I transfered downstairs onto the parcels department as a driver delivering parcels that I did till they closed the station about 1960 I was then transfered to Curzon Station parcels where I gained my heavy goods vehicle licence I then moved to Lawley Street and drove heavy goods vehicle until I had to pack up work in 1992 due to heart problems not worked since then. I regard myself lucky that I have had a reasonably happy working life and miss it but we all get old eventually.
Click to expand...
Welcome GILLE......was that with NCL?
 
mw0njm. said:
Welcome GILLE......was that with NCL?
Click to expand...
Yes it was NCL I drove the artic to Sutton park for a photo shoot to launch the new company was promised photos but never got any cant remember when they actually took over but they were still there when I left in 1992 my last 5 years I used to take a trailer down to Welshpool depot where they had 5 drivers who did the local deliveries sadly there are only two left now the depot closed a few years back in my time down there they became very good friends I used to go to many of the do`s they had such as Christmas time one of the drivers always used to put me and the wife up. In all my time spent on the railway and NCL where quite happy times so I count myself lucky for that.
 
robert said:
GILLE said:
Yes it was NCL I drove the artic to Sutton park for a photo shoot to launch the new company was promised photos but never got any cant remember when they actually took over but they were still there when I left in 1992 my last 5 years I used to take a trailer down to Welshpool depot where they had 5 drivers who did the local deliveries sadly there are only two left now the depot closed a few years back in my time down there they became very good friends I used to go to many of the do`s they had such as Christmas time one of the drivers always used to put me and the wife up. In all my time spent on the railway and NCL where quite happy times so I count myself lucky for that.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
my brother worked with them from when he left school untill they closed
 

Attachments

  • bmc ncl.jpg
    bmc ncl.jpg
    48.6 KB · Views: 12
  • ncl.jpg
    ncl.jpg
    209.2 KB · Views: 13
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top