Goods Transport by GWR in Birmingham area,

[mikejee]

Was not sure whether to put this in Road section, but it is to do with railways, and particularly Hockley. The following is all extracted fromTony Atkins "GWR Goods Cartage" (2 vols) pub 2018) . the books are concerned with the company as a whole, and a very large part would describe practices at Hockley, but these extracts are those where Hockley, Birmingham , or in two cases companies from Birmingham, are specifically mentioned.

1. Horse Transport
In 1854 the Birmingham, Wolverhampton % Dudley railway, part of the GWR, opened and soon established a depot at Hockley, where goods could be distributed from the railway by the company itself (using horse cartage). Until 1870 no other part of the GWR organisation provided a delivery service to customers themselves, as opposed to that through agents, but then it was decided to do so throughout the company. In 1883 the Mint stables were opened in Paddington , and by 1889 all fruit & vegetables in London were delivered to markets by GWR themselves. Below is a typical cart used in Birmingham , though there were many types used throughout the company, and described in the book.



There were accusations in 1867 that horses were overworked or badly treated, but an investigation showed no such thing to occur. However there was criticism of stable provision at Hockley This d provided stabling for 101 horses, with three loose horse boxes, yet there were 130 horses at the site, meaning that 30 horses had to be accommodated at rented sites off the premises. By 1869, of the 297 horses owned by GWR ,120 were at Hockley. The average cost of a horse for GWR was £37.7 shillings, and the average weekly maintenance cost of the horses for the company (including fodder) was £1-0-9½d. with horses being fed 44½ lbs of fodder per day, higher than other operators in the area. This was noted and the provision of fodder reduced with no observed deterioration in performance or health. Horses rather than engines were employed near carpet and woollen stores at Kidderminster and Bilston to reduce fire risk.Up till 1883 the stud at Hockley was larger than that at Paddington, and so the horse superintendant was based there, but when this was reversed Captain Milne, the person concerned, was removed to Paddington. There was a voluntary agreement with the government that horses could be requistioned , and on the outset of war in 1914 the company (as a whole) was obliged to supply 221 for cost price plus 50%.
Below are photos of horses at Hockley:



and hauling potatoes underground at Moor St:


and slightly outside Birmingham, making deliveries in Wolverhampton:





B

 

[mikejee]

2. Introduction of Motorised Transport

In 1902 at Hockley, GWR tried out a steam driven Thorneycroft “undertype” collection and delivery wagon, but the trial was unsuccessful. Some steam lorries were used at other GWR sites, but usually only for specialised tasks. But by WW1 the company had begun to use petrol vehicles. Other than the steam lorry already mentioned, around 1909 the company purchased some Wolseley vans and 6 Straker & Squire 15 cwt chassis which were then bodied and used for parcel deliveries. 3 of the Straker vans were used in Birmingham, though it is not clear whether they were based in Hockley. In 1925 dedicated garages and workshops were constructed at Hockley Basin to accommodate and service the new motor vehicles, and a year later bulk storage of petrol at Hockley for the vehicles was approved.
With the introduction of motor vehicles it became possible to deliver to other than very local customers. A Railhead system from central distribution points was introduced. In the case of Birmingham this occurred in 1932 in collaboration with the LMS. Presumably, because of the link to LMS, only some of the traffic was handled at Hockley. The Delivery routes from Birmingham are shown below:




and a typical lorry from 1929 is shown below:

 

[mikejee]

3. Following on

In addition the company provided vehicles specifically for individual firms which could be used also for other purposes, such as collection of empties. Cadburys , who now owned Frys who had a long association with GWR, had their first van in 1928, a Thornycroft A1., and Hughes Biscuits of Bordesley also took part in the scheme. Two vehicles run for Cadbury aren shown below:



In 1930 a depot specifically for Cadburys was opened at Exeter.

 

[mikejee]

4. Finally

In 1928 there were 461 horse drawn vehicles , with 270 horses in Birmingham, and 41 road vehicles. Surprisingly, in 1925 GWR (overall) were still running 18 horse buses as feeders for rail services. In 1932 3-wheeled Karrier cob tractors were trialed at Hockley to replace the chain horses used to help pull loaded carts up Pitsford St. As the number of horses decreased stabling was reorganised. At Hockley the main stables at the station were demolished and remaining horses accommodated at stables in Hockley Basin. For a short time, due to petrol restrictions led to a small increase in horse use, but post-war the numbers continued decreasing , and, immediately pre-nationalisation, in 1947 only 245 horses were used in Birmingham as a whole. the trials of the Karrier cobs are shown below:



In December 1945 the distribution system system was simplified with one central railhead and several sub railheads in each area. The sub railheads in the Birmingham area were Cradley Heath, Tyseley,Lye, Wednesbury and West Bromwich.

Finally a photo which doesn't fit elsewhere, but might be interesting. Handling a pole at Handsworth & Smethwick sidings in 1933

 

[Mark Tooze]

Brilliant article - thank you for posting it!