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Snow Hill Station

Snow Hill -Wolverhampton-Oswestry-Ruabon-Langollen N. Wales definitley 1943-1944, buy the 1d platform ticket and sit in the carriage until I heard the 'Ticket Collector" coming around , dodge into the toilet until he passed into the next carriage , got away with it several times running away from Sir Josiah Mason's Orphanage I was 10-11yrs old............ah ! those old steam engines , they where a beautiful sight to behold rolling through the countryside ,
 
Tyleryan - Those old steam engines were great weren't they? You jogged my memory about destinations and I do remember going twice on holidays to Llandudno in Wales from Snow Hill.

From the sound of your adventures, you were always found and brought back to the Orphanage - was that before or after you got to the end of the journey?
 
"I think we used to go on holiday to Devon in the early 1950's from Snow Hill."

You could also go from New Street to Devon, I think it was the "Devonian" that ran from Bradford to Paignton, via Bristol if my memory serves me well ! ! !
 
The following is two pages taken from "BIRMINGHAM AND DISTRICT and official GUIDE 1933 "




GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY.​

The Great Wetern Railway some years prior to the Great War expended over five millions in improving the access to Birmingham, and in providing additional facilities within the City. The culminating point was reached in 191 3 with the opening of Snow Hill Station, a fine Structure in the centre of the city, with wide platforms and electrically controlled signals.
It is probable that more commercial travellers leave Bir­mingham on Monday mornings for their business journeys than from any other provincial city. The explanation is a simple one - the convenient geographical position of Bir­mingham. There is no distant part of the country, north, south, east or west, which is not accessible within a few hours. One of the best restaurant car services in Britain operates betweenBirmingham, Snow Hill, and London, enabling business men and women to breakfast, lunch and dine en route. The distance of 110miles is traversed by the best trains in two hours.
The suburban services are also extensively patronised, and the policy of the Company in building stations on the out-skirts of the city has greatly eased the housing problem. We know that " trade follows the flag " ; it is equally true that the provision of stations has been followed by the building of houses, shops and factories. There is also a fast service of trains operating between Birmingham and towns beyond the environs, such as Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Leamington, Stourbridge, Wolverhampton, etc., where many people having business interests in Birmingham reside.

CONVENIENT TRAVEL FACILITIES.​

The Company offers every possible inducement to en-courage railway travel. Cheap tickets at about the single fare for the return journey are issued between certain pairs of stations, available on the day of issue.

116​

There are numerous day and half-day excursions to London and other parts of the country ; and, during the holiday months the popular tourist, period and week-end tickets are issued to hundreds of stations in Britain, the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Irish Free State, Channel Islands, etc.
Among other cheap travel facilities, are season tickets for all kinds of workers and students ; in fact, no other great industrial centre in the country enjoys better travel facilities than are obtainable in the Birmingham area, which, outside London, is the most populous area in England and Wales.


AN IMPORTANT DISTRIBUTING CENTRE.​

The Great Western Railway Company realises the essential need for the most efficient transport to and from the largest English provincial city, which, moreover, is an important centre for the distribution of food, etc., supplies. The Com­pany's parcels and Freight Train facilities will compare favourably with any other industrial centre in the country.
With the absorption of the South Wales docks under the Railways Act, 1921, the G.W.R. is the largest dock owning Company in the world. The docks at Newport, Cardiff, Barry, Swansea, etc., are of great national importance, owing to their proximity to Birmingham and the vast industrial Midlands, an important geographical factor that is bound to contribute materially to trade development in the coming years.
 
judy39 said:
Tyleryan - Those old steam engines were great weren't they? You jogged my memory about destinations and I do remember going twice on holidays to Llandudno in Wales from Snow Hill.

From the sound of your adventures, you were always found and brought back to the Orphanage - was that before or after you got to the end of the journey?
Click to expand...

Hi Judy 39,- My Last runaway ended in disaster , I took another lad with me , he didnt follow my instructions , a lady was very suspicious of seeing two young boys travelling alone and informed the Ticket Collector , so we where collared and taken off the train in Wolverhampton and interviewed in the Station Masters Office "very serious business" couldnt get hold of my Mum as she was in Llangollen, so the others boys Mum arrived , very annoyed with me that I had persuaded her son to go on a adventure with me ....anyway soon as we arrived back in the Orphanage I was in for it ,six cuts of the cane across my bum, for involving another lad .....I loved Snow Hill and all the GWR engines.........those where the days when you put your head out of the window as the train banks round on a curve and smell the burnt coal and little pieces of grit would maybe lodge in your eye , "chuggty chug" . I ran away and got away to Llangollen successfuly several times but my Mother would always bring me back despite my protestations
 
Hi Tyleryan - Sorry to hear that attempts to get back to your Mom in Llangollen were unsuccessful, and the caning didn't sound too good either. Still, I expect you enjoyed the thrill of trying.

Yes the smell of the smoke from the engine always made me excited as it reminded me of holidays. The carriages with their corridors and the compartments often full up especially during school holiday time, or you could pull the blinds down if you didn't want anyone else in!! Putting your head out of the window, and trying to be the first one to see the sea!

We do have a steam railway near where I live now, and it runs in the summertime mainly and is popular with visitors. Goes from Paignton to Kingswear. It's still good to see it running and hear the whistle blowing.

See you live in Ontario - my daughter-in-law comes from Toronto.

Judy
 
This photo of a crime "commited in the name of mamon" will break your heart, it brought a tear to my eye.

Phil

SnowHillBookingHallDemolition.jpg
 
Snow Hill Station was a place I would explore when I went to school in town in the early l950's. I liked the Booking Hall and especially the weigh scales that spoke your weight. Our family went on several holidays from Platform 7 in the says of the amazing steam trains and it was very exciting to go through the long tunnel at the beginning and end of each trip.
 
That is lovely Alf. We used to cycle to Perry Hall Park and sit on the bridge over the track, train spotting. The train drivers would sound their horns when we waved to them. Mo
 
We live near to the main rail line and I love watching the trains even today.
They redid the road and put up a sound barrier so I can't see them on my regular walk now. We can just walk up the road and stand on the bridge if we want to though. If I go into the city I always go on the train if I'm going on my own in the rush hour, can't beat it $6.00 return. Love it. Mo
 
Snow Hill Station 1954. One of the reasons given for its closure was lack of use.

Phil

SnowHill1954.jpg
 
Hi Alf: I always thought of Snow Hill Station when holidays were mentioned,
Platform 7 in particular. This would have been in the late l940's. Snow Hill Station was always special to me and as I said I used to hang round there a lot when I went to school in town in the early l950's. Such a shame that the
original Booking Hall was swept away.
 
Two memories of the Queens Hotel, Jennyann. It was 1958 and our first wedding anniversary, so off we went to the Queens as we always called it, for lunch. It was Sunday and there we were the only customers in the huge barn of a dinning room. The service was pretty good.:)

Speed forward a couple of years, the Cocktail Bar in the Queens.My mother talked about having had a Paradise Cocktail when she was in Southend, so I asked the barman if he knew how to mix one, he gave me a steely eyed look and said 'Yes thanks' Oops.:rolleyes:
 
Hi Di: Those memories of the Queen's Hotel are great to read. I used to venture in there for a quick look round quite often. Lots of famous actors and actresses stayed there when they came to Brum to work in those days.
Not too much of that area remains today except across the road
where the Piccadilly Arcade is and the old Bank building where the Book store
is. Here's a photo of the hotel. The entrance buildings were demolished
when the area was opened up for traffic. I would like to know more about the hotel. My office entrance was under the arches to the left.
 
hi guys ;
my only memory of snow hill was when they had
those big red machines where you printed those stripps
on to aluminium and pushing the big handle up
and down the alpherbeting letters and it then would
punch the letters of the alpherbet to createate your
name and address or what ever message you want to
put on all for i .penny
canany of you remember them on the platform
they was thereduring the early years of the fifties
i think by the mid fifties they removed them
have a nice day guys , and gals . best wishes astonian ;;;
 
Astonian said:
hi guys ;
my only memory of snow hill was when they had
those big red machines where you printed those stripps
on to aluminium and pushing the big handle up
and down the alpherbeting letters and it then would
punch the letters of the alpherbet to createate your
name and address or what ever message you want to
put on all for i .penny
canany of you remember them on the platform
they was thereduring the early years of the fifties
i think by the mid fifties they removed them
have a nice day guys , and gals . best wishes astonian ;;;
Click to expand...

Yes,that's right. The aluminium always came out in a curve and NOTHING would straighten them out or stick them down!:biggrin:
 
Snow Hill - I believe the steelwork was in poor condition, I seem to remember reading this somewhere, unless it was an invention by those who had vested interests elswhere.

The Snow Hill revamp from 1912 was very much restricted by the GWR not being able to do anything about widening Snow Hill tunnel or extending the station over Livery Street and/or Snow Hill thoroughfares. Taking the platforms northward beyond Great Charles Street was the only realistic solution then, and it's hard to see how there could have been any better option now if the station in that form had survived.

With internal politics at BR and the financial situation then Snow Hill was pretty much doomed to be left to rot, with the electrification of the route through New Street being the last nail in the coffin. With the lack of significant maintenance it was only a matter of time, the station was even reportedly "falling" down Snow Hill by 1974 - these problems could have been avoided if there had been the finances and forward thinking to invest in it.
I've always felt that Brum deserves two purposeful and architecturally significant rail gateways - we are still the 'second city' aren't we ;) , with this refurbishment we'll have one that at least looks the part:smile2:

Regards, Gerry.
 
Just a snippet of interest, some of the platform slabs from the old Snow Hill Station now form a patio of a house in Lapworth.
 
How lovely to have your own piece of history in your garden......also Lapworth is a beautiful place. The man who owned the company where my Dad worked lived in a beautiful house named Cedar Lawns.......:)
 
The first time I went to Snow Hill was when I was about 5 y.o. in the mid 'fifties.My parents used to visit my grandparents who lived in Shropshire,so we used to catch the Paddington-Birkenhead express on platform 5/6.
The trains from London used to thunder out of Snow Hill tunnel,usually headed by a 'King' or 'Castle' class loco,and they used to frighten the daylights out me at first!After I realised that these great locos weren't actually harmful to young boys,I really used to enjoy my trips from Snow Hill.
Later,in the early '60s I went trainspotting there quite often.There were times when the station wasn't so busy,which was a good time to explore.One afternoon a friend and I went round onto Platform 1,climbed on one of the platform benches so we could have a look through the windows into the new signalling control room,which dated from 1960.This was like looking into 'Mission Control Houston' as the signal control panel was the latest in technology at that time.Either side of the panel were some very old looking wooden telegraph instruments (train describers) which looked really out of place along side the shiny new panel.
Later,when I was studying at Aston University (when the only train to use the station was known as 'The Bubble') I would sometimes walk over to Snow Hill at lunchtimes.It was quite derelict by them,and I'd have a look round at the vandalised remains-but the memories were still there.
 
The photographs of Snow Hill certainly bring back memories, my Dad was a
carter on Gods Wonderful Railway and he used to get free passes and 1/4 fares,however my outstanding memory is coming back to Brum after demob and my girl friend Enid waiting on the platform for me,that was a Brief Encounter that was to last 54 years. Its strange how one photo can
bring back so many memories, cheers Bernard
 
hi laurie B
I too used to go to snow hill with my dad who was a copper at steelehouse lane and knew some of the transport police at snow hill I would be about 5/6 years old to in the early 50's I remember how dark it always seemed and at the end of the platforms I would cower next to dad as the trains thundered through the dark tunnels that seemed every where at snow hill I thought they were dragons as you could see the smoke and fire light reflected in the dark tunnels and the noise was deafening.
paul stacey
 
I too have memories of massive green locomotives, sometimes with shining brasswork, standing at the platform and resting in anticipation of their imminent journeys with a gentle hiss. I was usually taken by my father to see the engine before the start of a journey - an experience filled with some apprehension as one never knew when the monster would explode into life and engulf one in steam and terrifying noise.

One in particular I remember, possibly in the early part of the war but with it still looking very smart and well looked after. It was a Hall and I can remember to this day musing over its name and visualising its return every night to its stately home in deepest Worcestershire or Shropshire where, like all the other G.W.R. engines with similar rural names, it clearly had its own, private shed. What a nice, gentle world it all was, in the mind of a young child!

My mother had much earlier memories of Snow Hill which she recounted to me. I tried to record one, from 1917, in post #78.

Chris
 
I remember the pie van at Snow Hill Station from my teen years and early twenties, did they do a "pie floater" I can't remember if I got them there or London.
My first memory of Snow Hill was during the war, walking along holding my mother's hand to catch the train north to the ferry to Belfast. I was very young but remember the soldiers lined up for roll call to go back to war.
There were Yanks on the train and they offered me American gum as they tried to chat up my mother, who was very pretty in those days. Can't tell anymore because I probably fell asleep!!
 
I was never a trainspotter, I just used to watch the trains and the railway operations and spent many hours as a boy on both New Street and Snow Hill stations but my favourite was Snow Hill.

One particular memory was seeing the up Cambrian Coast Express come in one day double headed by two Kings. I have since been told that that never would have happened but I was there and I saw it.

Because of where I lived I was able often to get a bus into Birmingham. Spend the afternoon on Snow Hill then get a train to West Smethwick Junction, walk back along Smethwick High Street and get a bus home from there.
 
Every picture you see of a steam loco brings back that feeling, you can almost taste the smoke, these
will remain us all our lives, cheers now Bernard I am afraid the attachments page is far too complicated
for me sorry.
 
Here are some pics which I hope I haven't duplicated, don't think so, at least not in this thread!. I'll try to post more later.
These two are the Concourse in 1912 and 1960s

Snow_Hill_Concourse_1912_281250_x_91829.jpg

Snow_Hill_Concourse_1960s_281250_x_79629.jpg
 
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