Brunswick Wharf was a railway goods yard in

Buglawton Buglawton is a suburb of Congleton, in the south-east of Cheshire. It was a parish and an urban district (i.e. effectively an independent town) from 1894 until 1936, when it was incorporated in Congleton borough. In 1931 the parish had a population ...

Congleton Congleton is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The town is by the River Dane, south of Manchester and north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 26,482. Top ...

. Brunswick Wharf was used to transport sand from Congleton to the potteries and coal from the potteries to Brunswick Wharf along the Biddulph Valley Line.

History

Brunswick Wharf was the terminus of the Biddulph Valley Line. Brunswick Wharf was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on 29 August 1860. While using the Biddulph Valley Line for most the journey, goods trains heading to Brunswick Wharf would leave the Biddulph Valley Line at Congleton Lower Junction. Goods trains would then follow a line underneath the North Staffordshire mainline which was used to reach Brunswick Wharf and a goods and mineral yard at

Congleton railway station Congleton railway station is a mainline station serving the Cheshire town of Congleton. It lies on the Stafford-Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line in the United Kingdom. History Plans for a railway station in Congleton were first ...

. Ever Saturday morning there was a sand train service from Brunswick Wharf to Warrington and St Helens. The sand that was taken from Brunswick Wharf was used in the Lancashire glass industry. During the heyday of the Biddulph Valley Line the Robbert-heath owned Collieries operated private mineral trains between their various sites to and from Brunswick Wharf. When trams were being built for Manchester and other local cities, metal was brought to Brunswick Wharf to be molded down into brake blocks for trams, once built the brake blocks would leave Brunswick Wharf to be used for tram building. The decision to close Brunswick Wharf "baffled" the staff due to how busy and well used Brunswick Wharf was. The last train left Brunswick Wharf on 1 April 1968 after which Brunswick Wharf closed. With the closure of Brunswick Wharf sand had to be brought to

via

and coal had to be brought to Congleton via

Kidsgrove railway station Kidsgrove railway station serves the town of Kidsgrove in Staffordshire, England. The station is north of Stoke-on-Trent railway station, Stoke-on-Trent. The station is served by trains on the Crewe to Derby Line which is also a Community rail, ...

. Plans were drawn up by North Staffordshire Railway Society in the 1970s to reopen Brunswick Wharf as part of a planned heritage railway going from Brunswick Wharf to Bidulph Railway station via the Biddulph Valley Line. This plan was created in order preserve some of the Biddulph Valley Line. Due to lack of interest from

Cheshire County Council Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire Eas ...

and the general public this plan was abandoned.

Operation

Brunswick Wharf comprised 3 sidings called "Wharfs" operated by 3 different companies. These companies were: * Robbert Heath and Low Moor. * The Congleton and Industrial & Equitable Co-operative society. * H. Hargreaves & Co. Ltd, coal, coke and lime merchants.

Staff

Below is a list of staff who worked at Brunswick Wharf and their job titles and/or employer if known: * Harry Walton. * Mr Minshull. (Yard Forman) * John Butler. * Charles Yates. * Jack Holland. *Charlie Butler. *Frank Emery. (British Rail checker) *Fred Jackson. (British Rail loader) *Stan Woodward. (Co-op Yard Forman) *Joel Boon. (Gillow heath) *Jack Greenford. *Billy Smith. *Ralf Goodwin. *Bill Willett. *Will Shaw.

References

{{reflist Congleton