The Minsterley branch was a short

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

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 ( cy, Llinell y Cambrian), also known as the Cambrian Main Line ( cy, Prif Linell y Cambrian) and Cambrian Coast Line ( cy, Llinell Arfordir y Cambrian), is a railway line that runs from Shrewsbury, England, westwards to Aber ...

just south of

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

Minsterley Minsterley is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. In the 2011 census, its population was 1,777. Minsterley lies one mile south-west of Pontesbury and 10 miles south-west of Shrewsbury. East from Minsterley along the A488, is the la ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

. 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 and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

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

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

. It was part of a joint venture between the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

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 L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

companies.

History

Plans

The route, which was conceived in the late 1850s, was planned to connect Shrewsbury via

Hanwood Hanwood is a large village in Shropshire, England. It is located SW of Shrewsbury town centre, on the A488 road. The A5 is only a mile away. The Cambrian Line runs through the village but there is no longer a railway station here. It was cl ...

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 is ju ...

, 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 narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

Snailbeach District Railway, which ran to lead mines at

Snailbeach Snailbeach is a village in Shropshire, England, located near Shrewsbury at . The population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under Worthen. The village was formerly home to a large lead mine. History Early history A village was b ...

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 ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

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

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