The Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light Railway was a pre-

grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

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 p ...

company that served part of south

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 ...

Everard Calthrop Everard Richard Calthrop (3 March 1857 – 30 March 1927) was a British railway engineer and inventor. Calthrop was a notable promoter and builder of narrow-gauge railways, especially of narrow gauge, and was especially prominent in India. His ...

was appointed Consulting Engineer in 1900, responsible for surveying the route and preparing the construction plans. Construction was authorised by an order under the

Light Railways Act 1896 The Light Railways Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c.48) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. History Before the Act each new railway line built in the country required a specific Act of Parliament to be o ...

granted on 23 March 1901, and the line opened for passenger traffic on 21 November 1908. The line had a junction with the Wyre Forest line of 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 ...

(GWR) at

Cleobury Mortimer Cleobury Mortimer (, ) is a market town and civil parish in southeast Shropshire, England, which had a population of 3,036 at the 2011 census. It was granted a market charter by Henry III in 1226.''Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum in Turri Londinensi ...

and was absorbed into the GWR in 1922. The line closed for passenger services on 26 September 1938. The line was then used by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

which had a

Royal Naval Armaments Depot A Royal Naval Armament Depot (RNAD) is an armament depot (or a group of depots) dedicated to supplying the Royal Navy (as well as, at various times, the Royal Air Force, the British Army and foreign and Commonwealth forces). They were sister de ...

(RNAD) at the end of line at RNAD Ditton Priors until the railway finally closed in 1960.

Route

Cleobury Mortimer - Cleobury Town -

Stottesdon Stottesdon is a village and civil parish in south east Shropshire, England. The parish of Stottesdon covers a large rural area and extends over the village of Chorley. The village is situated near the market towns of Cleobury Mortimer and Bridgn ...

- Burwarton - Ditton Priors. The Board of Trade report at opening gave the total length of the line as . Later Engineer's Line References (ELRs) show a shorter length of . An extension was proposed, running east from Stottesdon to Billingsley. Three other possible extensions were proposed in 1912 from Ditton Priors: east to join the Severn Valley Railway at

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. Histor ...

; north east to join the LNWR Coalport branch line at

Coalport Coalport is a village in Shropshire, England. It is located on the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, a mile downstream of Ironbridge. It lies predominantly on the north bank of the river; on the other side is Jackfield. The settlement wa ...

; north to join the

Wellington to Craven Arms Railway The Wellington to Craven Arms Railway was formed by a group of railway companies that eventually joined the Great Western Railway family, and connected Wellington, Shropshire and Shifnal, with Coalbrookdale, Buildwas, Much Wenlock and a junction ...

at Presthope (near

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villa ...

). None of these proposed extensions were ever built.

Locomotives

The line had two locomotives, both s built by

Manning Wardle Manning Wardle was a steam locomotive manufacturer based in Hunslet, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Precursor companies The city of Leeds was one of the earliest centres of locomotive building; Matthew Murray built the first commercially s ...

and these became GWR numbers 28 and 29. They were rebuilt by the GWR with new boilers and pannier tanks, after which they bore a strong resemblance to the

GWR 1366 Class The Great Western Railway (GWR) 1366 Class was a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotives built in 1934. They were a useful design and because of their light weight and short wheelbase and were often used on dockside branches or other line ...

. After the railway was absorbed into the GWR, the small shed at Cleobury Mortimer became as sub-shed of the larger GWR depot at

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...

(KDR). One locomotive would normally be stabled at Cleobury while in use, with the other kept at Kidderminster which was also responsible for their maintenance. At the end of the 1940s their place was taken by other locomotives based at Kidderminster including

GWR 2021 Class The GWR 2021 Class was a class of 140 steam locomotives. They were built at the Wolverhampton railway works of the Great Western Railway between 1897 and 1905. 1897 was the very year of George Armstrong's retirement, so it is uncertain if t ...

nos. 2034, 2051, 2101 and 2144 and

GWR 1600 Class The Great Western Railway (GWR) 1600 Class is a class of 0-6-0 pannier tank steam locomotive designed for light branch lines, short-distance freight transfers and shunting duties. History The class was based on the 2021 class designed by Dea ...

no. 1661. Following the opening of the RNAD at Ditton Priors, the steam locomotives were fitted with

spark arrestor A spark arrester (sometimes spark arrestor) is any device which prevents the emission of flammable debris from combustion sources, such as internal combustion engines, fireplaces, and wood burning stoves. Spark arresters play a critical role in ...

s but, after the arrival of RNAD

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

s, they did not enter the armaments depot. The steam locomotive was taken off the goods train at Cleobury North (just south of Ditton Priors) and the wagons were drawn into the depot by an RNAD diesel locomotive. Three "flameproof" diesel locomotives of 165 bhp were supplied to RNAD Ditton Priors by

Ruston and Hornsby Ruston & Hornsby was an industrial equipment manufacturer in Lincoln, England founded in 1918. The company is best known as a manufacturer of narrow and standard gauge diesel locomotives and also of steam shovels. Other products included cars ...

between 1952 and 1955. A similar machine ''Francis Baily of Thatcham'' (ex-

RAF Welford Royal Air Force Welford or more simply RAF Welford is an active Royal Air Force station in Berkshire, England. The station is located approximately northwest of Newbury; about west-southwest of London Opened in 1943, it was used during the Se ...

) is preserved at

Southall Railway Centre Southall Railway Centre is a non-publicised railway heritage centre at Southall in west London, near to Southall railway station and the Grand Union Canal. Formerly of the Great Western Railway the site is now run partly by Locomotive Service ...

. Before the Rustons, a

Planet A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...

diesel locomotive is believed to have been used but its dates of arrival and departure are not known.

Royal Naval Armaments Depot

The depot, which had 25 magazines and four stores for naval mines, opened in 1941 around

Brown Clee Hill Brown Clee Hill is the highest hill in the rural English county of Shropshire, at above sea level. It is one of the Clee Hills, and is in the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Geography Brown Clee Hill lies five miles nor ...

. The buildings were camouflaged and served by

rail siding A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch line, or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end. Sidings often have lighte ...

s. Trains and their dangerous cargo could then be loaded and unloaded inside. In 1960 the railway line was finally closed but the

continued to use Ditton Priors until 1965. The following year the depot was taken over by

US forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

that had left France following the French withdrawal from

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

's military structure. The depot finally closed in 1968. Land adjacent to the defunct railway line was sold off by the MOD in 1971. Ten farms have been created in this area. Parts of the former MOD site are now occupied by an industrial estate and fireworks factory.

References

* {{Authority control Pre-grouping British railway companies Great Western Railway constituents Railway lines opened in 1908 Railway companies disestablished in 1922 Rail transport in Shropshire Railway lines closed in 1960 1908 establishments in England Light railways