Difference between revisions of "Rifle Range Halt"

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[[File: Rifle_Range_OS_Map.jpg|thumb|300px|right| Location of the Rifle Range (Ordnance Survey 1888-1913, Crown Copyright Reserved)]]
 
[[File: Rifle_Range_OS_Map.jpg|thumb|300px|right| Location of the Rifle Range (Ordnance Survey 1888-1913, Crown Copyright Reserved)]]
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! Towards [[Kidderminster]] !!  Towards [[Shrewsbury]]
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| [[Kidderminster]]<br>via [[Foley Park Halt]] || [[Bewdley]]
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Rifle Range Halt was located between Kidderminster and Bewdley. The rifle range was situated on the open heathland near "The Devil's Spittleful", the large sandstone outcrop on the right just before the Safari Park as you travel towards Bewdley. During the First World War it was used mainly by volunteers from the Yeomanry.  Its location is shown on the extract from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1888-1913 (Crown Copyright reserved). The map of that time still referred to the railway between Kidderminster and Bewdley as the “Loop Line”.
 
Rifle Range Halt was located between Kidderminster and Bewdley. The rifle range was situated on the open heathland near "The Devil's Spittleful", the large sandstone outcrop on the right just before the Safari Park as you travel towards Bewdley. During the First World War it was used mainly by volunteers from the Yeomanry.  Its location is shown on the extract from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1888-1913 (Crown Copyright reserved). The map of that time still referred to the railway between Kidderminster and Bewdley as the “Loop Line”.
  

Revision as of 16:44, 13 August 2015

Location of the Rifle Range (Ordnance Survey 1888-1913, Crown Copyright Reserved)
Next stations pre-closure
Towards Kidderminster Towards Shrewsbury
Kidderminster
via Foley Park Halt
Bewdley

Rifle Range Halt was located between Kidderminster and Bewdley. The rifle range was situated on the open heathland near "The Devil's Spittleful", the large sandstone outcrop on the right just before the Safari Park as you travel towards Bewdley. During the First World War it was used mainly by volunteers from the Yeomanry. Its location is shown on the extract from the Ordnance Survey Map of 1888-1913 (Crown Copyright reserved). The map of that time still referred to the railway between Kidderminster and Bewdley as the “Loop Line”.

The Halt, which was not shown on the OSOrdnance Survey map, was situated some 300 yards from the entrance to Bewdley Tunnel, placing it between the Rifle Range and The Devil's Spittleful. The Halt was only open between 1905 and 1920, and no traces of it remain today.

Although the Halt closed, the area retained a military connection. In late 1943 two large hutted camps were built along nearby Burlish Top (the wooded area on top of the hill on the opposite side of the line from the Rifle Range). These held some 6-7000 American troops, the headquarters of the US Army VIII Corps (Dec 1943 to Apr 1944) and IX Corps (Apr 1944 to July 1944). During World War 2 the easterly part of the heathland became a tented camp used by the 297th U.S. Army Hospital. The area towards the west, between the Safari Park and the SVRSevern Valley Railway, was also used for tank training.

Today the heathland area is a nature reserve, managed by the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust.

References

Nature Reserve information boards

Links

Worcestershire Wildlife Trust (Link)

See also

List of Stations