This cache is part of a series that stretches from Ashchurch
Station to Great Malvern Station along the former Midland Railway
branch line.
The branch line was originally opened in 1840 and ran the short
distance from Ashchurch to Tewkesbury Quay with the carriages being
drawn by horses and not steam engines. The 14 mile long line to
Malvern was then opened in the 1860's and stations were opened at
Tewkesbury, Ripple, Upton-upon-Severn and Malvern Hanley Road.
In December 1952 the line was reduced and the section between
Malvern to Upton-upon-Severn was closed. On 14th August 1961 the
final section between Upton-upon-Severn and Ashchurch was closed to
passenger traffic but remained operational for freight traffic for
a further two years. In 1964 the track formation was removed. The
closure of the line was not down to the Beeching cuts but to the
lack of use.
The aim of this series is to re-link the two stations at
Ashchurch and Malvern with a few caches spread along the former
railway line. Each cache has a description of that particular area,
including any relevant railway features that can still be seen
(although very little does remain of this line!)
Shannon Way Level Crossing
Not much information can be found about this location except that
the railway did pass across Shannon Way with the new houses here
having recently been built upon the former track bed. One thing's
for sure though, the road traffic back then was nowhere near the
levels encountered here today!
This cache is a 35mm film canister.
Congratulations to
con20tom who was the first to find this Geocache on 11 March
2010.
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