Boraston: Canal and Railway

Canal:

In the early part of the 19th Century, Boraston was at the centre of a major transport development in the local area. The Kington, Leominster and Stourport Canal was opened in 1794 to transport coal and agricultural produce around the area. Engineered by Thomas Dadford Jr., the Kington, Leominster and Stourport canal was probably unique amongst English canals in that it never actually got to either Kington, Leominster or Stourport!

The only part actually opened was an 18-mile section which started just north of Leominster and meandered via Orleton, Woofferton, Burford, Boraston, Newnham Bridge and finished at Marlbrook near Mamble. It started at a wharf close to what is now the A49 just north of the roundabout at Leominster (Wharf House is the black and white building on the left, about 500 yards north of the roundabout). The wharf at Marlbrook (Southnet Wharf) was on the left of the A456, about half a mile from the turn to Neen Sollars. This section had 16 locks and a short tunnel at Putnal Field near Orleton.

The canal entered Boraston under Boraston Lane at what is now a T-junction from the housing estate in Burford. It then swung left along the right side of the lane past Canal Cottages to Spurtree, then through Spurtree towards Spurtree Villa and came close to the A456 to the rear of Spring Cottages. Evidence of the canal can be seen in the garden of Canal Cottages. It then travelled parallel to the A456 behind the Peacock to the Corn Brook. Here it performed a loop to the north and crossed the Corn Brook on a small aqueduct and entered Worcestershire. At the top of this loop was a small feeder from the Corn Brook.

Coal was transported from the mines at Mamble, owned by Sir George Blount, by a tramway to the wharf at Southnet and then transported along the canal to the wharf at Leominster. However, coal was the only major item transported and the canal never made a profit, or paid a dividend. By 1858 the canal company was bankrupt and the canal was closed and dewatered. Allegedly, two short sections of the canal near Newnham Bridge were never legally closed, and so a statutory Right of Navigation still exists along two short sections of the old canal across dry fields!

In the 1920s, the aqueduct carrying the old canal across the Corn Brook collapsed, causing flooding to occur upstream of the collapse.

This photograph shows workmen clearing the debris.

Railway:

Following the decline of the Leominster canal, some of the land was sold to the railway companies opening up in the area. In 1861 a branch line was opened from Woofferton to Tenbury; and in 1864 another line was opened from Tenbury, through the Wyre Forest, to Bewdley. This line passed through Boraston, partly along the line of the old canal. Again, it entered Boraston under Boraston Lane, but then went straight across the lower lying ground towards Spring Cottages. From there it regained the line of the canal and, passing behind the Peacock Inn, crossed the Corn Brook on a small bridge into Worcestershire.

This railway was much more successful than the canal, and it continued to operate throughout the remainder of the 19th and early 20th Centuries. However, competition from road transport led to its eventual decline and passenger services were stopped in 1962 and goods service ceased in 1964.

This is the old railway bridge over Old Hill, the lane leading up from the A456 towards the village from the Peacock. This bridge was built about 1864 when the Tenbury to Bewdley Railway was built, the earlier canal bridge (a small aqueduct) was also on this site.