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Henley-in-Arden Railway Station

Henley-in-Arden was first served by rail in June 1894 by a Great Western Railway branch from Rowington Junction, south of Lapworth on the main line between Birmingham and Oxford. In 1908 the company opened its North Warwickshire line between Wilmcote and Tyseley as part of a new, more direct route via Gloucester and Cheltenham between South Wales and the Birmingham area. The new station shown here was opened on this line at Henley-in-Arden and the station on the earlier line from Rowington was closed, although it survived as Henley’s goods depot until 1962. In the “Beeching era” during the 1960s the line was threatened with closure on more than one occasion but vigorous local campaigns managed to keep it open. Today the station sees an hourly service of trains between Birmingham and Stratford-on-Avon. Although the original buildings on the northbound platform, from which the photo was taken, have been replaced by a modern shelter, the main station building on the southbound platform has been restored. That, the platform railings, the covered footbridge (which is also a public right of way across the railway), and the old-style nameboard enable the station to retain something of a Great Western ambience.