Notes: New Hadley Halt was situated on the Great Western Railway’s main line between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury which formed part of their trunk route between London and the River Mersey at Birkenhead. The section of line on which New Hadley Halt was located had originally opened as part of the Shrewsbury & Birmingham Railway on 1 June 1849 and had been taken over by the GWR on 1 September 1854.

The halt was authorised on 4 October 1934 and opened to serve the New Hadley area on 3 November 1934. New Hadley was to the north of the halt and access to it was via a footpath that connected to the Hadley Road. There was also a footpath link towards Ketley which was to the south of the halt.

The line was on an embankment, and the halt was reached via steps that led up to track level on both sides of the line. A foot crossing linked the sections of footpath and the halt was staggered on either side of it. The up platform (Wolverhampton direction) was to the east of the path and the down (Shrewsbury direction) was to the west.

Both platforms were constructed from timber. They were 100ft long and were provided with shelters, gas lighting, nameboards and notice boards. The estimated cost of the halt was £290. The station name was in the form of a running in board on each platform, at the west end of the up and at the east end of the down.

The halt was mostly served by local trains running between Wolverhampton Low Level and Wellington. A few up services went to Birmingham Snow Hill and a few down to Shrewsbury.

On 1 January 1948 New Hadley Halt became part of British Railways [Western Region] (BR[WR]). The BR[WR] timetable for the summer of 1949 showed 9 up and 12 down trains on Monday-to-Friday. On Saturday there were 12 up and 13 down trains as seen in the table below. On Sunday there two trains each way.

A decade later in 1959 the service had improved and there were 20 up and 18 down trains Monday-to-Saturday. The Sunday service was very good with 13 up and 14 down trains.

On 1 January 1963 New Hadley Halt passed to the operational control of British Railways [London Midland Region] (BR[LMR]) passing to their complete control on xxx July 1963.

The ‘Beeching Report’ of March 1963 did not recommend the closure of any intermediate station or halt between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, and no reference has been seen in Hansard to any proposal to close stations between Wellington and Wolverhampton. The retention of New Hadley Halt is possibly explained by its location within the New Town of Telford (designated in January 1963, originally to be known as Dawley).

The 7 September 1964 timetable showed a reduction in services to 15 up and 13 down Monday-to-Friday. There was 1 less up train on Saturdays and no trains on Sundays.

After March 1967 trains started to run to and from Wolverhampton High Level. Only a couple of peak hour trains ran to and from Wolverhampton Low Level. That service ended on 4 March 1968.

The ‘Halt’ suffix was removed in May 1968 when the LMR ceased to use it for any public station.

By 1969 the shelters had been removed leaving nothing by way of any facilities for passengers.

By the summer of 1975 there were 12 up trains Monday-to-Friday and 13 on Saturdays. The up trains mostly ran to Wolverhampton with a couple running on to Birmingham New Street. There were 14 down trains Monday-to-Friday and 15 on Saturdays. Down trains ran to Wellington, Shrewsbury and to Chester.

By 12 May 1980 there were 12 up and 14 down trains Monday-to-Friday. There were 3 less up trains on Saturdays as shown in the table below.

By 1985 New Hadley Halt was in very poor condition and required a high level of expenditure to bring it up to modern standards. BR[LMR] did not consider that the expense was worthwhile. Consent to close the halt was sought and granted and the last trains ran on Saturday 11 May 1985.

After closure the halt was demolished leaving no trace.

Tickets from Michael Stewart and route map by Alan Young

Sources:

• A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain - Volume 7 The West Midlands - Rex Christiansen - David & Charles 1973.
• Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies - Christopher Awdry - Guild Publishing 1990.
• Paddington to the Mersey - Dr R. Preston Hendry & R. Powell Hendry - Oxford Publishing Company 1992.
• Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain - A Chronology - Michael Quick - Railway & Canal Historical Society 2009.
• Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury - Vic Mitchell & Keith Smith - Middleton Press 2009.

To see the other stations on the Wolverhampton - Chester General line click on the station name: Wolverhampton Low Level, Dunstall Park, Stafford Road, Admaston Halt, Walcot, Upton Magna, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury S&C, Leaton, Oldwoods Halt, Baschurch, Stanwardine Halt, Haughton Halt,
Rednal & West Felton, Whittington Low Level, Weston Rhyn, Whitehurst Halt, Rhosymedre, Cefn, Rhosymedre Halt, Wynnville Halt, Rhos, Johnstown & Hafod, Rhosrobin Halt, Gresford, Rossett, Pulford, Balderton and Saltney