Notes: Oldwoods Halt was located on the Great Western Railway’s (GWR) main line that linked Birmingham to the River Mersey at Birkenhead via Chester. The section of line on which Oldwoods Halt was located had been opened on 1 October 1848 by the Shrewsbury & Chester Railway. The GWR took over the line on 1 September 1854. Under its ownership it became a busy trunk route linking the Midlands to Birkenhead on the River Mersey. Express passenger services began operating between London Paddington and Birkenhead on 1 October 1861. The line also carried heavy volumes of freight.

The halt was authorised on 27 April 1927 and opened on 3 July 1933 to serve the small settlement at Oldwood; it is not clear why the halt bore a plural form of the name. It was located on the west side of the road overbridge that carried the Walford Heath – Merrington Green road over the line.

The halt had two platforms, each 70ft in length. It was provided with shelters on each platform and a booking office. Footpaths and steps provided access from the road. There was also direct access to goods sidings on the down side of the line adjacent to the halt. The halt had been estimated to cost £279.

On 1 January 1948 the line became part of British Railways [Western Region] (BR[WR]). The summer timetable for 1949 showed only three up and four down services on Monday-to-Saturday. On Sunday there was one train in each direction.

The 15 September 1958 timetable showed only two up and one down trains Monday-to-Friday. There was an extra up service on Saturday and no trains called on Sundays.

Oldwoods Halt was closed by BR[WR] on 12 September 1960. It was demolished shortly after leaving no trace.

The line remained a busy trunk route until the mid 1960s when many main line services were diverted to other routes or ceased to run. By the late 1970s it had become a shadow of its former self with only an hourly DMU service in each direction.

Following a period of passenger growth in the first decade of the 21st century the route was once again handling main line traffic.

Ticket from Michael Stewart and route map by Alan Young

Sources:

• A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain - Volume II North & Mid Wales - Peter E Baughan - David & Charles 1980.
• Encyclopaedia of British Railway Companies - Christopher Awdry - Guild Publishing 1990.
• Great Western Halts - Volume 2 - Kevin Robertson - KRB Publications 2002.
• 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.

To see the other stations on the Shrewsbury - Chester General line click on the station name: Shrewsbury S&C, Leaton, Baschurch, Stanwardine Halt,
Haughton Halt, Rednal & West Felton, Whittington Low Level, Weston Rhyn, Trehowell Halt, Llangollen Road, Whitehurst Halt, Rhosymedre, Cefn, Rhosymedre Halt, Wynville Halt, Johnstown & Hafod, Rhos, Rhosrobin Halt, Gresford, Rossett, Pulford, Balderton and Saltney