Martyn's Blog

On a fine and sunny March Monday morning, I made the trip down the Chase Line to the two stations between Walsall and Landywood which I haven’t yet visited: Bloxwich and Bloxwich North.

It was an easy and stress-free trip on the train down to Birmingham New Street, from where I caught the train to Bloxwich in the West Midlands.

Bloxwich is a former coal mining town to the north of Walsall. Its other industries included manufacturing equipment relating to the leather industry. Their most famous products were the awl blades, said to be the best in the UK. Notable former residents include Slade frontman Noddy Holder, Rob Halford of the band Judas Priest, the writer and actress Meera Syal, harmonica player and recurring guest on The Morecambe & Wise Show, Arthur Tolcher (not now, Arthur!) and Pat Collins, funfair impresario and former Liberal MP.

The first Bloxwich station was opened in February 1858, a few hundred yards down the line from the present station. This station was closed in January 1965 and demolished. In 1989, as part of the re-opening of the Chase Line between Birmingham and Rugeley, a new Bloxwich station was built and opened. It is very similar to other stations on the line, with basic facilities such as help points, a ticket machine and waiting shelters. It has a sculpture on the station sign, in common with the other stations on the line.

My first destination was Bloxwich Park. It was a fine and dry day, which meant that the park was quite busy. The park has a sculpture within it which is called ‘Rock Anvils’. It is essentially a pile of rocks, which was positioned in the early 20th Century as a monument to the ‘bitties and tackies’ who constructed blades and needles for the leather industry.

Across the road from Bloxwich Park is the Pat Collins memorial garden and clock. Pat Collins was a showman and was involved in the fairground amusements industry. In fact, the company Pat Collins Funfairs company still bears his name, and is closely associated with Burton upon Trent, as it runs the annual Statutes Fair in the town every October. Also, some of his fairground attractions were built by the Orton and Spooner company, based in Burton. Collins was later a Liberal councillor and Mayor of Walsall, and also served as a Member of Parliament for Walsall.

Just to the south of Pat Collins’s memorial garden is the Promenade Garden, which houses a fountain. The fountain is not working at the moment.

I had a wander down the High Street to the local parish church, All Saints.

The church was built from 1791-1794, with major alterations carried out in 1875. Outside the church is the local war memorial, the Bloxwich Cenotaph.

The memorial was installed after World War I in 1918. Also known as the Bloxwich Cross of Sacrifice, it is dedicated to the memory of the 316 local men who died during the Great War.

Around the other side of the church is another piece of public art, locally known as the Bloxwich Tardis.

Officially named the Bloxwich Column, it was given the nickname ‘Tardis’ because it resembles the police box in the long-running BBC drama Doctor Who. It was unveiled in 2007 and depicts the history of the local area in pictures, travelling through time just like the Doctor.

The last destination for me in Bloxwich (apart from the Co-op), was the King George V Memorial Playing Fields. The largest open space in Bloxwich, it was opened in 1937 and dedicated to King George V (King Charles III’s great-grandfather) who reigned from 1910 until his death in 1936. The park has a few walking paths, children’s play equipment, toilets and sports pitches. There is also a small maze which is overgrown and probably looks better from above.

It is also a popular dog walking venue. One dog made an audacious bid for freedom by running off from its owner with its lead danging behind it. It was recaptured, though.

My time in Bloxwich was coming to an end, so I walked to the town’s other railway station, Bloxwich North.

Bloxwich North is the younger of the two stations, having opened in October 1990. It was originally built as an ‘experimental’ station to serve the then-new housing estates which had been built to the north of the town. The experiment was surely a success, as it is still open. It is almost identical to Bloxwich station, with the same facilities. It also bears a sculpture on the station sign outside, this one depicting fairground rides as a tribute to Pat Collins.

The ride back to Burton on Trent was as pleasant as the trip down, with both trains being on time and neither of them were crowded.

That’s it for this post, thanks for reading.