Top 5 stations in the West Midlands

Stuart Boyd • Feb 21, 2021

When ever I do a Q&A on Twitter one of the questions I always get is "Which is your favourite station so far?" It is very tough to choose a top 10 nationwide... So I have decided to split it up into a collection of Top 5's...

It's time to move on to the West Midlands... To clarify, the West Midlands incorporates the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcstershire, Warwickshire and the County of West Midlands itself. With that in mind... Here we go:

5. Albrighton

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Station: Albrighton

Line: Wolverhampton to Shrewsbury Line

County: Shropshire

Managed By: West Midlands Railway


Now this station might surprise a few people. but for me it definitely deserves it's place in this list. This was a line I knew very little about. I immediately took a liking to the station buildings, to the platform canopies. There is just something about them that had me captivated.


Albrighton station is on the edge of the village. To one side of the station you have views over what looks like a nice village (I will be returning for a walk about) and to the other side of the station you have views across the Shropshire countryside.


A station I will definitely look forward to returning to in the future. 

4. Danzey

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Station: Danzey

Line: The Shakespeare Line

County: Warwickshire

Managed By: West Midlands Railway


I remember visiting Danzey well, it was my second station of the day after a night in Birmingham!  I had a rather bad nights sleep in Birmingham Moor St Travelodge so I decided to have an hours kip at this station... As it turned out I only got myself 30 minutes of shut eye, I spent the rest of the time taking dozens of photos.


The area surrounding the station is nothing but green fields with a beautiful village a short walk away. Stations like this have a special feeling to them, a sense of isolation and a place to relax.


As you might of realised, I love a good remote station!

3. Worcester Shrub Hill

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Station: Worcester Shrub Hill

Line: Cotswold Line

County: Worcestershire

Managed By: West Midlands Trains


Above I mention that "I love a good remote station"... Well, Worcester Shrub Hill is one of only a few exceptions... I love the exterior building, the old school signals, the canopy's, the waiting rooms, the coffee shop, the ticket hall... I think that is all of it!


This is a station I have visited many times before, it has never failed to bring a smile to my face, even when I was there in the snow storm of March 2018!


Unfortunately, as much as I admire this station, I have never really had long enough there to take many photos. Next time I'm in the area, I will be making plenty of time for a decent collection of photos.

2. Colwall

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Station: Colwall

Line: Cotswold Line

County: Herefordshire

Managed By: West Midlands Railway


A station I visited on a very hot summers day, when I alighted my West Midlands Train the first thing on my mind was does this village have a shop that sells ice cold drinks and also have a ice cream freezer. Luckily the village did have a a shop. A very nice shop actually!


Sadly I didn't have enough time to take a proper look around the rest of the village, It's on my list of stations to revisit!


I honestly couldn't tell you why it's in my top 5, but when I think about the West Midlands this is one of the first stations that comes into my head. This is most probably because when I think of this station I think about how lovely it was and how much I smiled during my time there. 

1. Great Malvern

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Station: Great Malvern

Line: Cotswold Line

County: Worcestershire

Managed By: West Midlands Railways


My favourite station in the West Midlands is one that I visited very early on in the challenge. I remember the day pretty well. It was after a day visiting some friends in Stratford-upon-Avon. I then got the bus to Evesham where I boarded a HST to Great Malvern.


When I got there it was dark. but I felt the dark added something to the beauty of the station buildings. I have since returned in the day time and it was equally beautiful. It's full of heritage and history. Even the subway between the platforms is lovely.


I am sure I will be back here in the future, to have a look around the town and local area.

Stations to visit: KILDALE

by Stu • 28 Apr, 2024
Kildale station is located on the very scenic Esk Valley Line that runs from Middlesborough to Whitby. From the June 2024 timetable change the station will see 8 trains per day, 4 in each direction! Although this is a limited service it does give you the opportunity to do some exploring of the area.

Afternoon walk with Bailey

by Stuart • 27 Jan, 2024
I set of on a walk with my sisters dog and headed for the disused canal from Kendal. I followed along disused canal to the village of Natland. I then swapped the disused canal for the river. After following the riverside path, I came across a footbridge that I had planned to use, annoyingly it was closed! Annoyingly I was planning to use this footbridge, due to this there was a lenghty diversion. Thankfully the diversion wasn't a total waste of time, I was able to walk through the beautiful Sizergh Castle and then head back up to my original route plan and headed to Helsington church and view point. After spending a little time chatting with my Dad (who's ashs was scattered there) me and Bailey then headed up to Scout Scar before setting of back down towards Kendal. Upon reaching the River Kent I decided that my feet was still feeling good and I headed back along the river to Hawes Bridge. I then headed up into the village of Natland and then up to Oxenholme where my walk came to an end!

The Northumberland Line

by Stuart • 21 Jan, 2024
A blog about the new Northumberland Line that is scheduled to start opening in the Summer of 2024.

Walking the Great Western Railway - Day 4

by Stu • 06 Sept, 2023
This walk was a tail of two halves! The day started with walking through Reading suburbs and then through the city centre. Things mid morning took a positive turn as we headed to the The Kennet and Avon Canal which I then followed for the remaineder of the day. Only hopping away from the canal to go on to station platforms. A very enjoyable walk, even in the scorching heat! Stations visted today was: Reading, Reading West, Theale, Aldermaston & ended the day at Midgham. By walking between Aldermaston and Midgham I actually have managed to get a station ahead on my plan which can only be a good thing as I head down to the more difficult reagions of Somerset & Devon next week. Until tomorrow :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 3

by Stu • 04 Sept, 2023
Todays walk was a little bit of a tough one, mainly due to the excessive heat which is only going to get worse as the week goes on. Thinking there will be some early starts coming up to try and miss the worst of the heat! Today was a mixture of roads and walks across fields. Discovered there is some beautiful countryside between Maidenhead and Twyford. I strongly encourage you to take this walk! Stations visited today: Burnham, Taplow, Maidenhead and ended at Twyford. Was great to have Nick Badley along with me today. Make sure to check out and subscribe to his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@NickBadley . After the walk myself and Nick headed to Windsor where we met up with Coastway Will and had a Nandos dinner where the unlimited refils was very much used again and again! Until tomorrow :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 2

by Stu • 03 Sept, 2023
Todays walk saw me starting at Southall and heading straight to The Grand Union Canal. We followed this for most of the walk today. Stations called at today was: Hayes & Harlington, West Drayton, Iver, Langley before finishing the walk at Slough. Was great to have pals Jack and Dave with me today. Laughed for the most part, especially when we got the wrong place for the London/Buckinghamshire borders. That video on twitter got filmed twice lol. Massive thank you to everyone supporting the event via donations to either/both: Donate to Samaritans: https://justgiving.com/page/greatwesternwalk Support me with the challenge: https://www.gofundme.com/f/GreatWesternWalk My photos from today are below. Daves photos from today can be found here on his Flickr photostream: https://flic.kr/ps/3ppCTV Until tomorrow :)

Walking the Great Western Mainline gallery - Day 1

by Stu • 02 Sept, 2023
The first day of the walk from London Paddington to Southall saw me call at Acton Mainline, Ealing Broadway, West Ealing & Hanwell. On the way we saw unexpected viaducts, fancy McDonalds, pretty gardens & nice market squares. Today I was joined by a couple of friends who can be found online at the following places, Please do check their accounts out. Jack All Station: twitter.com/JackAllStations Midland London: youtube.com/@MidlandLondon Below is a selection of photos from today.

Gallery: Weekend Walking around Windermere & Oxenholme

by Stu • 20 Aug, 2023
Walk around Windermere:

Carlisle Photo Collection

by Stu • 12 Aug, 2023
All photos © Every Last Station. Reuse only by permission.

New Station: Thanet Parkway

by Stuart • 03 Aug, 2023
On 31st July at just before 5am Thanet Parkway became Britain's newest station in Great Britain (at the time) and is the first station to open in Kent since Ebbsfleet International opening in 2007. As you approach the station you are greeted with what looks like a lovely and well designed station. The car park complete with 293 spaces which includes 16 spaces for Blue Badge holders and a number of charge points for electric vehicle charging. BUT, here is the stations first of several oversights: none of the vehicle charge points are in one of the 16 Blue Badge spaces and the charging bays don't have enough space for those with limited mobility to get in and out of their cars. As we approach the station from the car park the actual station looks rather impressive. The brick work along with the stylish mettle mesh on the stair case and lift shaft really makes it look the part. There is also some raised flower beds which add to the overall positive experience of the station .
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