Picture memories: looking back down the line at Worcester Shrub Hill station

The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway Company, backed by the Great Western Railway, and the rival London and North Western Railway locked horns in the battle.

It wasn't settled until the Sherriff rode up and sorted it – AC (Alexander) Sherriff, under whose leadership the whole chaotic affair was sorted and when the line eventually arrived in 1850, Worcester grew into a really important railway centre.

So we dug out the Shrub Hill files and found some pictures and stories, mainly from the latter part of the 20th century.

December 1991 and conductor Graham Hirons, based at Shrub Hill, had been judged the West of England’s most helpful railman

April 1997 and the station’s two Victorian clocks had been revamped, rewired and cleaned up

Welcome to Weed Hill, ran the headlines in June 1995, as the station came under fire for its shabby appearance

It's faded, but you can still make out the shire horses which were still being used in the early 1900s for shunting operations. Picture from the book Unseen Worcester, compiled by Ray Jones

Two LMS passenger trains waiting at Shrub Hill, then still crowned with its roof, in the 1930s

Elgar House, erected slap bang in front of the station, is widely regarded as one of the ugliest buildings in Worcester. And that’s after they finished it. This is January 1966 and the signs are already ominous...

Steam’s up in May 1993

September 1978 and demolition work goes on on the eastern platform building

Relief chargeman George Till was featured in August 1984, by which point the 62-year-old had been working on the railways since 1940

September 1983 and it’s service with a smile from the award-winning team at the station

August 1989 saw Pavilion Buffet manageress Barbara Uggeri serve her last tea and cake as she retired after 11 years in the job

Snow carpets the station in this picture from the 1970s

October 2001 and emergency crews take part in a joint exercise to practise their response to a major incident

Not Shrub Hill but well worth including - the so-called “Vinegar Express”, which used to haul barrels from Evans’ Vinegar Works in Lowesmoor to the Shrub Hill station goods yard, passing over both Pheasant Street and Shrub Hill Road on the way

The management and staff at Shrub Hill station in 1929, when it was then known as the Worcester Joint station

August 1988 and all that remains of two carriages targeted by arsonists

December 1984 and pupils from Ronkswood Junior School got the chance to look over a special exhibition train at the station

March 1983 and the station staff won a £120 prize for their work in keeping the station spick and span, impressing incognito British Rail officials

Steam buffs were out in force in June 1993 when the former LMS locomotive Princess Elizabeth came to Worcester for the first time. The 105-ton loco was making its last run before the boiler certificate ran out

May 1996 saw the start of a six-year scheme to give the station a facelift

June 1999 and the Flying Scotsman gets up a head of stram at the station on a test run from London following a three-year overhaul

Man on a mission... July 1982 on the platform

August 1989 saw the reirement of two stalwarts, John Jowbotham, left, who spent 40 years as a conductor and guard based at Shrub Hill, and Reg Knibb, who clocked up almost 48 years as a driver

December 1982 and this diesel commuter train caused severe disruption when it came off the line. Fortunately, no passengers were on board

An aerial view of Shrub Hill as it looked in January 1979