The Oxford & Hampton Railway

Decided to go out and photograph some victims of government cuts; not the queues at the foodbank, but rather the lonely stretches of track that fell under the shadow of the Beeching Axe in the 1960s. Among them was this line, which once formed part of the Oxford, Worcester & Wolverhampton Railway running through the heart of the Black Country. Opened in the 1850s, for a century it was the major transport link between Wolverhampton, Tipton, Coseley and Dudley. Most of it's now been swallowed up by factories and housing estates, though some stretches (like this one) have been left for the trees.

The former glory of the line does live on in one of the great traditional folk songs of the West Midlands, performed here by Jon Raven.


O come and listen to me song
And I will not detain you long
About the folks, they all did throng
To the Oxford and 'Hampton Railway

Ri-fan, ti-fan, mirth and fun,
Don't you wonder how it's done?
Carriages without horses run
On the Oxford and 'Hampton Railway

And to go along the line
Mother, father, son and daughter
Going along at one o'clock
By fire, by steam and water

And from the villages and the towns
Ladies and gents all gathered round
And music through the air did sound
Along the Oxford Railway

There's butchers, bakers, nailers too
And lots of gents all dressed in blue
And they've all come to take a view
At the Oxford and 'Hampton Railway.

Now there's a girl in Worcester town
I think her name is Nancy
She said a ride along the line
Would really please her fancy

She'll go by steam, she'll come by steam
By steam she'll be unhurried,
And if she do a husband find
By steam they will be married

Now an old girl looking up the line
Said, "I don't give a farthing
For they've pulled down me cottage fine
And taken away me garden.

Where I for many years did dwell
Growing cabbages and potatoes,
But worse than that me daughter now
Run off with a navigator."

When line is finished at both ends
Then you can send your cocks and hens
And go and visit all your friends
Along the Oxford Railway

You can send your butter and cheese
At any time whenever you please
You can send your hens and eggs
And them can ride as has no legs
On the Oxford and 'Hampton Railway