‘The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway’ (or S.M.J.) was a small independent railway company which ran a line across the empty, untouched centre of England. It visited the counties of Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Oxfordshire and a little of Buckinghamshire, only existing as the SMJ from 1909 to 1923. In 1923 the S.M.J.became a minor arm of the London Midland and Scottish (L.M.S.), then in 1948 'British Railways'

Gone but not forgotten: "the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth"

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magnet fishing

Hi everyone, yesterday I did some magnet fishing with the grandchildren from the SMJ bridge over the river Tove in Towester, to great excitement of the children (and myself) we pulled out three chair screws and a rivet which looked similar in style…Continue

Started by Steve Camm Sep 1.

One of the best preserved SMJ bridges? 1 Reply

I was at Ettington the other day and apart from the good shed, which has had a lot of money spent on it including full glazing, the station building is still there. But my attention went to the station bridge (No. 73?) which is in very good…Continue

Started by John Evans. Last reply by Andy Thompson Aug 30.

Passenger Trains connected to the SMJ

Following on from the previous discussion about WD passenger trains on the SMJ during the 1940s; it must be said that passenger trains ran on metals connected to the SMJ until the mid 1960s. There was a passenger service from the nearest point to…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward Jun 16.

Wartime passenger trains from Burton Dassett 3 Replies

Arthur Jordan in his book, The Stratford Upon Avon and Midland Junction Railway - The Shakespeare Route at pp 82 mentions a WW2 late night special from Stratford on Avon to Burton Dassett for soldiers at the CAD. I would envisage that this did not…Continue

Started by Dave Hayward. Last reply by Dave Hayward Jun 16.

SMJ photos

Blakesley picture

I'm afraid I can be of no help at all, since the best copy that I now have in my possession is the one on the front cover of "Lost Railways of Northamptonshire". I am not too certain of the provenance of this one either, since the cover was designed by Stenlakes the Publishers. However the same shot appears in Arthur Jordan's book on the SMJ attributed to "L.G.R.P/Real Photographs". The only suggestion that I can make is that perhaps "Old House (etc)" relates to Charles Bartholemew's nearby mansion at Blakesley Hall. Do you think it might be a board for displaying notices concerning Bartholemew's miniature railway, say "Old House Rly"?

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Permalink Reply by Dick Bodily on January 19, 2010 at 9:25

David

Thanks for your reply. I doubt if it was a noticeboard for the BMR as it would have been behind the screen wall for the gents toilet, strange though isn't it. The resolution of your picture is better than that in Jordan's book, it was from your picture I managed to make out the words 'Old' and 'House'. By the way I'm reading 'The Quiet Waters By' at present.

All the best

Dick

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