Bus shelter, Exchange Street

Image: © P L Chadwick Taken: 26 Dec 2010

The bus shelter is in front of the old Town Hall, and the well-known statue of Sir Rowland Hill, who introduced the postage stamp and the penny post in 1840. The bus shelter is quite old, and there is a possibility that it was once a tram shelter for the Kidderminster to Stourport Tramway, which ran from 1898 to 1929. I thought this myself, but now incline to the view that it was a bus shelter from the start. The design is apparently shown in a 1930's catalogue of ironworks. The tramway didn't actually pass through Exchange Street, but its town centre terminus was around the corner in Oxford Street. It is of course possible the shelter was relocated. Interestingly, this shelter had a twin, which was a few further yards along Exchange Street. Buses had a habit of colliding with this. After the fourth collision in 3 years, the damage was such that the shelter was removed. The Council have stated it will be restored but that was many many months ago. Meanwhile people often have to hang about in the cold and rain. Unfortunately plenty of lip service is paid to public transport in this area, but such improvements as there are proceed at a snail's pace. Update (April 2012):- The second shelter was rebuilt some months ago. Update (March 2020):- Subsequently, at some point, the shelter in this view was removed leaving Exchange Street again with just one shelter. Image Image

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