GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Moor Street Station: gwrms1876

An unused wagon label, pre-stamped for perishable goods from St Erth in western Cornwall to Moor Street goods depot for delivery to Birmingham market. The mild climate and absence of hard winter frosts in the area around St Erth meant that cold-sensitive crops could be produced much earlier than in the rest of the country. These crops included; Cornish new potatoes, broccoli and calebrese. Certainly in the Birmingham ABC Railway Rates book for 1935, special rates are identified for the carriage of (non-hothouse) vegetables from St Erth to Birmingham.

The prominent number ‘three’ on the wagon label was the assumed weight of a general merchandise load in a standard ten ton wagon. The number was visible without the need for close inspection, allowing the guard to rapidly pass along the train and reckon the total load. The guard could then compare this against the locomotive's capability. The wagon label, consignment note and goods invoice had to agree for each load and in addition to the more obvious information (contents, consignee, route, etc), the number of protective tarpaulin sheets in or on each wagon was also recorded.

Robert Ferris

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