To many, Jude Bellingham is a Brummie icon, but he is not even from Birmingham at all. Sure, he’s a former Birmingham City player, but the Real Madrid midfielder is actually from Stourbridge—a market town about 10 miles west of the Second City that lies on the fringes of Dudley (so, yeah, does that make Jude a yam yam?)
During the Industrial Revolution, it was best known as the centre of British glassmaking, but these days, you’ll most likely know Stourbridge for: Its golf course (which even gets a mention in P. G. Wodehouse’s Money for Nothing); three local indie bands (The Wonder Stuff, Pop Will Eat Itself and Ned’s Atomic Dustbin) who shot to fame in the early 90s; and for the shortest railway line in Europe.
How do I ride Europe’s shortest railway line?
Jump on a train from Moor Street (or Snow Hill) to Stourbridge Junction, and from there, change onto the Stourbridge Town branch line to take you into the town centre. At 0.8 miles long (1.3 km), this railway branch line is easily the shortest in Britain and, widely believed to be, the shortest line in Europe to run daily—another local, Adrian Chiles, is a fan.
The journey, which has been running since 1879 and takes only three minutes, operates every 10 minutes. That’s 1,370 trips per week on this one-carriage train. And, according to the Stourbridge Shuttle website, it has a service reliability of 99.6%, which is pretty unbelievable—but Stourbridge has a track record of producing the incredible! It’s also the UK’s only in-operation Very Light Rail (VLR) vehicle, making it one of the most eco-friendly vehicles in the country.
Now, we doubt you’ll be spotting Jude on here anytime soon… But there’s every chance that the future Ballon d’Or winner has done in the past! While in Stourbridge, learn more about the town’s other claim to fame at the Stourbridge Glass Museum and The Red House Glass Cone; relax in the beautiful gardens of Mary Stevens Park; or visit the nearby Kinver Edge.