Ainsdale Beach railway station

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Ainsdale Beach
Ainsdale Beach railway station (site), Lancashire (geograph 6605142).jpg
Station site in 2020.
Location Ainsdale, Sefton
England
Coordinates 53°36′26″N3°03′24″W / 53.6071°N 3.0568°W / 53.6071; -3.0568 Coordinates: 53°36′26″N3°03′24″W / 53.6071°N 3.0568°W / 53.6071; -3.0568
Grid reference SD302128
Line(s) Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
Platforms2 [1] [2] [3]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Cheshire Lines Committee
Pre-groupingCheshire Lines Committee
Post-groupingCheshire Lines Committee
Key dates
19 June 1901Station opened as "Seaside"
1 January 1912Station renamed "Ainsdale Beach" [4]
1 January 1917Station closed as a wartime economy measure
1 April 1919Station reopened
7 January 1952Station closed [5]

Ainsdale Beach was a railway station located in Ainsdale, Merseyside, England.

Contents

History

The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened a line extending their existing system from Aintree to Southport on 1 September 1884. [6] Seeing the potential in Ainsdale's large beach they subsequently built this station, which opened as Seaside in 1901. In 1911 it was decided to rename the station Ainsdale Beach, which took effect from 1 January 1912.

The station was built adjacent to a hotel called The Lakeside Hotel (in 2015 named 'The Sands' and trading as a local pub) situated at the coastal end of Shore Road. A terraced row of railway staff cottages immediately next to the station still stood in 2015, although all station structures, signal box and level crossing [7] [8] have long gone.

It was served by trains from Southport Lord Street, Liverpool Central and Manchester Central. [9]

A total eclipse of the sun occurred in June 1927. The railway provided many excursion specials to many locations, including Ainsdale Beach. [10]

Run down and closure

The station first closed in 1917, along with all other stations on the extension line, as a First World War economy measure.

The station reopened on 1 April 1919, and continued in use until 7 January 1952, when the SCLER was closed to passengers from Aintree Central to Southport Lord Street. Public goods facilities were ended at Woodvale, Lydiate and Sefton & Maghull stations on the same day and there never were any goods facilities at Ainsdale Beach station. The line remained open for public goods traffic until 7 July 1952 at Southport Lord Street, Birkdale Palace and Altcar & Hillhouse stations. A siding remained open at Altcar & Hillhouse for private goods facilities until May 1960. The last passenger train to run on the SCLER was a railway enthusiasts' special train between Aintree and Altcar & Hillhouse stations on 6 June 1959. [11] [12]

The line came under the Cheshire Lines Committee until nationalisation in 1948, whereafter it came under the London Midland Region of British Railways until closure.

The site today

Later the track bed through the station site was used to support what is now the Coastal Road, which runs from Woodvale to Southport. At this point the road is also part of the Trans Pennine Trail.

Related Research Articles

Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Metropolitan borough in England

The Metropolitan Borough of Sefton is a metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England. It was formed on 1 April 1974, by the amalgamation of the county boroughs of Bootle and Southport, the municipal borough of Crosby, the urban districts of Formby and Litherland, and part of West Lancashire Rural District. It consists of a coastal strip of land on the Irish Sea which extends from Southport in the north to Bootle in the south, and an inland part to Maghull in the south-east, bounded by the city of Liverpool to the south, the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley to the south-east, and West Lancashire to the east.

Southport Town in England

Southport is a large seaside town in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.

Cheshire Lines Committee Railway in England: active from 1863 to 1947

The Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) was formed in the 1860s and became the second-largest joint railway in Great Britain. The committee, which was often styled the Cheshire Lines Railway, operated 143 miles (230 km) of track in the then counties of Lancashire and Cheshire. The railway did not get grouped into one of the Big Four during the implementation of the 1923 grouping, surviving independently with its own management until the railways were nationalised at the beginning of 1948. The railway served Liverpool, Manchester, Stockport, Warrington, Widnes, Northwich, Winsford, Knutsford, Chester and Southport with connections to many other railways.

Ainsdale Human settlement in England

Ainsdale is an area of Southport in the borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, situated three miles south of the centre of Southport. In the Historic County of Lancashire, at the 2001 Census it had a population of 12,723. By the time of the 2011 census, only figures for Ainsdale (ward) were available.

Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway

The Liverpool, Crosby and Southport Railway (LC&SR) received parliamentary authorization on 2 July 1847 and opened between Southport and Liverpool, on 24 July 1848. The Liverpool terminal was a temporary station on the viaduct passing near to Waterloo Goods station.

Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway

The Liverpool, Southport and Preston Junction Railway was formed in 1884, and totaled 7 miles. In 1897 it became part of Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and on 1 May 1901, its northern terminus switched from Southport Central to Southport Chapel Street.

Southport Lord Street railway station

Southport Lord Street was a railway station located on Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, England. It was the terminus of the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway from Liverpool.

Birkdale Palace railway station

Birkdale Palace railway station was located in Birkdale, Lancashire, England. The station was opened by the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway in 1884 and closed in 1952.

Woodvale railway station was located in Woodvale, Merseyside, England.

Mossbridge railway station

Mossbridge railway station was located on Downholland Moss at Moss Lane, Haskayne, Lancashire, England. The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened Mossbridge on 5 April 1886 as "Barton & Halsall".

The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway was an early British railway company operating in the then county of Lancashire. It was constructed to link the Cheshire Lines Committee railway at Aintree to Southport. It operated from 1884 to 1952.

Altcar and Hillhouse railway station

Altcar and Hillhouse was a railway station located on the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway near Great Altcar, Lancashire, England.

Lydiate railway station

Lydiate railway station was a station located on the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway off Carr Lane, just outside Lydiate. The Merseyside and Lancashire border runs down the stream alongside Altcar Lane, which runs parallel to the line.

Sefton and Maghull railway station was a station located on the Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway on Sefton Lane, Maghull, Merseyside, England.

Aintree Central railway station was a station located on the North Liverpool Extension Line on Park Lane, Aintree, Merseyside, across Park Lane from the current Aintree station.

Clubmoor railway station was located on the North Liverpool Extension Line at Broad Lane, Norris Green, Liverpool, England.

Walton on the Hill railway station was located on the Huskisson branch of the North Liverpool Extension Line at the junction of Rice Lane and Queens Drive in Walton, Liverpool, England.

Huskisson railway station was located on the North Liverpool Extension Line near Huskisson Dock in Liverpool, England.

Southport Central was a railway station in Southport, Lancashire, England.

St Helens Central railway station (Great Central Railway)

St Helens Central (GCR) railway station served the town of St Helens, England with passenger traffic between 1900 and 1952 and goods traffic until 1965. It was the terminus of a branch line from Lowton St Mary's.

References

  1. ↑ Bolger 1984, pp. 26-7.
  2. ↑ Foster 2000, pp. 79 & 82.
  3. ↑ Biddle 1981, p. 30.
  4. ↑ Dow 1962, p. 142.
  5. ↑ Butt 1995, p. 13.
  6. ↑ Griffiths 1947, p. 53.
  7. ↑ Dyckhoff 1999, Title Page and p108.
  8. ↑ Travers 2013, pp. 374 & 376.
  9. ↑ Bolger 1984, pp. 5-7.
  10. ↑ Dyckhoff 1999, p. 62.
  11. ↑ Railtours via sixbellsjunction
  12. ↑ Travers 2013, p. 377.

Sources

  • Biddle, Gordon (1981). Railway Stations in the North West. Clapham, North Yorkshire: Dalesman Books. ISBN   978-0-85206-644-7.
  • Bolger, Paul (1984). An Illustrated History of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Merseyside: Heyday Publishing Company. ISBN   978-0-947562-00-7.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC   60251199.
  • Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN   978-0-7110-1469-5. OCLC   655324061.
  • Dyckhoff, Nigel (1999). Portrait of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN   978-0-7110-2521-9.
  • Foster, Harry (2000). New Ainsdale The struggle of a seaside suburb 1850-2000. Birkdale: Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society. ISBN   978-0-9510905-5-8.
  • Griffiths, R Prys (1947). The Cheshire Lines Railway. Lingfield: The Oakwood Press. OCLC   752555378. OL5.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN   978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC   228266687.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN   978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC   22311137.
  • Travers, Ian (June 2013). Blakemore, Michael (ed.). "The Southport Extension of the Cheshire Lines Committee 1884-1952". Back Track. Easingwold: Pendragon Publishing. 27 (6).
Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Woodvale
Line and station closed		  Cheshire Lines Committee
SCLER 		  Birkdale Palace
Line and station closed
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