Burslem railway station

Burslem
The station in 1962
General information
Location	Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England
Coordinates	53°02′48″N2°11′33″W / 53.0467°N 2.1926°W / 53.0467; -2.1926
Grid reference	SJ872499
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	North Staffordshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway, London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 December 1873	Opened [1]
9 October 1961	Closed to goods [2]
2 March 1964	Closed to passengers [1]
Location

Burslem railway station served the town of Burslem, in Staffordshire, England, between 1873 and 1961. It was a stop on the Potteries Loop Line and was located on Moorland Road, adjacent to Burslem Park. ^[3]

History

The station should have opened along with the extension of the Potteries Loop Line from Hanley on 1 November 1873, but the Board of Trade inspector was not satisfied so there was a delay of a month before opening. ^[1] The line ran between Staffordshire and Cheshire; it connected Stoke-on-Trent with Mow Cop and Scholar Green, via Hanley, Tunstall and Kidsgrove. ^[4]

It was recommended for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report from British Railways; it was closed along with the Potteries Loop Line in 1964.

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Tunstall Line and station closed		North Staffordshire Railway Potteries Loop Line		Cobridge Line and station closed

The site today

The station site in 2018

Most traces of the station have been removed although the old station master's house, known as Station House, is still occupied on a site between the old line and Burslem Park on Moorland Road.

The site of the station and sidings now forms part of a Greenway for walkers and cyclists, running along part of the route of the old Loop Line which has been landscaped. ^[5]

In popular culture

Writer Arnold Bennett, who lived locally and was buried in Burslem Cemetery in 1931, remembers Burslem station in his writing. Examples include "Anna of the Five Towns" (1902) and "The Old Wives' Tale" (1908), in which the five towns' names corresponded closely with their originals; Burslem became Bursley. ^[6]

References

Citations

1. Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 108. ISBN   978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC   612226077.
2. Hartless, Adrian (April 2019). "3. Eturia to Congleton". Lines North of Stoke to Crewe, Congleton and Leek. Midhurst: Middleton Press. ISBN   9781910356296. XXVII. There was a small goods station, which closed on 9th October 1961
3. "49 fabulous pictures showing the slums of Stoke-on-Trent in the 1960s - including Hanley and Burslem". Stoke Sentinel. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
4. Oppitz, Leslie (2006). Lost Railways of Staffordshire. Newbury: Countryside Books. ISBN   978-1-85306-992-5.
5. Ballantyne, Hugh (2005). British Railways Past & Present: North Staffordshire and the Trent Valley. Past & Present Publishing Ltd. ISBN   1858952042.
6. Drabble, p.4

Sources

• Drabble, Margaret (1974). Arnold Bennett . London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN   978-0-297-76733-6.