Cheddleton railway station

Last updated

Cheddleton
Station on heritage railway
Cheddleton.jpg
Cheddleton station under preservation
General information
Location Cheddleton, Staffordshire Moorlands
England
Coordinates 53°03′57″N2°01′39″W / 53.0658°N 2.0274°W / 53.0658; -2.0274
Grid reference SJ982520
Operated by Churnet Valley Railway
Platforms2
History
Original company North Staffordshire Railway
Post-grouping London, Midland & Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 September 1849 (1849-09-01)opened [1]
4 January 1965closed [1]
1996re-opened (preservation)

Cheddleton railway station is a former passenger railway station of the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) and is now a preserved station on the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire, England].

Contents

History

Cheddleton station, situated on the Churnet Valley Line of the NSR, was opened to passengers and goods on 1 September 1849.

The station was a quiet country station serving the needs of nearby Cheddleton village, and for a time, the settlement of Ipstones, which is out of the valley.

As with many stations in the 1960s, levels of traffic decreased to such an extent that the station was considered non-viable and closed to both passengers and goods in 1965.

Cheddleton before closure Cheddleton 02.jpg
Cheddleton before closure

Churnet Valley Railway early days

During the 1970s a railway preservation base was established at Cheddleton railway station. This was due to a campaign by local people, spearheaded by local businessman and resident Norman Hancock, who in May 1974 as a mark of protest parked his Jaguar car on the level crossing where the railway line meets Basford Bridge Lane in Cheddleton. Following his actions and with support from a local campaign the station building was saved from demolition and became a grade II listed building on 14 May 1974. [2] Cheddleton Station later became the base of the Churnet Valley Railway and has a commemorative plaque dedicated to Hancock on the wall.

Initially, there was a railway museum displaying artefacts relating to the North Staffordshire Railway. In 1978 the NSRS became the North Staffordshire Railway Co. (1978) Ltd, and it became a charity in 1983.

Later the bay platform area was acquired in 1984 and a former NSR signal box was put into use. The Churnet Valley line finally closed for sand traffic in 1988 and the NSRC jumped at the chance to purchase the line from British Rail by publicising its share prospectus.

The first passenger train to leave Cheddleton onto the mainline under CVR control left for Leek Brook on 24 August 1996.

Later developments

Since the first trains ran in 1996 the CVR has grown with Cheddleton remaining its headquarters. The station area has benefited from temporary buildings on the opposite side to the original, housing a shop and tea room. The yard to the south of the platforms has progressively expanded with several roads, an inspection pit, and carriage shed being some of the facilities now in use as well as the main engine shed that was built early on. Recently the second platform has been reconnected to the main line by means of a siding which will one day form a loop to pass trains on.

Cheddleton tunnel

Just to the north of the station lies the 531-yard (485.5 m) long Cheddleton Tunnel.

See also

Route

Preceding station HR icon.svg   Heritage railways Following station
Leek Brook   Churnet Valley Railway   Consall
  Historical railways  
Leek Brook   Churnet Valley Line   Consall

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Staffordshire Railway</span> Former British railway company

The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churnet Valley Railway</span> Heritage railway in Staffordshire, England

The Churnet Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway in the Staffordshire Moorlands of Staffordshire, England. It operates on part of the former Churnet Valley Line which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway. The railway is roughly 10.5 miles (16.9 km) long from Kingsley and Froghall to Ipstones. The land from Leek Brook Junction to Ipstones was opened by Moorland & City Railways (MCR) in 2010 after they took a lease out from Network Rail. This has subsequently been purchased by the Churnet Valley Railway. The main stations along the line are Kingsley and Froghall, Consall, Cheddleton and Leek Brook. Work has begun to extend the line to the town of Leek which will act as the northern terminus of the line. The line between Leek and Waterhouses has also been reopened as part of the heritage railway as far as Ipstones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoke-on-Trent railway station</span> Railway station in Staffordshire, England

Stoke-on-Trent railway station is a mainline railway station serving the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. It also provides an interchange between local services running through Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

The Stafford and Uttoxeter Railway was authorised by Act of Parliament on 29 July 1862, to build a line between the towns of Stafford and Uttoxeter in Staffordshire, England. It opened for traffic in 1867. It opened on 23 December 1867. Construction cost had much exceeded estimates, and income was poor, so that the company was always in financial difficulty. It was placed in receivership in 1875. The Great Northern Railway (GNR) had running powers to Uttoxeter and was persuaded to acquire the company, which it did in 1881. The GNR spent a considerable sum on improving the line, but it never made money and it was closed to passengers on 4 December 1939. Goods traffic ceased in 1951, except for a short stub to RAF Stafford; this too closed in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uttoxeter railway station</span> Railway station in Staffordshire, England

Uttoxeter railway station serves the town of Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is on the Crewe–Derby line, which is also a Community rail line known as the North Staffordshire line. The station is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway.

The Derbyshire and Staffordshire extension of the Great Northern Railway was an English railway network built by the GNR to get access to coal resources in the area to the north and west of Nottingham. The Midland Railway had obstructed the GNR in its attempts to secure a share of the lucrative business of transporting coal from the area, and in frustration the GNR built the line. The line was forked: it reached Pinxton in 1875 and a junction with the North Staffordshire Railway at Egginton, approaching Burton on Trent in 1878. The line cut through Derby, resulting in considerable demolition of housing there.

Kingsley and Froghall is a former railway station of the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) that is now preserved on the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consall railway station</span> Preserved railway station in England

Consall railway station is a former passenger railway station of the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) and is now a preserved station on the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leek Brook railway station</span> Railway station in Staffordshire, England

Leek Brook railway station is a passenger station in Staffordshire, Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton Towers railway station</span> Disused railway station in Alton, Staffordshire

Alton railway station is a former railway station in Staffordshire. Opened in 1849 by the North Staffordshire Railway and called Alton, the station was part of the Churnet Valley line and served the village of Alton and the country estate at Alton Towers. In 1954, the station was renamed Alton Towers. After being closed in 1965, the station site was purchased by Staffordshire County Council in 1969 to curtail persistent vandalism of the station building, and in 1979 was sold to the Landmark Trust, who renamed the site to Alton Station and converted the former station buildings into holiday accommodation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashbourne railway station</span> Former railway station in Derbyshire, England

Ashbourne railway station formerly served the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire. There have been two stations in the town. The first, opened in 1852, was operated by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR); it was replaced in 1899 by a station at a new location, jointly operated by the NSR and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). In 1923 the station passed into the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and in 1948 that of the London Midland Region of British Railways. It was finally closed to all traffic in 1963.

The Churnet Valley line was one of the three original routes planned and built by the North Staffordshire Railway. Authorised in 1846, the line opened in 1849 and ran from North Rode in Cheshire to Uttoxeter in East Staffordshire. The line was closed in several stages between 1964 and 1988 but part of the central section passed into the hands of a preservation society and today operates as the Churnet Valley Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macclesfield Hibel Road railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Macclesfield Hibel Road railway station was a railway station serving the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. It was opened as a joint station by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) on 13 July 1849, with the opening of the NSR route to Uttoxeter via North Rode and Leek and it replaced an earlier, temporary, LNWR station at Beech Bridge. Built right at the point where the track of the two companies made an end-on junction, the station was managed by a joint committee of the two companies.

Waterhouses railway station was a railway station that served the village of Waterhouses, Staffordshire. It was opened jointly by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) and the Leek and Manifold Valley Light Railway (L&MVLR) in 1905 and closed in 1943.

The St Edward's Hospital tramway was a tramway built for Staffordshire County Council for the construction of the St Edward's County Mental Asylum at Cheddleton, Staffordshire. Opened in 1899, the line ran until 1954 before being closed and scrapped.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Edward's Hospital</span> Hospital in Cheddleton, England

St Edward's Hospital was a mental health facility at Cheddleton in Staffordshire, England. The hospital closed in 2002 and was converted into apartments and houses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ipstones railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Ipstones railway station was a railway station that served the village of Ipstones, Staffordshire. It was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1905 and closed to passenger use in 1935, but remained open to freight traffic until 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradnop railway station</span> Disused railway station in England

Bradnop railway station was a railway station that served the village of Bradnop, Staffordshire. It was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) in 1905 and closed to passenger use in 1935, but remained open to freight traffic until 1964.

The Waterhouses branch line was a railway built by the North Staffordshire Railway to link the small villages east of Leek, Staffordshire with Leek, the biggest market town in the area. The railway opened in 1905 but closed to passengers in 1935. Freight continued on the line though until 1988, when the line was mothballed as the traffic from the quarries at Caldon Low ceased.

Leek railway station is the proposed and future terminus of the Churnet Valley Railway and is currently awaiting construction. It will be the second railway station in Leek.

References

  1. 1 2 Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 121. ISBN   978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC   612226077.
  2. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1188818)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 29 August 2009.