Godley East railway station

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Godley East
Godley East railway station in 1989.jpg
Station in 1989.
General information
Location Godley, Tameside
England
Grid reference SJ968946
Platforms4
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (1st station)
Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (2nd station)
Pre-grouping Great Central Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
17 November 1841 (1841-11-17)Godley Toll Bar opened
11 December 1842Closed
1 February 1866Godley Junction opened
6 May 1974Renamed Godley
7 July 1986Renamed Godley East
27 May 1995 (1995-05-27)Closed

Godley East was a railway station in the Godley area of Hyde, Tameside, Greater Manchester, on the Woodhead Line.

Contents

Early history

Early 1900s junction diagram showing the layout at Godley with the then extant stations Altrincham, Broadheath & Timperley Apethorne, Bredbury, Brinnington, Godley, Marple & Woodley RJD 73.jpg
Early 1900s junction diagram showing the layout at Godley with the then extant stations

On 17 November 1841, Godley was the temporary terminus of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway's (SAuLMR) line from Manchester Store Street. [1] The station was located close to the Hyde and Mottram Road and was sometimes referred to as "Godley Toll Bar". [2] It closed on 11 December 1842 when the line was extended to Broadbottom. [1] A permanent station was opened after the Cheshire Lines Committee (CLC) opened the Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway as far as Broadheath on 1 February 1866 and the SAuLMR, by now renamed as the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR), opened a line from Woodley to Godley via Apethorne Junction. [2] [3]

The station, which was named as "Godley Junction", [1] [4] had four platform faces: two on the Manchester line and two on the CLC route. [2] The CLC platforms were only ever lightly used.[ citation needed ] The station and sidings were controlled by a single mechanical signal box which was located at the east end of the 'up' (Hadfield) platform.[ citation needed ]

The connection to Woodley gave the MS&LR access to the Port of Liverpool without the need go via Manchester. [2] This resulted in Godley becoming the point where freight traffic from as far away as Merseyside met with traffic going to and fro over the Pennines. [2] Exchange sidings were laid on both the MS&LR and the CLC sides of the station; those on the CLC side were known as Brookfold Sidings. [2] Brookfold Sidings had their own turntable and signal box. [2] A CLC traffic office was based at Godley and, during the Second World War, the London and North Eastern Railway had an operational headquarters at the rear of the Up main line platform which controlled operations as far east as Wath and Doncaster. [2]

Electrification

The electrification of the Woodhead line in 1954 gave Godley a strategic importance as it was the point where steam and then diesel workings over the former CLC system met with electric services via Woodhead. [2] A traction change-over siding was installed and loops on each side of the line ran from Godley Junction to a point 700 yards (640 m) to the east. [2] These loops were controlled by their own signal box known as "Godley East". [2]

On 1 April 1969, the turntable was taken out of use. [5] The station was renamed from Godley Junction to Godley on 6 May 1974. [6]

By the late 1970s, traffic had declined on the Woodhead line and the sidings at Godley had become overgrown. [7] Nearby, Manchester City Council erected high-rise housing estates which were served by a newly opened station at Hattersley. [7] On 20 July 1981, the connection to Woodley closed along with the Woodhead line between Hadfield and Penistone. [8] Track lifting followed in 1985–6. [9]

Closure

On 7 July 1986, a new station called Godley was opened on the site of the original Godley Toll Bar station, [10] and the original station was renamed Godley East. [1] Thereafter, a Parliamentary train ran to Godley East - a Saturdays only 12:38 Hadfield to Manchester Piccadilly train. [11] The station formally closed on 27 May 1995. [12]

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Newton for Hyde
Line and station open		  Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway
Woodhead Line 		  Broadbottom
Line and station open
Woodley
Line closed, station open		  Cheshire Lines Committee
via Apethorne Junction		 

Present day

The main platforms remained intact in 2015, although largely overgrown. The platforms on the Hadfield line are fenced off; however from the cycle track which now runs along the former line to Woodley and Stockport, the remains of the other platforms are visible. The derelict footbridge was removed during the late 2000s.

The turntable pit is still in existence and remains in remarkably good condition and free of debris. [13]

Related Research Articles

Manchester Piccadilly station Railway station in Manchester, England

Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city centre, it hosts long-distance intercity and cross-country services to national destinations including London, Birmingham, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Reading, Southampton and Bournemouth; regional services to destinations in Northern England including Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle and York; and local commuter services around Greater Manchester. It is one of 19 major stations managed by Network Rail. The station has 14 platforms: 12 terminal and two through platforms. Piccadilly is also a major interchange with the Metrolink light rail system with two tram platforms in its undercroft.

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway

The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grimsby. It pursued a policy of expanding its area of influence, especially in reaching west to Liverpool, which it ultimately did through the medium of the Cheshire Lines Committee network in joint partnership with the Great Northern Railway and the Midland Railway.

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.

The Ashton, Stalybridge and Liverpool Junction Railway was opened in 1846 to connect the industrial town of Ashton-under-Lyne to the developing railway network, and in particular to the port of Liverpool. It was a short line, joining the Manchester and Leeds Railway at Miles Platting and the connection to Liverpool was over that line and the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

Woodhead line Former Manchester to Sheffield railway line

The Woodhead line was a railway line linking Sheffield, Penistone and Manchester in the north of England. A key feature of the route is the passage under the high moorlands of the northern Peak District through the Woodhead Tunnels. The line was electrified in 1953 and closed between Hadfield and Penistone in 1981.

Woodhouse railway station Railway station in South Yorkshire, England

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New Mills Central railway station Railway station in Derbyshire, England

New Mills Central railway station serves the town of New Mills in Derbyshire, England. It is on the Hope Valley Line between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield, 12+3⁄4 miles (20.5 km) east of the former. The town is also served by New Mills Newtown station, which is on the Buxton to Stockport and Manchester line.

Woodley railway station Railway station in Greater Manchester, England

Woodley railway station serves the suburb of Woodley in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The station is 9+1⁄4 miles (14.9 km) east of Manchester Piccadilly on a branch of the Hope Valley Line to Rose Hill Marple. It is situated where the A560 road from Stockport to Gee Cross, near Hyde, crosses over the railway line.

Guide Bridge railway station Railway station in Greater Manchester, England

Guide Bridge railway station serves Guide Bridge in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, England, and is operated by Northern Trains. The station is 4+3⁄4 miles (7.6 km) east of Manchester Piccadilly on both the Rose Hill Marple and Glossop Lines.

Glossop line Part of the Woodhead line serving eastern Manchester and Derbyshire, still in service

The Manchester–Glossop line is a railway line connecting the city of Manchester with the towns of Hadfield and Glossop in Derbyshire, England. Passenger services on the line are operated by Northern Trains.

Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies Committee

The Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee was incorporated by Act of Parliament in 1869 as a joint venture between the Midland Railway and the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway.

The Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway was an early British railway company which opened in stages between 1841 and 1845 between Sheffield and Manchester via Ashton-under-Lyne. The Peak District formed a formidable barrier, and the line's engineer constructed Woodhead Tunnel, over three miles (4.8 km) long. The company amalgamated with the Sheffield and Lincolnshire Junction Railway and Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction Railway companies, together forming the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway in 1847.

The Stockport and Woodley Junction Railway was incorporated on 15 May 1860 to build a 2 miles 61 chains (4.4 km) railway from Stockport Portwood to a junction with the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway's (MS&LR) authorised Newton and Compstall line at Woodley.

Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway

The Manchester South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJ&AR) was a suburban railway which operated an 8+1⁄2-mile (14 km) route between Altrincham in Cheshire and Manchester London Road railway station in Manchester.

Stockport Tiviot Dale railway station

Stockport Tiviot Dale was one of two main railway stations serving the town of Stockport, Cheshire, England; the other being Stockport Edgeley.

The Cheshire Midland Railway was authorised by an Act of Parliament, passed on 14 June 1860, to build a 12-mile-65-chain (20.6 km) railway from Altrincham on the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway (MSJAR) to Northwich.

Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway

The Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway(ST&AJR) was authorised by an Act of Parliament, passed on 22 July 1861 to build a 8 miles 17 chains (13.2 km) railway from Stockport Portwood to Altrincham.

Northenden railway station

Northenden railway station in Sharston, Manchester, England, was built by the Stockport, Timperley and Altrincham Junction Railway (ST&AJ) and opened for passenger and goods traffic on 1 February 1866.

Stockport Portwood railway station

Stockport Portwood railway station was a railway station in Stockport, England on the Stockport and Woodley Junction Railway

Crowden railway station Former railway station in Derbyshire, England

Crowden railway station is a closed railway station on the Woodhead Line between Manchester and Sheffield, that served the hamlet of Crowden, Derbyshire between 1861 and 1957.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Quick, Michael (2009) [2001]. Railway passenger stations in Great Britain: a chronology (4th ed.). Oxford: Railway & Canal Historical Society. p. 188. ISBN   978-0-901461-57-5. OCLC   612226077.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Johnson, E.M. (1998) [1996]. Woodhead: Part One. Scenes from the Past. Stockport: Foxline Publishing. p. 81. No. 29.
  3. ↑ Holt, Geoffrey O. (1986) [1978]. The North West. A Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain. Vol. 10. Newton Abbot: David St John Thomas. p. 130. ISBN   0-946537-34-8.
  4. ↑ Griffiths, R.P. (1978). The Cheshire Lines Railway. The Oakwood Press. p. 52. ISBN   978-0-85361-085-4.
  5. ↑ Johnson 1998 , p. 82
  6. ↑ Slater, J.N., ed. (July 1974). "Notes and News: Stations renamed by LMR". Railway Magazine . London: IPC Transport Press Ltd. 120 (879): 363. ISSN   0033-8923.
  7. 1 2 Johnson 1998 , p. 83
  8. ↑ Hurst, Geoffrey (1991). Register of Closed Railways 1948–1991. Milepost Publications. p.  73. ISBN   0-947796-18-5.
  9. ↑ "Disused Stations". Subterranea Britannica.
  10. ↑ Bevan, Alan, ed. (1998). A—Z of Rail Reopenings. Railway Development Society. Warwick: Warwick Printing Company. p. 43. ISBN   0-901283-13-4.
  11. ↑ Gay, Stephen (1999). Woodhead: The Lost Railway. Sheffield: The Hallamshire Press. p. 46.
  12. ↑ "List of dates from 1 January 1985 to 20 January 2006 of last passenger trains at closed BR (or Network Rail stations since privatisation)" (PDF). Department for Transport Website: Freedom of Information Act responses, February 2006. Department for Transport. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 May 2009. Retrieved 5 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Godley Junction turntable pit" England, Gerald, Geograph.org; Retrieved 15 November 2016

Coordinates: 53°26′55″N2°02′58″W / 53.4486°N 2.0495°W / 53.4486; -2.0495

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