The East Lancashire Railway is a 12 1⁄2-mile (20 km) heritage railway line in north-west England which runs between Heywood in Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, Burrs Country Park, Summerseat and Ramsbottom, with the line crossing the border into Rossendale serving Irwell Vale and Rawtenstall. Prior to closure the line terminated at Bacup.
Bury is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irwell 5.5 miles (8.9 km) east of Bolton, 5.9 miles (9.5 km) southwest of Rochdale and 7.9 miles (12.7 km) northwest of Manchester. Bury is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, and had a population of 78,723 in 2015; the borough had a population of 187,474 in 2011.
Rossendale is a district with borough status in Lancashire, England, holding a number of former mill towns centred on the valley of the River Irwell in the industrial North West. Rossendale combines modest size urban development with rural villages and is immediately south of Burnley, east of Blackburn and north of Bolton, Bury, Manchester and Rochdale, centred 15 miles (24 km) north of Manchester.
Ramsbottom is a market village in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors, 3.9 miles (6.3 km) northwest of Bury, and 12 miles (19 km) of Manchester.
The East Lancashire Railway operated from 1844 to 1859 in the historic county of Lancashire, England. It began as a railway from Clifton via Bury to Rawtenstall, and during its short life grew into a complex network of lines connecting towns and cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Blackburn.
The Rossendale Valley is in the Rossendale area of Lancashire, England, between the West Pennine Moors and the main range of the Pennines. The area includes the steep-sided valleys of the River Irwell and its tributaries, which flow southwards into Greater Manchester. The rivers cut through the moorland of the Rossendale Hills, generally characterized by open unwooded land, despite the ancient designation of "forest".
Edenfield is a village within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. Lying on the River Irwell, it is around 1.25 miles (2.0 km) north of Ramsbottom, 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Rawtenstall, and 6.0 miles (9.7 km) west of Norden, and has a total population of 2,080, reducing to 2,053 at the 2011 Census.
Stubbins is an industrial village in the southern part of the Rossendale Valley, Lancashire, England.
Rawtenstall is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles north of Manchester, 22 miles east of Preston and 45 miles south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the centre of the Rossendale Valley.
Clifton, Greater Manchester, England, lies alongside the Irwell Valley in the north of the City of Salford. Historically in Lancashire, it was a centre for coal mining, and once formed part of the Municipal Borough of Swinton and Pendlebury.
Bury Bolton Street railway station is a heritage railway station in Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Located on the East Lancashire Railway.
Waterfoot is a historic mill town in the Borough of Rossendale between Rawtenstall and Bacup in Lancashire, England, where the B6238 road from Burnley meets the A681 road. It is where the Whitewell Brook meets the River Irwell.
Ramsbottom railway station is a heritage station serving the town of Ramsbottom in Greater Manchester, England.
Irwell Vale railway station is a station built as part of the East Lancashire Railway. It serves the small village of Irwell Vale in Lancashire.
The River Ogden is a minor river in Lancashire, England. It is approximately 4.4 miles (7.1 km) long and has a catchment area of 9.77 square miles (25.298 km2).
Summerseat is a village in the Ramsbottom district of the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England.
The Rawtenstall to Bacup railway line opened in two stages, from Rawtenstall to Waterfoot in 1848, and from Waterfoot to the Bacup terminus in 1852. There were stations at Rawtenstall, Cloughfold, Stacksteads and Bacup. The line was doubled in 1880, at the same time as the line from Bacup to Rochdale was also opened. Passenger and freight services operated until the Beeching cuts in 1966, the last passenger train running on 5 December 1966 and the track being lifted in 1969. As the Irwell valley is quite narrow the line had many engineering features in its 5-mile length, including 14 crossings of the River Irwell alone, plus many over and underbridges, embankments and cuttings, and tunnels at Thrutch Gorge in Waterfoot. Most of the bridges have been demolished or infilled in the years since closure. A foot and cycle path now follows much of the route including the 1/8 mile Newchurch No. 1 Tunnel and 1/4 mile Newchurch No 2 Tunnel.
Helmshore railway station served the village of Helmshore, Rossendale, Lancashire between 1848 and 1966.
Warsop railway station is a former railway station in Market Warsop, Nottinghamshire, England.
Loveclough is a small hamlet at the edge of the Rossendale Valley, in Lancashire, England, near Crawshawbooth and Rawtenstall, 20 miles north of Manchester, 21 miles east of Preston, and 44 miles south east of Lancaster.
