Longridge railway station (England)

Last updated

Longridge
Longridge railway station 230-17.jpg
Remains of the station buildings in 2007, viewed from the east
General information
Location Longridge, Ribble Valley
England
Coordinates 53°49′53″N2°36′14″W / 53.8315°N 2.6039°W / 53.8315; -2.6039 Coordinates: 53°49′53″N2°36′14″W / 53.8315°N 2.6039°W / 53.8315; -2.6039
Grid reference SD603374
Platforms1
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original company Preston and Longridge Railway
Pre-grouping Fleetwood, Preston and West Riding Junction Railway
Post-grouping London Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1 May 1840 (1840-05-01)Station opened
2 June 1930Closed to passengers
November 1967Closed to goods
Location
Location map United Kingdom Borough of Ribble Valley.svg
Red pog.svg
Longridge
Location in the present-day Ribble Valley Borough, Lancashire
Lancashire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Longridge
Location in present-day Lancashire, England
Viewed from the south, in 2007 Longridge railway station 230-19.jpg
Viewed from the south, in 2007

Longridge railway station was a passenger terminus of the Preston and Longridge Railway. It served the town of Longridge in Lancashire, England.

Contents

The line first opened in 1840 to carry stone from the recently opened Tootle Heights quarry on the northeastern side of the village of Longridge, as it then was. Wagons carrying quarried stone ran downhill to Preston and were hauled in the other direction by horses. [1] There were rudimentary passenger facilities at a level crossing in Burey Lane (later called Berry Lane) which at the time was a rural lane with only a couple of houses; the village of Longridge was at the southeast end of the lane. A hotel was built next to the station, and was known as the Longridge Railway Tavern and the Station Hotel before being renamed in 1853 the Towneley Arms, as it is still known today. [2]

After the railway converted to steam power in 1848, [3] Longridge expanded rapidly. Four cotton mills were built alongside the railway and Berry Lane became the town centre. [4]

By 1867, the railway was owned jointly by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and the London and North Western Railway, and three years later the railway bought the Towneley Arms. A station building was built on the side of the hotel in 1872. [5]

On the opposite side of Berry Lane were many goods sidings, for the local mills, gasworks and a coal merchant. [4] The line continued to the Tootle Heights quarries.

The line and the station closed to passengers on 31 May 1930. Goods traffic continued until November 1967; [6] within the next year the tracks were lifted. [7]

Today the former station building and canopy still exist and are used as the headquarters of Longridge Town Council. [8] Where the tracks once ran through the station is a war memorial, erected in 1981. [9] Part of the goods yard opposite has become a supermarket car park. [7]

In late 2008, a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £221,600 was awarded to restore the former station building for use as a heritage centre and community area. [10] [11] The restoration was completed in 2010. [12]

Notes

  1. Till, pp.8889; Pattinson, p.5
  2. Pattinson, p.19; Till, pp.127 & 158
  3. Suggitt, p.50; Pattinson, p.5; Till, p.92
  4. 1 2 Pattinson, p.6
  5. Suggitt, p.51; Pattinson, p.6
  6. Suggitt, pp.5253
  7. 1 2 Pattinson, p.16
  8. Suggitt, p.55; Pattinson, p.19
  9. Coppin, A, "War memorial links" [ permanent dead link ], Longridge News 25 May 2007, accessed online 11 July 2007.
  10. "Heritage Lottery Fund Committee for the North West Meeting on 17 September 2008" (minutes) Archived 21 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine , retrieved 10 May 2009
  11. "...but HLF grant saves station". The Railway Magazine. Vol. 154, no. 1, 292. December 2008. p. 10.
  12. Longridge Station retrieved 9 January 2011

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longridge</span> Town in Lancashire, England

Longridge is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated 8 miles (13 km) north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. Its nearest neighbours are the village of Grimsargh, 2 miles (3 km) to the southeast, and the Roman town of Ribchester (Bremetennacum), 3.5 miles (6 km) to the southeast. The parish of Longridge had a population of 7,546 recorded in the 2001 census, increasing to 7,724 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway</span> Pre-1923 grouping British Railway Company

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M55 motorway</span> Motorway in Lancashire, England linking the M6 at Preston to Blackpool

The M55 is a motorway in Lancashire, England, which can also be referred to as the Preston Northern Bypass. It connects the seaside resort of Blackpool to the M6 at Preston. It is 12.2 miles (19.6 km) in length.

The Preston and Wyre Railway was promoted to open up agricultural land in the Fylde in Lancashire, access a new port at what became Fleetwood and the Lancaster Canal at Preston: it opened in 1840. An associated company built the dock leading to the company changing its name to the Preston and Wyre Railway, Harbour and Dock Company. Passenger business was more buoyant than expected, and the company built branch lines to the nascent resort of Blackpool and Lytham that opened in 1846. At that time the line was leased by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and later the London and North Western Railway took a share in the lease which was later converted to outright ownership. The Preston and Wyre Railway continued to be jointly owned as the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston railway station</span> Grade II listed railway station in Preston, England

Preston railway station in Preston, Lancashire, England, is a major station on the West Coast Main Line, roughly half-way between London Euston and Glasgow Central. It is served by Avanti West Coast, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express services, plus Caledonian Sleeper overnight services between London and Scotland. It is also served by the Calder Valley line to Leeds and York, and by branch lines to Blackpool, Ormskirk, and Colne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poulton-le-Fylde railway station</span> Railway station in Lancashire, England

Poulton-le-Fylde railway station serves the town of Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is managed by Northern Trains, but also served by Avanti West Coast and is 14+14 miles (22.9 km) northwest of Preston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lostock Hall railway station</span>

Lostock Hall railway station is 2+34 miles (4.4 km) south of Preston station, England. It is on the East Lancashire Line and is managed by Northern, who also provide all passenger trains serving it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garstang and Knot-End Railway</span>

The Garstang and Knot-End Railway [sic] was a railway line, between Garstang and Pilling, across the Fylde of Lancashire, England. It was built by local agricultural interests to develop unproductive land. It had been intended to continue to Knott End but ran out of money. It eventually opened in 1870. In 1898 the Knott End Railway (KER) was authorised to continue to Knott End; it opened in 1908. The two companies were associated and the KER acquired the earlier company. The KER was still desperately short of money, and local people who were owed money bought rolling stock to keep the company going.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleetwood railway station</span> Station in Lancashire, UK (1840–1966)

There have been three locations for Fleetwood railway station in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The first, from 1840 to 1883, was in Dock Street, opposite Church Street. The second, from 1883 to 1966, was in Queen's Terrace. From 1966 to 1970, the station previously known as Wyre Dock railway station was renamed "Fleetwood".

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

Deepdale railway station was on the Longridge Branch Line in Preston, Lancashire, England.

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

Grimsargh railway station was on the single track Preston and Longridge Railway. It served the village of Grimsargh in Lancashire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whittingham, Lancashire</span> Parish in Lancashire, England

Whittingham is a civil parish in the City of Preston, Lancashire, England. The parish measures 4 miles (6 km) east-to-west, from the outskirts of Longridge to the outskirts of Broughton, but only 1 mile (1½ km) north-to-south. Its population was 2,189 in 2001, reducing to 2,027 at the time of the 2011 Census. The village of Goosnargh is at its centre.

The Preston and Longridge Railway (P&LR) was a branch line in Lancashire, England. Originally designed to carry quarried stone in horse-drawn wagons, it became part of an ambitious plan to link the Lancashire coast to the heart of Yorkshire. The ambition was never achieved, but the line continued to carry passengers until 1930 and goods until 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ribbleton railway station</span>

Ribbleton railway station was on the Preston and Longridge Railway in Ribbleton, a suburb of Preston, Lancashire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maudland Bridge railway station</span>

Maudland Bridge railway station was once the Preston terminus of the Longridge Branch Line, in Lancashire, England. It was located on Maudland Road, between a bridge over the Lancaster Canal and Cold Bath Street. The Maudlands district of Preston gets its name from the medieval St. Mary Magdalen's leper hospital, which once stood near the present-day St Walburge's Church.

Longridge Fell is the most southerly fell in England, near the town of Longridge, Lancashire. It lies at the southern end of the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. As its name suggests, it takes the form of a long ridge which rises in a north-easterly direction from within the town of Longridge to its summit 4.5 miles distant. As the ridge curves towards the east, it comes to a sudden end and drops into the Hodder Valley. The fell is a good example of a cuesta; the ridge has a sharp drop or escarpment on its northern side, and a gentler, more varying slope on its southern side. These features make it a popular takeoff for hang-gliders and paragliders on the relatively infrequent occurrences of a northerly wind.

Deepdale Street railway station was the original Preston terminus of the Preston and Longridge Railway in Lancashire, England, when it first opened in 1840. It was located in Deepdale Street, off Deepdale Road, on what was then the outskirts of Preston. The rail line was originally designed to carry quarried stone from Longridge to Preston, so the passenger facilities were quite rudimentary and there were many sidings near the station for unloading stone.

The Whittingham Hospital Railway (W.H.R.) was a private light railway operated by Lancashire County Council to serve Whittingham lunatic asylum. Opened in 1889, it carried goods and passengers between Grimsargh on the Preston and Longridge Railway and the hospital grounds. It closed to all traffic in 1957.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maudlands railway station</span>

Maudlands railway station was the original Preston terminus of the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway to Fleetwood, in Lancashire, England. It was located on Leighton Street. The line and the station opened on 15 July 1840. The line crossed the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway (L&PJR) on the level, immediately to the west of the station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lancashire Union Railway</span>

The Lancashire Union Railway ran between Blackburn and St Helens in Lancashire, England. It was built primarily to carry goods between Blackburn and Garston Dock on the River Mersey, and also to serve collieries in the Wigan area. Most of the line has now closed, except for the St Helens-to-Wigan section that forms part of the main line between Liverpool and the North.

References

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Grimsargh
towards Preston
  Preston and Longridge Railway  Terminus