Rawtenstall to Bacup Line

Last updated May 04, 2019

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 (closed 1947). 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 (The Glen) 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 1/4 mile Newchurch No 2 Tunnel, with plans to open the sealed-up 1/8 mile No 1 tunnel to join the route.

Rawtenstall town at the centre of the Rossendale Valley, in Lancashire, England

Rawtenstall is a town at the centre of the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire, England, with a population of 22,000. It is the seat for the borough of Rossendale, in which it is located. The town lies 17.4 miles north of Manchester, 22 miles east of Preston and 45 miles south east of the county town of Lancaster. Nearby towns include Bacup, Haslingden and Ramsbottom.

Waterfoot, Lancashire village in England

Waterfoot is a small Rossendale mill town 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.

Bacup is a town in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundary with West Yorkshire. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) east of Rawtenstall, 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north of Rochdale, and 7 miles (11 km) south of Burnley. At the 2011 Census, Bacup had a population of 13,323.

However, there are proposals to reopen the line as part of the Governments strategy to reopen old rail lines in the country which have been closed in the 1960s or later cuts under British Rail.^[1]

Related Research Articles

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 (Lancashire) with intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street, Burrs Country Park, Summerseat, Ramsbottom all in Greater Manchester, and Irwell Vale conurbations in south east Lancashire

The Beeching cuts were a reduction of route network and restructuring of the railways in Great Britain, according to a plan outlined in two reports, The Reshaping of British Railways (1963) and The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes (1965), written by Dr Richard Beeching and published by the British Railways Board.

The Settle–Carlisle line is a 73-mile-long (117 km) main railway line in northern England. The route, which crosses the remote, scenic regions of the Yorkshire Dales and the North Pennines, runs between Settle Junction, on the Leeds to Morecambe line, and Carlisle, near the English-Scottish borders. The historic line was constructed in the 1870s and has several notable tunnels and viaducts such as the imposing Ribblehead.

Rossendale is a district with borough status in Lancashire, England, holding a number of small 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 the more populated town of Burnley, east of Blackburn and north of Bolton, Bury, Manchester and Rochdale, centred 15 miles (24 km) north of Manchester.

The Calder Valley line is a railway route in Northern England between the cities of Leeds and Manchester as well as the seaside resort of Blackpool. It is the slower of the two main rail routes between Leeds and Manchester, and the northernmost of the three main trans-Pennine routes.

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.

The Rossendale Valley also known as the Valley of Rossendale, is situated 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".

Bury Knowsley Street is a former railway station in Bury.

Rawtenstall railway station serves the town of Rawtenstall in Lancashire, England, and is the northern terminus of the East Lancashire Railway.

Newchurch is a village within the Rossendale borough of Lancashire, England. It is around one mile east of Rawtenstall and half a mile north of Waterfoot.

Bacup railway station served the town of Bacup in Rossendale, Lancashire, England, from 1852 until closure in 1966 and was the terminus of two lines one from Rawtenstall and the other from Rochdale.

Waterfoot railway station served Waterfoot near Rawtenstall from 1848 until the line closed in 1966.

Stubbins railway station served the village of Stubbins in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. Opened by the East Lancashire Railway in 1846 on their line from Bury Bolton Street into Rossendale, it was situated next to the junction of the lines toward Accrington and to Rawtenstall and Bacup, but only had platforms on the latter route.

Cloughfold is a small hamlet in between the towns of Rawtenstall and Waterfoot in Rossendale, Lancashire, England.

Rawtenstall Corporation Tramways operated a passenger tramway service in Rawtenstall between 1908 and 1932.

References

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Lost Railways of Lancashire by Gordon Suggitt (ISBN 1-85306-801-2)

International Standard Book Number Unique numeric book identifier

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External links

British Railways in 1960, Ramsbottom (Stubbins Jn.) to Bacup

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