Woodkirk railway station

Last updated

Woodkirk railway station
Woodkirk railway station (site), Yorkshire (geograph 3773081).jpg
Woodkirk railway station
General information
Location Woodkirk, West Yorkshire
England
Coordinates 53°43′19″N1°35′28″W / 53.722°N 1.591°W / 53.722; -1.591
Grid reference SE270251
Line(s)Batley to Beeston Line
Platforms2
Tracks2
History
Pre-grouping Great Northern Railway
Post-grouping London and North Eastern Railway
Key dates
1 July 1890Opened to goods traffic
1 August 1890Opened to passenger traffic
23 September 1939Closed
Location
Woodkirk railway station

Woodkirk railway station was a Great Northern Railway (GNR) station on the Batley to Beeston line, which connected Batley to Leeds Central, in West Yorkshire, England. The station opened in July 1890 and was closed in September 1939 to passengers, but the line stayed open until 1964. The station was 1.75 miles (2.82 km) north of Batley railway station, and 6.75 miles (10.86 km) south of Leeds Central railway station.

Contents

History

The 4.75-mile (7.64 km) line connecting Batley to Tingley and Beeston (commonly called the Batley & Beeston Line), was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1881. [1] [2] The line served an infill purpose, connecting the Great Northern Railway's Batley station with Beeston railway station on what is now the Leeds arm of the East Coast Main Line. [3] At Tingley railway station, it intersected with the line between Bradford and Wakefield via Morley Top. [4]

Although the southern end from Batley railway station was connected to Soothill Wood Colliery in 1887, the station at Woodkirk and the section on to Tingley and Beeston did not open until 1890. Batty speculates money was an issue due to the heavy engineering on a short 5-mile (8 km) line, having cuttings, tunnels and a viaduct over the ECML at Beeston. [5] On being awarded the Act of Parliament for the line in 1881, the GNR allocated £125,000 (equivalent to £13,394,000in 2021) to the line's construction. [6] Goods traffic started in July, and passengers trains first started calling at the station from 1 August 1890 onwards. [7] The Railway Clearing House handbook on stations from 1904 shows Woodkirk to have had a crane which could lift 10 tonnes (11 tons), and had six goods sidings in the immediate vicinity (mostly quarries). It also details that the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) had running powers over the line. [8]

The station closed to passengers in September 1939, however, the line remained open to passenger trains until October 1951. The southern section of 1.75 miles (2.82 km) from Batley to Woodkirk closed completely in July 1953, but freight continued on the line northwards, (specifically the quarry traffic around Woodkirk) until June 1964. [9]

Services

Passenger trains consisted of around 15 services a day from Leeds Central initially, with some not returning via Woodkirk. Many trains were circular, going via Batley, Dewsbury, Ossett and Wrenthorpe Junction to return to Leeds (and vice versa). In 1893, the L&YR had a joint service with the GNR which ran from Leeds Central via Pudsey Greenside, the Spen Valley Line, Dewsbury and then Ossett before heading south to Barnsley. [10]

In the 1906 timetable, the station is still listed as being on a circular route from Leeds Central with 14 services per day. This made it some 17.75 miles (28.57 km) distant from Leeds when the trains went via Pudsey and Dewsbury, and 6.5 miles (10.5 km) when trains went direct via Tingley and Beeston. [11] The circular trains continued until 1938, when they were withdrawn and a straight service between Batley and Leeds was introduced, though this lasted only a year for Woodkirk, which closed in September 1939. [12] After Woodkirk closed to passengers, the line remained open for all trains, the 1944 timetable showing that six trains per day went from Leeds to Wakefield via the line. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tingley</span> Village and suburb in West Yorkshire, England

Tingley is a suburban village in the City of Leeds in West Yorkshire, Northern England, forming part of the parish of West Ardsley. Tingley forms part of the Heavy Woollen District. It is situated between the cities of Leeds and Wakefield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Huddersfield line</span> Inter-regional railway in Northern England

The Huddersfield line is the main railway line between the English cities of Leeds and Manchester, via Huddersfield. It is one of the busiest MetroTrain lines. The route travels south-south-west from Leeds through Dewsbury. After a short westward stretch through Mirfield, where it runs on the ex-L&YR section, it continues south-west through Huddersfield, using the Colne Valley to its headwaters. The long Standedge Tunnel, just after Marsden, crosses under the watershed; the majority of the run down to Manchester is in the Tame Valley. From Manchester, some services continue to Manchester Airport and others to Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Pudsey railway station</span> Railway station in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, England

New Pudsey railway station serves the towns of Farsley and Pudsey in West Yorkshire, England, on the Calder Valley line. It serves the adjacent suburb of Thornbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batley railway station</span> Railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Batley railway station serves the market town of Batley in West Yorkshire, England. Situated 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Leeds on the main line to Huddersfield and Manchester, the station was opened by the London and North Western Railway in 1848.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holbeck railway station</span> Railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Holbeck railway station was a railway station that served the district of Holbeck, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

The Queensbury lines was the name given to a number of railway lines in West Yorkshire, England, that linked Bradford, Halifax and Keighley via Queensbury. All the lines were either solely owned by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) or jointly by the GNR and the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR). The terrain was extremely challenging for railway construction, and the lines were very expensive to build. The lines were

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodkirk</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradley railway station</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Bradley railway station served the district of Bradley, West Yorkshire, England until closure in 1950.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laisterdyke railway station</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Laisterdyke railway station is a closed station in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, that served the suburb of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford Exchange railway station</span> Former railway station in Bradford. Yorkshire, England

Bradford Exchange railway station served the city of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, from 1850 to 1973, before being replaced by a smaller, new-build station, which was later called Bradford Interchange. Railway lines from Halifax, Queensbury, Wakefield and Leeds met south of the city centre with services terminating in the station. In the British Rail era, many services did not terminate at Exchange station but became through services which reversed in the station to carry on their journey. Exchange station was originally opened in 1850 by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) as Drake Street, becoming Exchange in April 1867 with the arrival of services from the Great Northern Railway (GNR).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line</span> Disused railway line in West Yorkshire, England

The Shipley Great Northern Railway branch line was a railway line that ran east, south and then westwards from Shipley to Bradford in West Yorkshire. The route was opened in 1874 to goods traffic and then to passengers in 1875 by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and looped around the eastern edge of Bradford. The GNR arrived after other railways had been established in the West Yorkshire area and many of their lines were heavily reliant on tunnels and grand viaducts, the Shipley and Windhill line being an exception to this, although it did have some steep gradients. The branch extended for 8.5 miles (13.7 km) between the two termini of Shipley Windhill and Bradford Exchange. The route as built from Laisterdyke to Shipley was actually only 6.5 miles (10.5 km) as the initial section from Bradford Exchange to Laisterdyke was already in existence as part of the Great Northern Railway's line to Leeds.

The Pudsey loop was a railway line in the former West Riding of Yorkshire, England, which served the town of Pudsey and later offered a second connection between Bramley in the east and Laisterdyke and Dudley Hill in the west, in addition to the existing line between Leeds and Bradford Exchange station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soothill</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Soothill is a small village in the town of Batley, West Yorkshire, England. Soothill is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast from the town of Dewsbury and directly north of Hanging Heaton. The name derives from the Old English "sot" and means a place where wood was burnt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway</span> Railway line in Yorkshire, England

The Leeds, Bradford and Halifax Junction Railway (LB&HJR) was an English railway company. It built a line between Bradford and Leeds, and had running powers over the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway to Halifax. It opened its main line in 1854 and later built a number of branch lines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beeston railway station (West Yorkshire)</span> Disused railway station in West Yorkshire, England

Beeston railway station (West Yorkshire) was a railway station situated on the Great Northern Railway on the southern outskirts of Leeds, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Methley Joint Railway</span>

The Methley Joint Railway was a short English railway line constructed by the Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway company, connecting its Leeds direction line with other companies' eastward routes to York, the north-east, and Goole. The line connected collieries along its route. The BW&LR changed its name to the West Yorkshire Railway at the same time. The line was double track, just over five miles in length, between junctions at Lofthouse and Methley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spen Valley Line</span> Disused railway line in West Yorkshire, England

The Spen Valley Line was a railway that connected Mirfield with Low Moor through the Spen Valley in West Yorkshire, England. Opened up by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in 1848, the line served a busy industrial and textile area and allowed a connection for trains between Huddersfield and Bradford. The line was absorbed by the London & North Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and British Railways on Nationalisation. A separate link between Heckmondwike Central and Thornhill that opened later and was known as the Ravensthorpe Branch, allowed through running to Wakefield and beyond. The line was closed down to passengers in 1965 with freight continuing sporadically until 1981. A Spur onto the former Leeds New Line from the Ravensthorpe Branch kept the very southern end open until the late 1980s. The majority of the route is now the Spen Valley Greenway cycle path.

The Beeston Junction–Hunslet Goods railway was a goods railway line in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, promoted as the Hunslet Railway. It connected the Great Northern Railway main line with a new Hunslet goods yard, on the east side of Leeds. It opened in 1899, and was a successful expansion of goods facilities for the GNR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway</span> Railway Company

The Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds Railway was an independent railway company that built a line between Wakefield and a junction close to Leeds, in Yorkshire, England. It opened its main line in 1857, and was worked by the Great Northern Railway. The line shortened the GNR route to Leeds.

The Great Northern Railway developed an extensive network over time, having started in 1846 with the intention of connecting London and York, as well as other major Yorkshire towns. The Great Northern Railway in Yorkshire was a major part of that, although the GNR did not succeed in reaching York as it originally intended. By acquiring running powers it reached Leeds, Bradford and Halifax over other companies' lines, as well as Barnsley Sheffield and Grimsby, and then York too. After acquiring local companies it developed a network, chiefly in West Yorkshire. Later it built lines north and west of Bradford into hilly terrain, and these were very expensive to build, and never repaid the initial cost.

References

  1. "Soothill Tunnel". www.forgottenrelics.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  2. "Soothill & Woodkirk". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  3. Batty 1989, p. ii.
  4. "Batley to Beeston 1890 - 1951 Great Northern Railway". lostrailwayswestyorkshire.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
  5. Batty 1989, p. 73.
  6. Chenery, Thomas, ed. (7 January 1882). "An extraordinary general meeting of the Great Northern Railway". The Times. No. 30398. p. 7. ISSN   0140-0460.
  7. Bairstow 1999, p. 75.
  8. The Railway Clearing House handbook of railway stations, 1904. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. 1970. p. 591. ISBN   0715351206.
  9. Bairstow 1999, pp. 76, 95.
  10. Bairstow 1999, p. 76.
  11. Bradshaw 1906 at the Internet Archive
  12. Joy, David (1984). South and West Yorkshire : (the industrial West Riding) (2 ed.). Newton Abbot: David St John Thomas. p. 90. ISBN   0946537119.
  13. 1944 Bradshaw's Guide for Great Britain and Ireland No. 1328: March, 1944 at the Internet Archive

Sources

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Batley
Line closed, station open
 Batley and Beeston line  Tingley
Line and station closed