As a young child I was fascinated by trains most of them running on steam in those days but even now in later life it’s mode of travel I quite enjoy. My outlook could be totally different if I was a regular commuter using them everyday to travel to and from work. Perhaps it was growing up just a couple of hundred yard from the worlds first city to city railway line the Manchester to Liverpool Railway. As it cut across chatmoss on its way to Liverpool.
I know travelling by combustion engine allows you to stop wherever you wish more or less but it does require concentration,and now as the warmer weather arrives it can get quite sticky.
I started out on this piece as I made my once a month journey’s to visit my family and friends in my home town. Making notes about the station stops along the way and digging into my memory of history lessons for items about the towns these stops served. Also the memories of childhood days out and holidays when getting on the train was the begging of an adventure in itself.
Sadly the state of the railway stations and stops/halts have deteriorated considerably and that is not just an old man yearning for a bygone golden age. As I find myself constantly repeating myself in the descriptions of the stations visited. On a more positive note there is the surrounding countryside and history of the towns and villages much of which is missed if you have to concentrate on your driving.
In The Foothills of the Pennines
The Adlington Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for north and south bound trains running on the Manchester to Preston line. It has a ticket office but it is only manned between 06:30-13:00 and there are no ticket machines on the platforms. If you approach the station from the marina or town centre as I did. Then you would approach the train station down a steep 50-yard ramp with a handrail, off Railway Road if approaching from the south you take the aptly named Railway View. The station sits in a depression in the foothills of the western Pennine Moors.
The Leeds Liverpool canal runs along the town’s western boundary. The White Bear marina at Adlington is the largest marina on the Leeds Liverpool canal with over a hundred berths. A large caravan and motor home site is part of the marina. The chandlers office can supply everything from refuse removal to internet access.
Like many Lancashire towns, Aldington is made up of a number of smaller towns or villages. In the case of Aldington, it is the villages of Heath Charnock to the north and Anderton to the south this is rural Lancashire. All coming under the council of Chorley the major conurbation just 3.5 miles north of the town.
Through the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century Lancashire towns where known for their textiles with a mill in every town it seemed ( This phrase is re-iterated throughout this article). Since the decline of industry in Lancashire, the town is mostly made up of commuters travelling to larger towns and cities of Lancashire.
To the east of the town are the Pennine moors, the Rivington reservoir chain and Lever Park. The whole of this area is dominated by the Winter Hill summit on Rivington Moor. The site of many telecommunication masts the largest is the Winter Hill television transmitter. It is some 5.5 miles to the west of the town.
Rivington Pike has been a beacon site since the 12th century and later a hunting lodge the Pike Tower was built there and still stand to this day.
The Rivington Pike Hunting Lodge
Originally, the beacon served to warn of invaders coming down from Scotland. It was later used to signal the sighting of the Spanish Armada, and was last lit on the Silver jubilee of the present Queen Elizabeth II in 1977.
Aigburth the Sleepy Side of Liverpool.
The Aigburth Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for north and south bound trains running on the Southport to Hunts Cross line in Merseyside. A footbridge allows access from platform 1 to platform 2. It has a ticket office, which is manned between 06:00-00:00, and there are no ticket machines on the platforms.
The area of Aigburth is south of Sefton Park a 650 acre municipal park in Liverpool, the posh area some say I think suburban describes it better. I use the station if Lancashire Cricket Club are playing one of there home fixtures in Liverpool. It saves me having to change trains in Liverpool’s main station Lime Street. Aigburth has a long association with the church; Stanlawe Grange was built in the 13th century as part of the Garston parish. The surviving outbuildings being some of the oldest structures in Liverpool. It seems Aigburth missed the industrial revolution and remained a rural area.
There is not a great deal going on in Aigburth, Sudley House the Victorian home of a former merchant family restored to look as it would in Victorian times acting as both museum and art gallery, with the paintings of some reputable artists such as Joshua Reynolds and J.M.W. Turner are most notable. http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/sudley/collections/ When the weather is good, a walk along the Otterspool Promenade can pass the time with views over the river Mersey into the Wirral. If you head up towards Lark Lane a fashionable stop away from the city centre but with equally good café bars, music venues and shops.
Obliviously in a major city like Liverpool the centre of which is only 20 minutes by car, you can find many more thing to do almost anywhere but you will need a map as the city continues introducing pedestrian only areas and one-way systems in the heart of the cities shopping areas with car parking on the periphery. It seems to change almost every visit I make.
Just a Chip Shot From Platform to Fairway
Ansdell & Fairhaven Railway station is a single-track one-platform station. Access and egress either are by steps or ramp from and to Woodlands Road. With trains running between the Fylde coast and Preston and trains from East Lancashire passing through onward to Blackpool. As with many railway stations serving small communities in Lancashire Ansdell & Fairhaven railway station has been reduced in size and amenities from the heyday of train travel in the county. There are no amenities to speak of, a shelter some bench seating and a public phone.
The station is adjacent to The Royal Lytham and Annes golf club and I suspect a better golfer than me could make a chip shot from the platform to the nearest fairway. Many spectators arriving to watch national and international competitions held here often use the station. In 2012, the course will host both the Open Championship 15th-22nd July and the Ricoh Women’s Open Championship 30th July-2nd August 2012. http://www.royallytham.org/
The Fylde coast has many golf courses and the surrounding areas including another international course just 15 miles due south the Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport. However, to get there you end up travelling 32 miles by car, as there are no bridges spanning the Ribble Estuary at this point. Therefore, a car rental rather than trains would be a sensible way of visiting as many golf courses and the other numerous attractions of the Fylde coast.
Ansdell and Fairhaven are villages between the two towns Lytham and St Annes both having there own golf courses the later town being a planned town built in late 19th century and called St Annes-on-Sea it was built to the north of Lytham close to Blackpool‘s southern border. Reflecting very much the Edwardian style of the day in its layout and buildings. Lying in between the two towns are the villages Ansdell lying on the landward side of the railway track and Fairhaven on the coastal side of the railway track.
The picture above is of Fairhaven lake perhaps in the cool north we think lagoons are only found in the tropics. But this is a really a lagoon on the mouth of the Ribble estuary.
Yet the Fairhaven golf course lies on the landward side of the tracks which is something I find rather odd.
As with many estuaries the Ribble has, a large population of migratory birds particularly wading birds and at Fairhaven Lake, the Royal Society for Birds has a centre for information and guided walks of the surrounding mudflats popular with wading birds.
From Atherton to Chowbent and Back Without Moving
Atherton Central Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for west and east bound trains running on the Kirby/Southport to Manchester line. It has a ticket office but it is only manned between 06:10-23:45 Monday-Saturday and there are no ticket machines on the platforms.
Atherton lies 6 miles east of Wigan and 10 miles Northwest of Manchester. In low-lying land well irrigated with streams and brooks running into the Lancashire plain. It sits on the opposite of the tracks of the Manchester Liverpool Railway line I grew up near.
The original name of the titled family Atherton gave rise to the naming of the town. However, for 300 years from 17th century, the town was known as “Chowbent” and the men of Chowbent were nail makers and miners. It is thought this naming of the town also came about by way of a family named Chow or Chowl living in the chanters brook area of the town.
Throughout the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century Lancashire towns where known for their textiles with a mill in every town it seemed. However, not Atherton it had long been known for its nail making and coal mining from the 14th century. Its industries fed the new textile industries as they moved into nuts & bolts and spindles & flyers for the mills. New mines were sunk and by 1845, deep mining had begun in Atherton. Eventually cottons mills were built close by, as the area is criss-crossed with many brooks and streams providing water and later steam power. The Ena Mill still stands a Grade II listed building it has been converted to other uses.
Lancashire’s Junction Town for the North and Beyond
The Bamber Bridge Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for west and east bound trains running on the Blackpool to Colne line. It is just off Station Road in the Village of Bamber Bridge four miles south of Preston City centre. Access and egress are either side of the level crossing on the main road through the village Station Road. It has no ticket office and there are no ticket machines on the platforms. A shelter and some bench seating on each platform is all there is.
Bamber Bridge was the first Lancashire town to begin Calico printing previously this had only been carried out in the south of England but soon spread to other northern towns and on to Scotland. The railway arrived in 1846 and cotton mills were built too in common with many Lancashire towns. The decline of heavy industry in the county has seen many mills and foundry’s disappear there is little in the area now to suggest any ever existed. It appears a rural suburb of Preston with farmland and transport junctions as the main features.
The town has always been a popular junction it seems. Prior to the motorway’s being built in England it was previously the junction of the major A roads the A6 and A49 heading north to the Lake District and Scotland. The motorways have followed the same routes and the M61 joins the M6 motorway here the M6 being the main north/south route in the west of England. To the east are the Pennines moors or cross over the Pennine range completely into the Yorkshire dales. Head north to the Lake District and Scotland or go south to the cities of Liverpool and Manchester.
The theme park of Camelot is only 8 miles away though it is only open in the summer months. To the west in Blackpool 24 miles away the Pleasure Beach amusement park is open between February and October with occasional weekend opening in the winter. The same company operates Camelot also has a smaller park in Southport and both destinations have a range of wonderful golf courses from championship standard to municipal.
Bare and Morecambe Dreary Town.
The Bare Lane Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for east and west bound trains running on the Leeds to Morecambe line. It is a station stop at a level crossing access to the platforms is directly from Bare Lane in the village of Bare a suburb of Morecambe. It has no ticket office and is unmanned there are no ticket machines, phones or toilets on the platforms. There is bench seating on both platforms though platform 1 has the only shelter there is also access to a car park from platform 1 but no dedicated spaces in the car park for train travellers.
Morecambe the town did not exist until 1889. A company set up in 1846 by the name of Morecambe Harbour and Railway Company was charged with developing a harbour close to the fishing port of Poulton-le-Sands and a rail link to the existing rail network. The railway line they built led into the west riding of Yorkshire the towns of Skipton and Bradford being reached by as early 1850. This early link to the mill towns of Yorkshire may be one of the reasons the growing seaside resort became more popular with the people of the west riding than with the mill towns of Lancashire who had more direct links with Blackpool further down the coast.
Morecambe would be a good base for seeing the north of England if you like the quiet life, as there is very little in entertainment in the resort.
To the east lies the Forest of Bowland only 18.5 miles away. This is better described, as Bowland Fells there are no trees it is an area of valley, bog and peat moorland. In the middle ages, there was a great forest of the north but over time, we have used it all up. Morecambe is a handy stop for visiting the southern lake district Kendal is only 27 miles to the north.
Blackrod to Rivington Moor
Blackrod Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for north and south bound trains running on the Preston to Manchester line. It has little in amenities some bench seating and a shelter on each platform.
Blackrod is a village or parish coming under the control of the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton 10 miles away though it is only 5 miles from Chorley to the north and Wigan also 5 miles away to the west.
Through the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century Lancashire towns where known for their textiles with a mill in every town it seemed. Blackrod did have a mill and bleach works but was predominately a coal-mining town during the industrial revolution. To the west are the Pennine moors, the reservoirs of the Rivington Pike Scheme and Lever Park. The whole of this area is dominated by the Winter Hill summit on Rivington moor the site of many telecommunication masts the largest is the Winter Hill television transmitter. The moor is some 5 miles to the west of the town, which is a start point for some hill walks and a resting stop on longer walks such as the Pennine Way, and Rossendale Way walks.
The moor has not always been barren, and the great northern forest may well have covered it in the middle ages, of which the Rossendale forest may be all that remains today. I find it a great place to visit if the weather is fine but it can be a bit dangerous in foul weather. As there are peat boggs to be avoided along with the loss of direction. However, as I say on a fine day a great experience. I have had some good days up there myself and from Rivington Pike been able to see the mountains of the Snowdonia National Park to the southwest and the tower at Blackpool to the northwest to the east are the moors and dales of Yorkshire. I have never seen the Isle of Man from the moor no matter how clear the weather and think this may be a myth that it can be seen from the height of the moors.
A Station Halt Either Side of the Main Road.
The Bescar Lane Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for west and east bound trains running on the Manchester to Southport line. An unusual stop a level crossing with the platforms on either side of the crossing gate. It lies 4.5 miles east of Southport on the edge of the village of Scarisbrick there has been a stop here since 1855. It is unmanned and has no amenities to speak of, save a shelter on each platform and a public phone on platform one. Access to the platforms is from the either side of Bescar Lane depending on which direction you wish to travel.
The village of Scarisbrick, which the station stop serves, is of a linear nature stretching along the A570 and is made up of a number of smaller villages and hamlets. Much of the land round about was peat bog and marsh to be avoided by travellers in past times; many of the settlements now are built on reclaimed land from the marshes. The nearby Scarisbrick Hall home of the titled family-giving name to the village has been there since the time of King Stephen in the 12th century. The current hall a “Victorian Gothic” designed by the wonderfully named Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin who worked on much of the palace of Westminster with Charles Parry.
Scarisbrick Hall from the Victorian Web website.
This village is the only one I know in Lancashire that can boast both trout fishery and an 18-hole golf championship golf course.
This area is probably the flattest most fertile part of the county, known as the west Lancashire coastal plain with many streams and brooks from the major rivers emptying into the plain. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Martin Mere at Tarsclough is just 5 miles away designated a sight of special interest for the variety of flora and fauna in the 363-acre site. Bird watcher friends say that it is at its best in winter when huge flocks of geese, duck and swans winter over in the area tell me.
Lancashire Most Affluent Seaside Town
Birkdale Railway station is a two-track two-platform station one each for north and south bound trains running on the Southport to Hunts Cross Mersey rail line. Movement between the platforms being via a subway under the tracks. It is yet another of Lancashire’s train stops at a level-crossing and can be accessed from road level. As a wealthy suburb station of Southport it has many amenities. The ticket office manned between 07:45-00:30 but no ticket machines or public telephones on the platforms. There are dedicated parking spaces for 90 vehicles and a cycle rack for 6 cycles. Both platforms have a waiting room and toilets, bench seating, ramp and stair access.
As a suburb of the town of Southport it comes under the metropolitan Borough of Sefton Merseyside Liverpool being 18. 5 miles to the south of here. There is little if no industry in the area it is predominately residential. The building stock is mostly Victorian or Edwardian in style with though not all were built in those era’s. Many of the footballers playing for the two premiership teams in Liverpool have homes in the area as I said before it is a wealthy suburb.
If you enjoy a game of golf and can afford the green fees make arrangements to play a round at the The Royal Birkdale Golf Club an international course. http://www.royalbirkdale.com/
Just one of three international golf course’s in the county. The Birkdale Southport cricket club usually host the county team for one championship match per season. The horse racing trainer Ginger Mc Cain had his stables nearby and Ainsdale beach where he used to train the famous grand national horse Red Rum is also close by.
However, if you have no interest in sports you could just wander the flat Lancashire plain taking in the sites of rural Lancashire. Often forgotten about due to the industrialisation of the north during the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Going inland onto the Lancashire plain you find the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust’s Martin Mere 11.5 miles to the east. http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit-us/martin-mere Another 5 miles east and you would reach Omrskirk a market town of the central plain with a little light industry but the surrounding area is mainly given over to crop cultivation.
Illuminating the North.
Blackpool North Railway station is an eight-track eight-platform terminus station for trains running on the Preston to Blackpool branch line. It has a 24 hour manned ticket office and there are ticket machines on the concourse. There are automatic gates activated by ticket to enter and leave the main concourse and platform area. On the exterior concourse, there is a café and shop along with tourist information booth and advance booking counter. There are dedicated parking spaces for 30 vehicles. Through the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century Lancashire towns where known for their textiles with a mill in every town it seemed. Not Blackpool by the middle of the 18th century the fashion of taking the sea water’s had become popular with the wealthier classes, and a private road to Blackpool with stage coaches services from the major conurbations of Halifax and Manchester was built. This was superseded by the arrival of the railways in 1846 making the town even more accessible and wealthy.
The practise of the mill owners of Lancashire to close there mills for one week in a town then the following week in another town, to do maintenance during the summer months of what are called “wakes weeks” these provided a steady supply of visitors for the resort.
The towns entrepreneurs have a long history with electricity in 1879 it became the first municipality in the county to have electric street light which ran along parts of the promenade. By 1885, the world’s first electric tramway had begun. At present, the only line only runs along the promenade from the new Squires Gate Tram shed to the old fishing port of Fleetwood approximately ten miles.
The Blackpool Lights or Illuminations first occurred in 1879 before Edison had patented the light bulb. In 1912, a visit by the royal family saw the promenade decorated with 10,000 light bulbs for the opening of a new section of the promenade named “Princess Parade”. This became an annual event run from the first weekend in September to the first weekend in November extending the resorts season well beyond that of other resorts around the country. Tour companies caught on quickly and ran evening excursions to “Ride the Lights” from either north to south or vice versa. Today the council charges a small fee for traffic “Riding the Lights” it has tollbooths along the promenade. These days I see many groups in rented limousines riding the lights as part of a hen or stag weekend.
The Blues and Witches in East Lancashire
Burnley Central Railway station is a single-track single platform station one each for east and west bound trains running on the Colne to Blackpool South East Lancashire line. It has a ticket office with some seating, telephones and toilet facilities but it is only manned between 06:30-21:45 and there are no ticket machines on the platforms.
Like many Lancashire market towns, Burnley is made up of a number of smaller towns or villages. In the case of Burnley, it is the villages of Padiham, Gawthorpe and Townley to the north is Pendle Hill to the south the Rosendale Valley.
It is at the confluence of the rivers Brun and Calder in the hills of the Pennines. Approximately 21 miles north of Manchester and 25 miles east of Preston. All coming under the jurisdiction of Lancashire County Council, which administers many market towns in the county without a major conurbation nearby. Through the 18th century to the middle of the 20th century Lancashire towns where known for their textiles with a mill in every town it seemed. As well as the mills, Burnley had many deep mines and heavy industry works. Since the decline of industry in Lancashire, the town is mostly made up of light industry and commuters traveling to larger towns and cities of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
For a town of its size Burnley has a healthy nightlife with clubs and bars in the main some promoting live entertainment. Since 1988 each year a 2 day, National Blues Festival http://www.bluesfestival.co.uk/ is held here with some impressive acts from around the world.
If you headed north you visit the town of Pendle and Pendle Hill a site famous for its associate with witches and there craft. In the early 17th century two families the Demdike’s and the Chattox seem to have implicated each other in witchcraft after various hearings ten people were convicted and hung at Lancaster Assizes in August 1612. The detailed recording of the hearings and Assizes may well be why an amount of literature romanticising the proceeding, grew around the case and subsequent “Lancashire Witches” trails in the early part of the 17th century.
The Nineteenth Centuries Spinning Capital.
The Bolton Railway station is a four track 4 station with 4 platforms one each for north and south on the Preston Manchester line, and east bound trains running on the Trans-Pennine line. It is staffed 24/7 though the ticket office only opens between 06:00 and 21:00 hours. The front office has automatic ticket machines, toilet facilities and phones a cafe and waiting rooms are on the island platform of one, two and three whilst platform 4 is for northbound trains only. A car park with space for 50 vehicles is behind platform 4.
Bolton is made up of a number of smaller towns or villages. In the case of Bolton, it is the villages of Great Bolton and Little Bolton. Also a number of other villages on the moors to the north in the valley of the River Croal running to the south. The town is 10 miles northwest of Manchester in the foothills of the Pennine moors . With excellent transport links to the rest of the county and indeed the country, you could be in London within 5 hours.
Bolton has been known for textiles since the 15th century, developing a wool and cotton weaving tradition. During the industrial revolution the introduction of textile manufacturing grew rapidly here. Two principle developments Richard Arkwright’s water frame and Samuel Crompton’s spinning mule were developed here. Crompton a native of Bolton and Arkwright having moved down from Preston to Bolton. In the 19th century, it hit its peak with more than 200 cotton mills and 20 bleaching and dying works making it the most productive cotton-spinning town in the world. Today the town has little or no heavy industry and a number of business parks surround it providing Hi-tech electronics, light engineering, and call centers.
The town center has a vibrant nightlife clubs, casinos, cafes and bars new and old hotels, providing comfortable surroundings and entertainment.
