Eastwood Railway Station Remains

Eastwood Railway Station opened on the 1st January 1841 to serve the village of Eastwood between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden, West Yorkshire. The station used to have a signal box, level crossing, coal drops and goods passing loop around its site but these have all been removed over time. The access ramp from Burnley Road is still used by pedestrians but the former vehicle level crossing is now just a pedestrian crossing providing access to Eastwood Lane.

The station remained in use until competition from trams and buses caused reduced passenger numbers and closure came in December 1951, although some goods traffic continued until the early 1960's. The station buildings remained into the early 1970's when the closure of the signal box led to all the buildings being demolished and cleared.

These pictures were taken using a Nikon d3300 SLR on the 4 May 2022, there are a total of 6 pictures which can be seen below, they can also be seen on Clickasnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

The remains of the former station buildings, the site was always tight on
space and the hillside was dug away to provide space for the buildings.
Its hard to imagine now that there were station buildings, a signal box, a
passing loop, coal delivery drops and 2 platforms all within this 
small area for a station.

The station access roads, these used to lead up to a level crossing that
past between the 2 stations platforms, these were staggered due to the
small area available. The only crossing now is for pedestrians.

Looking down the former access ramp and at the pedestrian crossing
that was once used by cars. This picture shows how tight the site
was to fit a station here.

Eastwood Lane runs above the station site, the road towards the
bottom left of the picture accesses the area around what was the station.

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The Rishworth Branch Line December 2013

 One of my favourite places to explore with my camera is the remains of the Rishworth Branch Line, a railway that connected the Ryburn Valley with the mainline at Sowerby Bridge. The line had stations and halts at Rishworth, Ripponden, Triangle and Watson's Crossing. Much of the line remains in tact with a number of Bridges still providing crossings over the former trackbed. The Scar Head Tunnel is still running underneath the Norland Hillside although inaccessible for people wanting to look inside, and the platform at Rishworth still remains although now covered by vegetation. The former pedestrian bridge, Ripponden Bank road bridge and wooden trellis bridge that connected Rishworth Station with the turnpike have all been removed since the line closed in addition to all the station buildings.

The Rishworth Branch line was opened as the first stage of a much bigger scheme to shorten the railway connection between Sowerby Bridge and Littleborough by approx 5 miles by tunnelling underneath the Pennines separating Lancashire and Yorkshire. This plan was abandoned when the company responsible ran in to a number of difficulties in completing the line to Rishworth.

The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway line along the Ryburn Valley was authorised in 1865 and the line to Ripponden completed in 1878. This was extended to Rishworth in 1881 with stations opening there and in Triangle the same year. Upon completion the line was built to double track but for much of it's life only utilised one line with the 2nd track being used to store carriages.

At the turn of the 20th century motor railcars were introduced along the line and this led to a new halt opening at Watson's Crossing in 1907, this was probably the height of the lines usage as growing competition from trams and motor cars led to a decline in passenger numbers and this service was withdrawn on the 8th July 1929 with only goods traffic continuing. The line between Ripponden and Rishworth was closed in March 1952 due to engineering issues and completely on the 1st September 1958. Much of the former trackbed is now accessible for walkers, although some stretchers are in private ownership.

The pictures were taken on the 7th December 2013 with a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

These first set of pictures were taken on the stretch of line from Scar Head Tunnel to the site of Triangle Station.

Scar Head Tunnel Portal

The former site of Triangle Station

The next selection of pictures were taken on the lines remains between Triangle Station and Ripponden Station.

The former Ripponden station used to sit at the top of the abutment.

The following pictures were taken on the line between the site of Ripponden Station and the Rishworth terminus. This section was the last to open in 1881 and also the first to fully close in 1953.

The former trackbed through this section was so wet on the day I was there it resembled a canal rather than the former trackbed of a railway.

The former Rishworth station platform still remained, although largely reclaimed by nature, when I visited it had been 60 years since it had seen a train and 84 since a passenger had waited on it stone concourse.

This was the entrance to Rishworth Station which was reached by a wooden trestle bridge, which constantly had issued regarding stability. The bridge was strengthened in the 1920's and was one of the reasons that led to the closure of Rishworth station in 1953 some 5 years before the rest of the line, when the bridge was demolished.

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Spen Valley Greenway. Low Moor to the M62.

The Spen Valley Greenway is a cycle-pedestrian corridor connecting Low Moor with Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, passing through the towns of Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike and Liversedge on route. The route runs for approx. 8 miles along the former routes of the Spen Valley Railway and Ravensthorpe Branch Lines. 

The Greenway was planned after Sustrans acquired the trackbed in 1998, and opened in 2000. In addition to the remaining bridges, occasional railway signposts and ornamental benches along the route, there are artworks including Sally Matthews flock of Swaledale sheep and Trudi Entwistle's Rotate. The route is traffic free and pretty flat along it's length, with a few small gentle slopes up and down. There are supermarkets along the route including a Tesco alongside the former site of Cleckheaton Station and a Morrison's a short walk from the site of what was Heckmondwike Station.

The following is a short video i put together of the pictures I took along the line, it includes images of the station sites whilst still operational.

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Before conversion from an overgrown and abandoned former railway to a pleasant tarmacked cycle and pedestrian route, the greenway had a life as a railway known as the Mirfield and Low Moor Railway. The original double track line opening was in 2 stages, from Low Moor to Mirfield on the 18th July 1848, and the Ravensthorpe Branch connecting Thornhill with Heckmondwike on the 1st June 1849. At it's height the line had 8 stations along it's route which included Low Moor, Cleckheaton Central, Liversedge Central, Heckmondwike Central after which the line split with stops at Northorpe North Road and Mirfield along the Mirfield route, and Ravensthorpe Lower and Thornhill along the Ravensthorpe Branch Line. The line remained in use until passenger services were withdrawn in July 1965 and goods traffic ended in the late 1980's.

There are currently small campaigns trying to get the line reopened, as much of the trackbed remains clear and unbuilt upon this seems an easy but perhaps expensive plan. There is currently a population of over 50000 along the Spen Valley Route with limited access to rail without commuting. There are competing plans featuring heavy rail and light rail proposals.

The following pictures are taken on the route from Low Moor to the M62 Motorway Bridge at Chain Bar. They were taken on the 30th December 2019 with a Nikon d3300.

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The Halifax High Level Railway

I previously did a post on the Halifax High Level Railway  on the 2nd January 2017 featuring a set of pictures I had taken whilst walking the remains of the route in February 2014. I had planned to re walk the route in the early part of this year but recent events with regards to the Covid 19 outbreak have ended those thoughts for now. The reason I had planned to walk the route is that in recent years I have acquired a number of pictures of the route from the days of operation or just after closure and I thought a combination of before and after pictures would be of interest. I recently put together a short video for YouTube of what is like a virtual walk along the line from the terminus at St Pauls Station, King Cross to Shay Lane, Holmfield where the line met the Queensbury line. It is put together featuring old pictures of the line and the set I took in 2014 in a order from the 2 places named above.

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The Halifax High Level Railway was first planned in 1884 where it was envisaged the line would run from the Queensbury Line at Holmfield and provide a new through route to Huddersfield and beyond. This never got beyond the planning stage so only a short 3mile long branch was constructed as far as the St Paul's area of King Cross which opened to Pellon Station on the 1st August 1890 and through to St Paul's on the 5th September 1890.

The line although busy for goods was never overly popular with passengers, the short 1.3 mile journey to Halifax Old Station taking over 30 minutes including a change at Holmfield, and by the time trams had reached the Pellon and King Cross areas of Halifax by the turn of the century passengers numbers had dwindled.

The line had originally planned for a passenger station at Wheatley between the tunnel and viaduct but this was never realised only a small goods yard for Webster's brewery at the opposite end of the viaduct. Passenger services were withdrawn on the 1st of January 1917 and whilst reintroduced after the war they were only to last in limited numbers until until 1927 with only occasional excursion trains after this date, the last passenger train to use the line departed St Pauls on Friday 6th February 1963.

The line was still popular with freight traffic and this continued until the 25th June 1960 when all services were withdrawn and the line closed. The station buildings were demolished and the tracks lifted in the early 1960's and their ended the short life of the Halifax High Level Railway.

The fantastic 10 arch and 100ft high Wheatley Viaduct still remains and the tunnel entrance on the west side still stands although the eastern portal was infilled and covered by a housing estate in the early part of this century, I feel this was an opportunity missed as the tunnel and viaduct would have made an excellent bridleway connecting King Cross, Pellon, Wheatley, Holmfield and beyond. It could have also provided a link with the plans for a cycleway through the Queensbury Tunnel if these are successful. The site of St Pauls Station, Pellon Station and Holmfield Junction have now been developed in to industrial units or in the case of St Paul's a now closed and dilapidated car showroom and garage. A large number of the bridges at Hopwood Lane, Gibbet Street, Hanson Lane, Battinson Road and Keighley Road still remain but are now filled in. The Pellon Lane, Brackenbed Road, Wood Lane bridges are still complete across there roads as well as bridges across footpaths at Field Side and Church Lane. Once beyond Wheatley Tunnel and Viaduct, the tunnel airshaft can still be seen on cousin lane and the bridge abutment or at least half of it can be seen on Shay Lane.

The pictures below are a small selection of the ones I took walking the remains, the full set can be seen on Clickasnap or my original High Level Railway post by clicking here. 

Field Side Tunnel Path

Brackenbed Lane Bridge

Wheatley Viaduct

Wheatley Tunnel Entrance

Inside Wheatley Tunnel. I never entered the tunnel this was taken from the doorway.

Wheatley Tunnel Air Shaft.

Remains of Shay Lane Bridge.

Over 20 pictures from the Halifax High Level Railway taken in February 2014 using a Polaroid is2132 bridge camera can be seen on my Clickasnap account.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.