Thornton for Cleveleys railway station

Thornton for Cleveleys was a small-sized railway station which served the two English Lancashire towns of Thornton and Cleveleys, but was situated in the centre of Thornton. Located on the now disused line between Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood, the station also had a shunting yard for the making-up of freight trains for Preston and beyond. During its life it was also known at times as Thornton station and Thornton-Cleveleys station.

The station was opened in 1865, near an older halt called Ramper Road, and closed in 1970 when the Fleetwood line was closed to passengers.^[1]^[2] Freight continued on the line to nearby Burn Naze until 1999. Today, the station buildings at Thornton are long since demolished but the platforms remain, albeit fenced off and covered in weeds.

There have recently been moves towards reopening the Fleetwood line and its stations, including Thornton. A feasibility study into the line's re-opening was commissioned in 2006 by Poulton Market Town Initiative and the Wyre Strategic Partnership.

On 1 July 2007, the station was leased by Network Rail to the Poulton & Wyre Railway society to allow the group of volunteers access to the site to clear it of vegetation and undertake cosmetic works.

[edit] References

^ Welch, M.S. (2004) Lancashire Steam Finale, Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 1 870754 61 1, p.28
^ Suggitt, G. (2003, revised 2004) Lost Railways of Lancashire, Countryside Books, Newbury, ISBN 1 85306 801 2, p.37

[edit] External links

Maps showing
Thornton for Cleveleys Station

NPE Maps (1947)

Vision of Britain

Other maps

SD 3435 4206

Poulton and Wyre Railway Society, working towards restoring passenger services to Fleetwood.

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Burn Naze Halt		Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Fleetwood Branch Line		Poulton-le-Fylde
Burn Naze Halt		Preston and Wyre Joint Railway Blackpool Branch Line		Poulton Curve Halt