Cocker Bar railway station

Cocker Bar railway station was located in what is still open country where Cocker Bar Road (B5248) crosses what is now the Ormskirk Branch Line.The station is shown on a 1847 OS Map,^[1] although the line did not open for a further two years.

The station was closed when Midge Hall station opened 47 chains (0.95 km) further north^[2] in 1859, shortly after the line was taken over by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.

History

The railway line between Preston and Walton was proposed by the Liverpool, Ormskirk and Preston Railway (LO&PJ) and authorised in 1846; later that year the LO&PJ was amalgamated with the East Lancashire Railway (ELR), which opened the line in 1849.^[3]

In August 1859 the ELR was amalgamated with the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR),^[4] and in October that year, the station at Midge Hall was opened.^[5] It was 23 ¹⁄₄ miles (37.4 km) from Liverpool (Tithebarn Street), and replaced Cocker Bar. Sources differ slightly on distances. Marshall gives Midge Hall as 23 miles (37.0 km) from Liverpool and Cocker Bar quarter of a mile less.^[6] The Engineers' Line Reference data for line FCO separates the sites by 47 chains. Looking at the maps it would appear that Marshall's figure is rounded.

Reopening proposals

There have been talks amongst the local community for the possible reopening of Midge Hall station, which was closed in 1961. Cocker Bar's site is green field, on a locally well connected B road and near Wymott and Garth prisons.

References

External links

• The station on an old OS Map via Old OS Maps
• The line and mileages via railwaycodes