Hadlow Road railway station

Hadlow Road

The eastbound platform
Location
Place Willaston
Area Cheshire West and Chester
Grid reference SJ331773
Operations
Pre-grouping Birkenhead Railway
Post-grouping
Platforms 2
History
1 October 1866 Opened
17 September 1956 Closed to passenger services
7 May 1962 Closed to freight services
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Hadlow Road railway station was a station on the single track Hooton to West Kirby branch of the Birkenhead Railway, on the Wirral Peninsula, Cheshire, England. The station served the village of Willaston.

History

The Birkenhead Railway, owned jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London and North Western Railway (LNWR), opened a branch line from Hooton to Parkgate on 1 October 1866, which included a station at Willaston. An extension to West Kirby was completed twenty years later.[1][2]

It may be presumed that it was named Hadlow Road to distinguish it from the pre-existing Cheshire station at the other Cheshire village of Willaston, and so named, on the Crewe and Shrewsbury Railway.

The main station building is on the eastbound platform towards Hooton, whereas a smaller waiting shelter stands on the westbound platform towards West Kirby. At the western end of both platforms was a level crossing with rather large gates; this was due to the angle at which the road crossed the railway lines.

Closure

Hadlow Road railway station closed to passengers on 17 September 1956.[1][2][3] The track continued to be used for freight transportation and driver training for another six years, closing on 7 May 1962. The tracks were lifted two years later.[1][2][4]

Wirral Country Park

The route became the Wirral Way footpath and part of Wirral Country Park in 1973, which was the first such designated site in Britain.[5][6] All of the station (excluding the westbound platform) has been preserved to give an authentic 1950s look[1][3] and a short section of track has been relaid in front of the eastbound platform. The signalbox is not the original, having previously been located at Hassall Green on the North Staffordshire Railway.[7] The station is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.[8] It is one of two visitor centres on the Wirral Way, with the other at Thurstaston where the platforms remain in situ, but the station has not been restored.

Proposed heritage railway

In 2012 proposals were submitted to Cheshire West & Chester Council, the owners of the southern section of the Wirral Country Park, for the re-establishment of rail services on the Wirral Way as a heritage steam railway. The proposals initially envisaged the running of steam trains from Hadlow Road to Hooton railway station where the disused platforms are still extant. It was then envisaged that the line would be extended northwards to a new station on the outskirts of Neston, giving a total running length of four miles. The diverted cycle and walking track would run alongside the railway line, in a similar way to that seen at the Avon Valley Railway. The proposal would see a direct main line connection to Merseyrail services at Hooton as well as a walking-distance connection with the Borderlands line at Neston railway station.[9]

As of 2017 there has been no news or progress reported on this proposal, however a new Friends of Hadlow Road Station group have proposed laying a longer length of track, with a long term view to placing carriages and an engine at the station.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Disused Stations: Hadlow Road, Subterranea Britannica, retrieved 21 November 2008
  2. 1 2 3 Maund, T.B. (2000), The Birkenhead Railway, The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, pp. 33–34, 43–44, 69, ISBN 0-901115-87-8
  3. 1 2 Oppitz, Leslie (1997), Cheshire Railways Remembered, Countryside Books, pp. 95–96, ISBN 1-85306-458-0
  4. ↑ Merseyside Railway History Group (1982), Scheele, R., ed., The Hooton to West Kirby branch line and the Wirral Way, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, ISBN 0-904582-04-3
  5. ↑ Wirral Country Park, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, retrieved 13 June 2010
  6. ↑ Wirral Country Park, Visit Liverpool, retrieved 8 December 2007
  7. ↑ SRS Signalling Atlas and Signal Box Directory. p. 73. ISBN 978 1 873228 31 9.
  8. ↑ Historic England, "Hadlow Road Railway Station (1387664)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 3 August 2013
  9. ↑ Wirral Heritage Railway, Facebook GB, retrieved 31 July 2014

Further reading

Media related to Hadlow Road railway station at Wikimedia Commons

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Hooton   Birkenhead Railway
Hooton to West Kirby branch		   Neston

Coordinates: 53°17′18″N 3°00′18″W / 53.2884°N 3.0050°W / 53.2884; -3.0050

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