Pendlebury railway station

Pendlebury
Location	Pendlebury, City of Salford England
Coordinates	53°30′43″N 2°19′14″W / 53.511984°N 2.320476°W / 53.511984; -2.320476Coordinates: 53°30′43″N 2°19′14″W / 53.511984°N 2.320476°W / 53.511984; -2.320476
Platforms	2
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
1888 (1888)	Opened
1960 (1960)	Closed

Pendlebury railway station was a station serving the town of Pendlebury in City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It was closed in 1960 by British Railways.

History[]

The station started life as part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Pendleton and Hindley line that grew into (and still exists today as) the Manchester Victoria to Wigan Wallgate line. Heading from Manchester towards Wigan, the preceding station was at Irlams o' th' Height (closed in 1956), and the following station was at Swinton (still open). Pendlebury station was closed in 1960. The existing lines still widen where the island platform existed (removed in 1978). By 1922, ownership had passed from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, and upon nationalisation in 1949 it became property of British Railways.

A 1905 Railway Clearing House Junction Diagram showing (upper right) railways in the vicinity of Pendlebury

It was located on Bolton Road (A666), opposite St. Augustine's Church and the former (appropriately named) Station Hotel pub which is nowadays the Trattoria Italian restaurant. The railway station was about 760 yards east of the present-day Swinton railway station. The station was located just before the entrance to a tunnel underneath Bolton Road. From the site of the station the tunnel goes as far as Swinton Hall Road where it comes out and into a cutting on its way towards Swinton. A 1909 Ordnance Survey map shows no buildings on top of the tunnel's location, suggesting that it was not stable to be built upon at this time. In the Black Harry Tunnel collapse of 1953, part of the tunnel collapsed. Two houses fell into the resultant large void in Temple Drive, Swinton. Five people in the houses were killed. http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/eventsummary.php?eventID=475 .

The Swinton and Pendlebury Journal of 7 October 1960 reported that the last train to call at Pendlebury railway station was the 23:21 from Manchester Victoria to Wigan on the previous Saturday (1 October 1960) - there were 6 people aboard one of whom was a 37-year-old shopkeeper Mr Jackson, proprietor of 419 Chorley Road, Swinton. Mr Jackson reportedly bought the last ticket ever issued at Pendlebury station from the porter Mr D. White - a single to Swinton. Mr Jackson also reportedly travelled to Irlams o' th' Height on 3 March 1956 to purchase the last ticket issued there. A pub, the Station Hotel, was located on the opposite side of the road. The building still exists but has been refurbished into the Trattoria Italian restaurant. Some of the yellow brickwork of the station is still visible on Bolton Road.

Station layout[]

The layout was four tracks wide, with an island platform serving two of the tracks being connected to Bolton Road via a footbridge. Several sets of points lay at the eastern end of the station. The Clifton Hall Tunnel (sometimes called the Black Harry Tunnel), part of the London and North Western Railway's Clifton Branch, ran underneath the eastern end of the station. The is a sign at the eastern end of the old platforms indicating to railway workers where the line of the old tunnel is.

Popular culture[]

The artist L.S. Lowry lived at 117 Station Road (B5231), Pendlebury; a number of documentary films from the late 1950s (one from the BBC) show him using the station, which was about a mile from his home. Swinton was closer to his home, and it is from Swinton that he used to view the Acme Mill, which featured in two of his iconic paintings: Coming home from the Mill (1930) The Mill, Pendlebury (1941).^[1]

References[]

v t Railway Lines in Salford
Legend
Past, present and future
to Wigan Wallgate   to Bolton Great Moor Street to Wigan North Western   Little Hulton Ellenbrook Walkden Low Level Walkden High Level to Liverpool Lime Street Moorside to Bolton Barton Moss Worsley Swinton Dixon Fold Patricroft   Monton Green Pendlebury to Bury Irlams-o'-th'-Height Eccles Eccles   Clifton Junction Ladywell   Agecroft Bridge Weaste Weaste Brindle Heath Jct Agecroft Jct Langworthy Seedley Pendleton Pendleton Bridge Broadway Cross Lane MediaCityUK Harbour City   Salford Crescent Anchorage Salford Docks Salford Quays Windsor Link Exchange Quay Ordsall Lane   Oldfield Road Metrolink to Manchester Ordsall Chord Salford Central to Manchester Deansgate to Manchester Victoria