6 disused and abandoned railway stations in Lancashire

Trains are getting faster and new rail routes are being built every year to keep the country better connected.

However, in order to progress some railway stations and routes have had to be abandoned.

As a result, there are many abandoned and disused stations lurking around the county.

Some Lancashire stations were forced to shut for practical and economical reasons.

The county was hit hard by the Beeching cuts, when more than 5,000 miles of track and nearly 1,500 stations were closed between 1964 and 1970.

Other routes simply weren't used enough and couldn't handle the competition that the development of trams and cars brought with them.

Here are six local railway stations and lines that were abandoned or disused in Lancashire.

1. Skipton to Colne

Bridge under the disused Skipton to Colne line

(Photo: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Chris Heaton - geograph.org.uk/p/2326974)

The origins of the Skipton-Colne line can be traced back as far as the 1840s. It was meant to be part of the Leeds and Bradford Railway extension.

The contract to build it was £67,000 - which is the equivalent of around £6.7 million in the modern day.

Stations between Skipton and Colne were constructed and a branch from Earby to Barnoldswick was also opened in 1871.

The line closed in 1970 and the very last journey on the train was documented in the local press.

It was entitled ‘Crowded out on the Last Train’ and documented how over a hundred people were crammed into the two car train from Colne to document its last journey.

There have been various talks about restoring this railway line in the last year.

The return of the 11-mile Colne/Skipton link could improve the rail network in the North and also improve East-West connectivity on the already congested rail network.

2. Ewood Bridge and Edenfield station

Ewood Bridge & Edenfield railway station (site)

(Photo: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Nigel Thompson - geograph.org.uk/p/4265848)

According to disused-stations.org, Ewood bridge and Edenfield station was officially opened in 1846.

The idea behind the opening was to create a Manchester, Bury and Rossendale railway that connected them all.

In 1916, a German Zeppelin airship bombed the surrounding area in an attempt to disrupt England’s transport system.

During the process, Ewood Bridge Station was destroyed.

It was closed to passengers in 1972 but freight trains carrying coal and other resources continued to pass through the railway line until 1980.

The line was later put in use, thanks to the East Lancashire Railway.

They opened the stretch of line from Bury to Ramsbottom in 1987 and onward to Rawtenstall in 1991.

However, Ewood Bridge and Edenfield itself never reopened.

3. Bacup Railway Station

Bacup Railway Station

(Photo: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Ben Brooksbank - geograph.org.uk/p/1739842)

This railway station served the town of Bacup and Rossendale.

It first opened in 1852 and continued to serve locals right up until 1966, with trains running every half an hour - and every 15 minutes on Saturdays.

It was closed as a result of the Beeching cuts which were made in the mid-1960s.

Since then, the station has been demolished and the site has since been redeveloped and built over.

However, according to the disused-stations.org website, part of the original boundary wall is still standing.

4. Barnoldswick Railway Station

The terminus of the branch from Earby

(Photo: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Ben Brooksbank - geograph.org.uk/p/1762582)

This railway station opened back in 1871 and was part of Midland Railway’s design plans.

An interesting fact about the station is that a passenger shuttle between Barnoldswick and Earby went by a particularly unusual name.

The shuttle was known locally as the ‘Barlick Spud’ or the ‘Spudroaster’- the exact reason for this has been lost in time but some say it’s because the locomotive was so small that it looked like a portable potato roaster.

It was closed to passengers in 1965 and closed completely a year later.

5. Baxenden Railway station

The overgrown site of Baxenden Station

(Photo: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Ben Brooksbank - geograph.org.uk/p/1772834)

This station served the villages of Hyndburn and Rossendale, opening way back in 1849.

Over the years, it became part of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway and even became part of the London and North Western Railway line.

18 trains travelled from Baxenden to Manchester Victoria on weekdays, with trains running from 6am to 10pm.

However, as the years progressed the line faced a lot of competition from other methods of transportation, such as the Accrington tramline which was built in 1887.

The station was officially closed to passengers in 1951.

However, goods trains continued on the line until 1966.

6. Great Harwood Station

The railway was last used to carry coal to Padiham Power Station

(Photo: cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Alexander P Kapp - geograph.org.uk/p/3064484)

When it opened in 1877, this railway line was highly-regarded by locals in the area.

It was also known as the Great Harwood loop of the East Lancashire Line, serving Burnley, Blackburn and Padiham.

The last regular passenger train left Blackburn for Burnley back in 1957 - it had just six people on board.

At its peak in the 1940s, the line had 18 or 19 passenger trains on week days.

The eastern section of the line served the former Padiham B Power Station with coal and later oil supplies and remained open until 1991.

Years after closing, it was demolished and converted into an industrial estate.