On 27th September 1825 the first locomotive-hauled public railway in the world opened on the 25-mile long Stockton & Darlington Railway. The train was hauled by “Locomotion No 1”, built by their Engineer – George Stephenson. By 1830 the Liverpool & Manchester Railway had been constructed at a cost of £637,000 (about £56 million in today’s money). It was the first inter-city service, with intermediate stations and a published timetable of its services.
The Opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway 1830
Painting by A.B.Clayton
The growth of the Industrial Revolution had created a middle class with savings to invest and the railways seemed like a sound proposition. Initially small private railway companies were built to link local areas. A rush to invest and build became known as Railway Mania. No less than 272 separate Acts of Parliament were enacted for these companies between 1840 and 1850, the peak being in 1844. The total length of these new routes was 9,500 miles
Many of these ventures were ill-conceived and not viable financially and were bought out or merged with larger, more successful companies like the Midland Railway Company.
Arms of the Midland Railway Company
Credit: J Beard, CC Chevin
Midland Counties Railway Seal
Photo: National Railway Museum, York
North Midlands Railway Crest
Photo: Andrew Abbott
Birmingham & Derby County Railway Crest
Photo: Andrew Abbott
The Midland Railway Company was formed by the amalgamation of three separate companies in 1844:
a. The North Midland Railway.
b. The Midland Counties Railway.
c. The Birmingham & Derby County Railway
The North Midland Railway opened its line From Derby to Leeds via Rotherham (Masborough) in 1840. At Derby it formed the Tri-Junction station with the Birmingham and Derby and the Midland Counties railways.
The Midland Counties Railway Company had reached Leeds on 30th June 1840.
The Leeds and Bradford Railway Company prepared a Bill in 1844 to put before Parliament to build a line between the two cities, with an extension up the Aire valley; also a line from Keighley to Haworth, and another line from Skipton to Colne, to meet up with the East Lancashire Railway Company.
In June 1846 the Leeds and Bradford Railway Company offered its lines to the Midland Railway Company. The terms of the lease were accepted. In 1851 an Act of Parliament obtained the figure of £1,800,000 for the lines which became part of the Midland Railway Company empire.
The Railway at Skipton opened on 7th September 1847. The original station at Skipton was built by Sugden, Simpson & Clarke. It cost £2330. This was replaced by Skipton’s second station in 1875/76 and was built by Kirk & Evans (Buildings) for £4572 15s 3d. The designer was Charles Trubshaw, the principal architect for the Midland Railway. The platforms and canopies contract, for £11,174 16s 11d, went to Messrs Wm Farlain of Glasgow. The station was opened on 30th April 1876.
The Skipton to Colne extension opened on 2nd October 1848 but the East Lancashire Railway did not reach Colne until 1st February 1849.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS
1846 ACT: The little North Western Railway to construct a line from Skipton to Ingleton, then on to Low Gill on the Lancaster & Carlisle Railway.
1850 ACT: Branch from Clapham to Lancaster and Poulton-le-Sand, later Morecambe.
1865 ACT: Branch built to Barnoldswick by Barnoldswick Railway Company. (1899 Midland Railway Company ran branch services).
1888 ACT: Line constructed between Skipton and Ilkley. New platforms (Nos. 5 & 6) built at Skipton Station at a higher level because of the steep gradient of the track as it left the town.
1898 ACT: Yorkshire Dales Railway Company line to Grassington (Threshfield) opened, on 29th July 1902, from a junction on Skipton-Ilkley line at Embsay. It was single track only with one intermediate station at Rylstone, but Swinden Quarry line connected with it.
THE BEECHING REPORT
After the 1948 Nationalisation of the Railways it was still clear that they were making a loss. In 1955 a Modernisation Plan was adopted which only addressed the modernisation of trains and equipment; not any underlying causes of underperformance in the network.
In 1955 the Government commissioned Dr Richard Beeching, from ICI, to produce an in-depth report on the railways and suggest ways in which they could be brought back into profitability. The result was a report that proposed swingeing cuts to the system, mainly in the feeder and branch lines. It identified 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles of track for closure. This represented 55% of stations and 30% of track miles.
Beeching Map
Green Lines proposed for closure (Courtesy of Phil Marsh)
LOCAL CLOSURES (including Beeching)
STEETON & SILSDEN
1847 Original Depot opened, closed 1889.
1889 New depot buildings opened further west
1965 Closed 22nd March (Dr Beeching)
1986 New “Metro” station opened
KILDWICK & CROSSHILLS
1847 Original Depot opened, closed1889.
1889 New station opened further west
1965 Closed 22nd March (Dr Beeching)
???? May be new station in future.
CONONLEY
1847 Original Depot opened/
1965 Closed 22nd March (Dr Beeching)
1986 New station opened
SKIPTON
1847 First station opened 7th September 1847
1876 Closed 30th April when second station opened further west.
ELSLACK
1849 Original station opened
1952 Closed 3rd March
THORNTON IN CRAVEN
1848 Original station opened 2nd October
1970 Closed 2nd February. Line closed totally.
EARBY
1848 Original station opened 2nd October.
1970 Closed 2nd February. Line closed totally.
FOULRIDGE
1848 Original station opened 2nd October.
1959 Closed 5th January.
1986 Dismantled and re-constructed at Ingrow West Station on Keighley & Worth Valley Railway (KWVR)–a Heritage railway run profitably by volunteers. www.kwvr.co.uk
COLNE
1848 Original station opened 2nd October
1883 New larger station opened
1971 Closed in September when Skipton line closed
New halt now used.
BARNOLDSWICK
1871 Branch and station opened for traffic 8th February
1965 Closed completely on 25th September when passenger services were withdrawn.
BELL BUSK
1849 Station opened 30th July.
1959 Station closed 2nd May.
WENNINGTON – LANCASTER (GREEN AYRE)
1849 Route opened 17th November.
1966 Route closed 2nd January.
LANCASTER (GREEN AYRE) – MORECAMBE
1848 Route opened 12th June
1966 Route closed 2nd January
MORECAMBE PROMENADE STATION
1907 Grand opening 24th March
1994 Closed 6th February but still in use.
MORECAMBE NEW HALT
1994 Opened 29th May.
SCALE HALL (Between Lancaster, Green Ayre & Morecambe)
1957 Opened 8th June for electric trains.
1966 Closed completely 2nd January.
INGLETON (Midland Railway)
1849 Opened 30th July.
1954 Closed 30th January. (Line from Clapham)
EMBSAY
1888 Opened for traffic 1st October.
1965 Closed 22nd March, but now occupied by Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway – another Heritage railway line run profitably by volunteer staff. www.embsayboltonabbeyrailway.org.uk
Between Embsay and Addingham Stations on old Skipton- Ilkley line
credit: T J Blackwell
BOLTON ABBEY
1888 Opened for traffic 16th May.
1965 Closed 22nd March.
1980 Re-built for Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway.
ADDINGHAM
1888 Opened for traffic 16th May.
1965 Closed 22nd March and demolished.
YORKSHIRE DALES RAILWAY
1902 Line opened for business 29th July. Embsay Junction to Grassington, distance 10.75 miles including an intermediate station at Rylstone. Company survived until –
1923 When it became part of the London Midland Scottish (LMS).
1930 Rylstone closed on 22nd September.
The line was closed to passengers but the line stayed open for limestone from Threshfield Quarryand the occasional Hikers Special trains.
1969 The Swinden to Grassington section was closed completely on 22nd August.
The line is still open from Swinden to Skipton for stone bulk trains (2,000 tonnes).
MIDLAND RAILWAY
1923 Merged on 1st January 1923 with the London & North Western Railway, the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and various Scottish Railways and other smaller lines to form the London, Midland & Scottish Railway. This was decreed under the 1921 Railways Act that merged all existing lines in Britain into the “Big Four” regional companies – Great Western; London North Eastern Railway; London, Midland & Scottish Railway and the Southern Railway. They were nationalised on 1st January 1948.
LMS shield on Leeds Station
Credit: Redvers, Wikipedia CC
SKIPTON PRESENT DAY
2016 The Aire and Wharfe Valleys Electrification started in 1991. Trains started running in 1995. There are now regular electric trains to Leeds and Bradford. Good service to Carlisle via the Settle-Carlisle line; and to Morecambe and Heysham Port via Bentham, Carnforth and the West Coast Main line to Lancaster (Castle station).
FOR THE FUTURE:
The Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway have plans to get into Skipton Station (Platform 5) Quarry Branch.
The Skipton-East Lancashire Rail Action Partnership (S.E.L.R.AP.) group are working towards re-opening the line from Skipton to Colne, a distance of 11.5 miles, including re-opening the station at Earby. This would link the conurbations of West Yorkshire with those of East Lancashire. The trackbed is protected for transport use under the planning policies of Craven District Council, and the Pendle Local Plan, the Joint Lancashire Structure Plan and Lancashire County Council LTP2.
For researchers wishing for further information, there are photographs of all the stations mentioned above in an excellent book published in 2005 by the late Donald Binns:
MIDLAND LINES – RAILWAY STATIONS PAST & PRESENT
BRADFORD FORSTER SQUARE TO MORECAMBE PROMENADE & BRANCHES
Late Donald Binns & Trackside Publications
ISBN 1.900095.26.2
There is a copy in the Local History collection at Skipton Library or you could possibly locate and purchase a copy through www.abebooks.co.uk the used book website.
skiptonandcravenhistorysociety.com 