Pendlebury Station.
 

I've been doing research into Pendlebury train station. It does not exist anymore, however the main reason for my interest in this station is because the main station building more or less stood where I'm sat right now as I write this. :p

It was in Manchester, located on what is today that small branch line that links Salford Crescent station towards Wigan Wallgate, and was about three quaters of a mile before Swinton station which is still open.

Anyway, bit of a long shot but I just wondered if anyone remembers anything about this station or had any relatives etc. who did. I'm really eger to possibly see photographs or paintings of the station but I've never been able to come across anything.

The line and the station was fairly busy at one point before the line became the small branchline that it is now with two trains an hour. :p

The only remains of the station now is a wall right near my house which is part of the origonal station building which is an interesting thing, and the tracks still widen so you can see where the platform once stood when you look over the wall.

Danny

Pendlebury Station
 

Hi Danny

You're not the only one doing research into Pendlebury Station I am fascinated by the fact that there used to be a station there as I am local also and did you know there was a station at Irlams O' th' Height also that was at the bottom of bank lane. I have some press cuttings from Salford library of when they both closed also some pictures of Pendlebury station one from the front page of the journal from 1960 it's not that clear but you can see it it just looks very similar to Swinton. I also have a couple from books one from 1897 and one from 1961 which was a year after it closed but it's a train going past on the fast lines which are no longer there. The press cuttings are about a man whose hobby was to be the last person to buy a ticket at the station, they are good. I could scan them to you?
If you follow this link this is an aerial view of Pendlebury from 1930 in the top right hand corner you can see the station and the bridge going over to it etc

http://www.images.manchester.gov.uk/....php?irn=55923

Regards

Neil

welcome to the forum Danny.
Paul.

Sorry Neil I must have my wrong glasses on.
Welcome to the forum.
Danny you are just as welcome my friend.
Paul.

Hi Neil and welcome to the forum. That's the thing about this site, help is always willingly given. You have just proved that you are willing to help out as well, so in my book that makes you very welcome.

Hehe, thanks for the welcome Paul. :p

That ariel photo is really interesting, now I know basically how people got down to the station, it's always been something that was at the back of my mind. :D

It's also really cool to think that all used to be right outside my front door, I really wish it was still like that now. :( I'm not sure pacers have much use for the "fast lines" that used to exist there.

I think I had heard there was a station at Irlams o'th Height but that seems even more crazy than the Pendlebury one.

I had a vague idea that the Pendlebury station was of a similar design and construction to Swinton as the wall that remains right outside is of the same brickwork that Swinton is built from, and looks right out of place merged into the black wall.

It's right behind the bus stop under the trees, over the road from St. Augustines, incase you hadn't been aware it was still there (but I'm sure you where)

Any scans of photos would be very very appreciated should it not be too much trouble!

Pendlebury station was marked on the railway maps in the 2005 Aslef diary!!

What's an "Aslef" diary? It's wrong either way, it's quite not there I can assure you. :p

'Associated Society of Locomotive Steam Enginemen and Firemen'...........
I didnt know they still existed, or are they in a time warp?

They do very much still exist, they just don't do anything anymore, not like the RMT. A couple of years ago there was division in the ranks and I got out, can't say what has happened since.

Anyway back to pendlebury.......

Irlam's o'th' Height station was long closed when I was a lad there. It was an island platform on the embankment, accessed by a dusty and sinister looking door under the bridge. I believe it closed about 1955.

We occasionally came home from Manchester Victoria to Irlams o'th' Height via Pendlebury as a treat- I can vividly remember the custard-and-cream train with Southport ndestination boards- and the bus (57 or 77?) down Bolton Road.

It was at Pendleton Broad Street station, the next into Manchester after IotH, that I formulated my first theory. I was 3, and we were going to Southport for the day. While we were waiting for the train, I saw a locomotive waiting at a signal. The signal was down, and from my perspective it looked as though the arm rested against the chimney. The loco's smoke rose vertivcally in the still summer air. Then the signal went up, and the loco moved off, the smoke and steam trailing backwards from the chimney. So I concluded that (1) the signal stopped trains by holding the chimney, and (2) the smoke going backwards drove the train along.

Hehe, makes you miss being too young to understand sometimes. :p

Just out of curiosity, wouldn't the Height be before Pendlebury when coming from Manchester Victoria? The platform of Pendleton is still there albeit shut down as far as I can tell when I ride the line.

Very impressive reasoning for a 3 year old. Much better than one of my parents' logic which embarrassed us all when asked at the booking office if we wanted Smoking or Non-smoking, and thought it referred to the train being pulled by a Steam engine, or a diesel :o

Picture of Pendlebury etc
 

Hi there apologies for the delay in replying however I have come accross a fantastic picture of Pendlebury Station which I have obtained also a good one of Swinton - I just need to scan them and then I will get them on here - any clues on how I get them on this thread? The one of Pendlebury is taken from the bridge on Ethel Ave and is around late 1950's but a train is stopped there- anyway reply to this for best way to get them on here? Do I upload?

I replied to your PM, but after uploading to the gallery I would just link to the pictures in this thread. If you need any help just let me know.

ok then will try and get them on here by the weekend along with the press cuttings etc.

Watto all
 

Re "lost" stations in general.

There was a time when the local station was a centre of activity. Its staff became "local characters" and shops and pubs all flourished in the trade it drew in.

However those days are long gone and many stations that have survived have become no more than un-manned"Bus stops": their buildings replaced by glass shelters.

Mind, many should never have been built in the first place, were grossly over-manned perhaps no more than freight facilities for the farming community was in some cases all that were ever needed.

However on balance they were a "good thing" and I regret the passing of the local minor station, in some cases its branch line and on occasion its severed through route.

Its sad to think that some people are more isolated in the 21st century than their ancestors in the 19th.-CF East Anglia, Wales, etc.

62430

Well Pendlebury Station had a pub, "The Station Hotel" aptly enough. It's an Italian Restraunt now.

Swinton Station on the other hand is a small station which I'm happy to say is not only manned (albeit only until mid-afternoon) it is also going to recieve an upgrade in the near future with electronic display boards / lift access / tannoy system etc. and more manned hours, the hope being more people will visit Swinton for the shopping center etc.

The station is a very old building with the origonal canopys etc. and it does have a nice charm as do a lot of stations on the Victoria to Wigan Wallgate line IMO. A fair bit of the line still uses (or has surviving) semaphore signaling from what I observe looking out the window which adds to it's charm (though Swinton has colour lights).

Hi There

Here is the first picture from 1897 - Hope you like it - please click on the link below.

Regards

Neil

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...uryStation.jpg

Hi There

Click on this link below to see the original picture I bid for and won on ebay last week make sure you expand the picture so you can see it all as it's a big picture - Isn't the signal box great - this will have been taken from the bridge on Ethel Avenue. It is from the late 1950's - see the passenger on the platform and also the footbridge in the background - I think it's a great picture and I'm sure you will agree - Enjoy

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/...ats=0&format=0

Those are fantastic - thank you very much for sharing them. The wall in the first picture looks like it has barely changed to this day - while the rest of the scene barely looks like it does now at all - although the road seems to be the same. :D

Oh how I would love to have lived here back then rather than now - it would have been perfect.

Here is the old picture of Swinton station click on the link below - enjoy - also meant to say did you notice as well on the Pendlebury one the existence of the fast lines that are no longer there?

Regards

Neil
http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/...ats=0&format=0

Brilliant - I love the Swinton picture, although it does boggle the mind somewhat.

I did notice the fast lines and I've been aware of their existence as I've known the tunnel under my house here still exists for the fast lines and evidence of their existance can still be found, I've never seen a picture before though. I had no idea there was a crossover at Swinton there for example, just brilliant stuff.

Thank you very much for these pictures, it's very appreciated. :)

Great pictures, thanks for sharing them. I never visited Swinton or Pendlebury but they do bring back memories of many happy hours spent trainspotting at Windsor Bridge just down the line.

The stand on the left was Swinton RL- the Lions. We used to pay a few pence to get in, and stand at the front of the terracing just this side of the stand. The picture was probably taken from Pendlebury Road bridge. Occasionally the ball would get hoofed right out of the ground, and someone would have to go and get it- once I heard it landed on a passing coal train and they never got it back.

The bridge at the Manchester end of Pendlebury station was, I think, a little cobbled ginnel called City Walk. It had a few houses along it, almost derelict but still inhabited, and led down to the sidings on the stub of the old Black Harry line. I went down there after they were lifted, leaving twisted rails in the air where they'd been buried too deep for the crane to get them out. An old woman, bow- legged and about four-foot-six tall, came out of one of the houses abnd said, "D'you see that? It were them lads that did it!"

Old Timetable
 

Hi I have an old timetable from 1955 which shows all the old stations etc on the Manchester to Wigan/Southport/Bolton etc - I will scan and post it next week.

Regards

Neil

Hi I have an old timetable from 1955 which shows all the old stations etc on the Manchester to Wigan/Southport/Bolton etc - I will scan and post it next week.

Regards

Neil

That would be very interesting Neil, the line is only used a few times an hour now but it'd be really cool to see what was going on back then.

Stirring the grey cells!
 

I stumbled on the forum yesterday. Posts about the Pendlebury area brought back many memories. I lived all my childhood in the area; nursery at St Augustines during WW2 (opposite Pendlebury station), Cromwell road Juniors (opposite Swinton goods yard). Bunked round Agecroft engine sheds every evening (near Irlams o'th Height station).
There were four tracks from Brindleheath to beyond Walkden. The fast tracks had an easier cimb from Pendleton station to Pendlebury whilst the slow lines climed from Brindleheath Junction to Pendlebury. Most freight trains on the slow lines needed a banker. Between P/bury & Walkden most signals were duplicated (high and low levels) on the same post, all having distant and home arms together. This was because of the many bridges.
Swinton had a goods yard (I think it is a builders yard/suprmarket?) which accepted up to 8 trains a day, a lot of shunting was done usually by the train engine.
Pendlebury ticket office was at the roadside with a covered wooden bridge to the platforms. Chapter 2 later!

Welcome to the forum Tony. Like me you stumbled on to this site. I hope ypu enjoy it as much as I do.
Best wishes

Hello and welcome to the forum Tony.

Pendlebury Chapter 2
 

I find it amazing that there are only two pacers per hour. When I started spotting in 1947/8 there were over 20 per hour! Remember that this was the L & Y main line out of M/c serving Blackpool, Southport, Liverpool, Morecambe, Barrow and Windermere. All these destinations had express services leaving Victoria during rush hour, two or three to B/pool & Southport. There were expresses outbound at about 6 minute headway from 4pm to 6.30pm. Local services to wigan and Southport ran approx every 15 minutes. Outbound coal, cotton and wool trains for Liverpool docks slotted in between these and were invariably provided with a banker which boosted them to Swinton. The line was so crowded that the 4.30pm M/c-Glasgow was routed out through Eccles and Tyldesley(always a Scot or later a "Clan").
My usual spotting place was near Agecroft Road bridge, there are houses there now, it used to be open rough ground - ideal for playing Nazis and Commandoes! The sight and sound of an L&Y 0-8-0 at full bore on a coal train banked by a WD 2-8-0 was quite something!
P.S. Between the Station and Station Hotel was a barbershop, is it there?

Neil's 1897 photo
 

After very extensive research on t'internet, the photo of Pendlebury station was taken after 1902. If you look carefully above the pub roof, you can see the carriers for the tramwires which were erected after 1903. Salford trams reached Irlams o'th Height (top of Swinton Park Road) in 1903 and Bolton trams reached Clifton the same year, but I cannot find who built and operated the trams up Bolton Road. I remember trams passing grandma's house at No 306.
The little house between the station and the pub used to be a barber shop. The barber was a little Irishman who fancied himself as a great tenor. He would constantly sing "Take me home again Kathleen" as he cut your hair!
For some local history, type in "Clifton Hall Tunnel" into google. I went through that tunnel when my mates and I were about 9 years old, very dark, very wet and full of rats! Only a few trains ran through it although there was a Saturday passenger train from Colne to LLandudno until the disaster occurred.

Hi all,

I have just found this forum, and have read with interest all these tidbits about Swinton and Pendlebury stations. I attended St. Augustine's school just opposite the old station site, and we sometimes messed around on the old Black Harry Tunnel entrance, which by that time - late 1980's - had been sealed up and track lifted!

I myself have been to Salford local hsitory library and I have found some goodish shots for Swinton station.

However, I'm particularly interested in the goods yard and goods facilities at Swinton... I have seen from the Salford photos and an old OS map that there is a fairly good sized yard and shed at Swinton.

Does anyone have any info regarding the buildings and facilities at Swinton Goods Yard?

By the way Neil, you have posted a picture of Swinton that I have been looking around for for the past 4 months! THANKS! :D

Ben

Hi Ben, welcome to the forum.
I went to school at Cromwell Road which was opposite Swinton goods yard. My trainspotting years started here!
Swinton goods yard was dominated by a very large two road shed, large enough for lorries to drive inside for direct trans-shipment of goods. Outside, between the shed and the main lines, were either four or six sidings which ended at Station Road. Access to the yard was from the down fast at the Moorside end, trains had to reverse in. There was a headshunt at the Moorside end but I can't remember if it went past the bridge off Cromwell Road. There was a weighbridge at the Station Road end along with a range of smaller buildings and coal staiths. In 1950 there was a daily throughput of approximately 30 waggons which meant a lot of shunting usually by the train engines. The pick up goods trains were usually powered by Hughes "Crabs" which had good acceleration for fly shunting.
If you have any more questions, please ask.

Hi Tony,

Thanks for that insight, it's really nice to hear from you, and it's really good to hear about the operational aspects of the yard.

I know it's a long shot, but I don't suppose you have any photos of the yard do you?

I've been trying to find one for ages, and bar a couple of aerial shots from when Swinton Precinct was built, it's been a bit fruitless! Of course I would reimburse you for any costs incurred!

I too went to Swinton High School (Cromwell Road school in a new guise!), but now of course the dreaded Matalan is on the site!

Ben :D

Hi Ben, sorry no photos of Swinton goods yard. When I was at Cromwell road Juniors, the only cameras were "Box Brownies" or the annual school photographer!
I lived near the top of Agecroft Road up to 1951 then moved over the border into Irlams o'th Height till I joined the RAF in 1958. All my spotting was done within cycling distance so I knew the area very well.
Try to get a copy of the book "Salford in the days of steam" by Paul Shackcloth ISBN 0-9543128-2-1 Published by Steam Image at £17.95. It has some very interesting photos of places you will probably recognise.

Hi Tony,

No problem, I thought that would be the case to be honest! I too used to live at the top of Agecroft Road, opposite the Henry Bods, and we used to take our dog for a walk on the "rabbit hills" as we called them behind the field and long the railways tracks. The fast lines were lifted long beforehand, as I think this is where we used to walk our dog! We were able to walk over the bridge at Bank Lane and down towards Pendleton, but as they demolished that bridge a while back now, you can only go as far as Bank Lane.

If you walk along there though, you can still see bits of old rail and whatnot, very heavily rusted though, to practically nothing. If you can manage to get across Agecroft Road to the other side, there are also the odd few items of disused railway paraphernalia.

It's really interesting to see that what is now an under used slow line was once the LYR's main line to Liverpool... it's just a shame I never saw it, as I am sure I would have had many hours of fun looking out of our bedroom window onto the bridge over Agecroft!

Ben

Hi Ben, I can give you some history of your area;
I lived at 4 Beverley Road, the pub? you mentioned (at the corner of Agecroft Road?) used to be the house belonging to the NCB which was occupied until about 1956 by the Manager of Sandiholes Colliery which was just beyond the M60/East Lancs Road Junction - the biggest in the area.
The playing fields used to be undulating ground forming a big bowl dropping away from Bolton Road to the railway which was on an embankment about 40 feet high. About 1949/50, Salford Corporation used the area as a landfill site, eventually filling it to today's level. The land now is nothing like as exciting as it was for us, it used to be the biggest area of silvergrass in Lancashire. There was a spring down near the railway which ran through a little culvert under the embankment. It was an exciting day when divers had to be sent for to unblock the culvert after we boys blocked it up and it reached a depth of about ten feet overnight!
Are the sloping trees still near the war memorial? The estate on the left of Agecroft road was built about 1952 on what was originally a sand quarry, a great place for playing commandoes. There was another sand quarry on the Lumbs lane side of the railway, a big lake and the big spoil tips from Wheatsheaf Colliery - a wonderful playground where we used to play all day.

Hi Ben, I can give you some history of your area;
I lived at 4 Beverley Road, the pub? you mentioned (at the corner of Agecroft Road?) used to be the house belonging to the NCB which was occupied until about 1956 by the Manager of Sandiholes Colliery which was just beyond the M60/East Lancs Road Junction - the biggest in the area.
The playing fields used to be undulating ground forming a big bowl dropping away from Bolton Road to the railway which was on an embankment about 40 feet high. About 1949/50, Salford Corporation used the area as a landfill site, eventually filling it to today's level. The land now is nothing like as exciting as it was for us, it used to be the biggest area of silvergrass in Lancashire. There was a spring down near the railway which ran through a little culvert under the embankment. It was an exciting day when divers had to be sent for to unblock the culvert after we boys blocked it up and it reached a depth of about ten feet overnight!
Are the sloping trees still near the war memorial? The estate on the left of Agecroft road was built about 1952 on what was originally a sand quarry, a great place for playing commandoes. There was another sand quarry on the Lumbs lane side of the railway, a big lake and the big spoil tips from Wheatsheaf Colliery - a wonderful playground where we used to play all day.