Pennington railway station

Pennington railway station served Pennington, Leigh, Greater Manchester, England on the Bolton and Leigh Railway. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire.

Pennington
General information
LocationPennington, Wigan
England
Coordinates53°28′58″N 2°32′05″W / 53.4829°N 2.5346°W / 53.4829; -2.5346
Grid referenceSJ646985
Platforms2[1][2]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyKenyon and Leigh Junction Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
11 June 1831Station opened as Bradshaw Leach
1 February 1877Renamed Pennington
29 March 1954Station closed

The station opened as Bradshaw Leach on the Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway in 1831 and was renamed Pennington in 1877. It closed in 1954. The line serving Leigh closed in 1969.

History edit

Pennington Station was built when the Bolton and Leigh Railway, which reached the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Leigh in 1830, was extended by the construction of the Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway to meet the Liverpool and Manchester Railway at Kenyon in 1831.[3]

In 1864 the station became a junction when the Tyldesley Loopline from Tyldesley and Leigh and Bedford, built by the London and North Western Railway, joined the Kenyon and Leigh line just to the north of Bradshaw Leach Station.[4]

The station was renamed Pennington Station in 1877.[5]

The London and North Western Railway built another line via Plank Lane to Platt Bridge and Wigan NW which opened in 1885 creating a three way junction.[6][7]

 
1911 Map showing the location of the station (lower centre right) and the three way junction to its north

Stations on the line became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923, the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948, and were closed by the British Transport Commission six years later in 1954 when the line to Bolton Great Moor Street Station closed.[8] Passenger services on the Tyldesley Loopline did not stop at Pennington but all stations and the line closed following the Beeching Axe on 5 May 1969.[7][9]

The line of the trackbed of the Bolton and Leigh Railway was used as the route of the A579 Leigh bypass.[10]

Structure edit

On opening the line was single track and the station buildings, a booking office and waiting room, were on the east side. The line between Pennington and Kenyon Junction was doubled for the opening of the LNWR line from Tyldesley in 1864 and a second platform was constructed with a timber waiting shelter on the new line to the west.[7]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ James 2004, p. 10.
  2. ^ Suggitt 2004, p. 72.
  3. ^ Sweeney 2015, pp. 168–171.
  4. ^ Sweeney 1996, p. 54.
  5. ^ Butt 1995, p. 42.
  6. ^ Conolly 1976, p. 45.
  7. ^ a b c Pennington Station, subbrit.org.uk, retrieved 11 September 2010
  8. ^ Sweeney 1996, p. 11.
  9. ^ Sweeney 1996, p. 114.
  10. ^ Smith & Turner 2012, Map 45.

Bibliography edit

Further reading edit

External links edit

Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Kenyon Junction   London and North Western Railway   Plank Lane
  Kenyon and Leigh Junction Railway   Westleigh
  London and North Western Railway   Leigh