Howe Bridge railway station

Howe Bridge
Location
Place	Howe Bridge, Atherton
Area	Wigan
Coordinates	53°31′06″N 2°30′19″W / 53.5182°N 2.5052°WCoordinates: 53°31′06″N 2°30′19″W / 53.5182°N 2.5052°W
Grid reference	SD665025
Operations
Pre-grouping	London and North Western Railway
Post-grouping	London Midland and Scottish Railway
Platforms	2
History
1 September 1864	Station opened as "Chowbent"
1901	Renamed "Howe Bridge"
20 July 1959	Station closed
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Manchester to Wigan Line
Legend
WCML to Preston Wigan North Western Standish via Whelley Loop Liverpool Lime Street via St Helens Platt Bridge WCML to Warrington Bank Quay Wigan Central and Whelley Loop Bickershaw & Abram Glazebrook via Lowton St Mary's Plank Lane Kenyon Junction via Pennington Hindley Green Kenyon Junction via Pennington Atherleigh Bolton Gt Moor St via Chequerbent Howe Bridge Kenyon Junction via Pennington Leigh Tyldesley Jct Tyldesley Ellenbrook Bolton Gt Moor St via Walkden Low Level Worsley Kenyon Junction via Chat Moss Monton Green Patricroft Clifton Junction Eccles Jct Eccles Manchester Exchange or Manchester Victoria

Howe Bridge railway station, originally Chowbent station, is a closed railway station in Atherton, Greater Manchester. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire.

History

The station at Howe Bridge, in common with other stations on the Manchester to Wigan Line, was opened by the London and North Western Railway on 1 September 1864.^[1] At a junction to the west of Tyldesley railway station, the line to Wigan North Western railway station headed north west via Chowbent, Hindley and Platt Bridge to Springs Branch near Wigan. The timber built Chowbent Station was situated on an embankment accessed by steps and was renamed Howe Bridge in 1901.^[2] The station joined the London Midland and Scottish Railway during the Grouping in 1923. It passed to the London Midland Region of British Railways on nationalisation in 1948. The station closed on 20 July 1959.^[3]

Coal deposits were the chief motivation for building a railway in the area and the railway's supporters included many local colliery owners and industrialists.^[4] A connection to Fletcher, Burrows and Company's Chanters Colliery was provided by the LNWR to the east of the station. Colliery locomotives would sometimes work through the station.^[5]

References

1. Sweeney 1996, p. 72
2. Sweeney 1996, p. 99
3. Sweeney 1996, p. 99
4. Sweeney 1996, p. 71
5. Townley et al. 1995, p. 278

Sources

• Sweeney, D. J. (1996), A Lancashire Triangle Part One, Triangle Publishing, ISBN 0-9529333-0-6
• Townley, C H A; Appleton, C A; Smith, F D; Peden, J A (1995), The Industrial Railways of Bolton, Bury and the Manchester Coalfield, Part 2, The Manchester Coalfield, Cheltenham: Runpast Publishing, ISBN 1-870754-32-8

External links

• The station on a 1948 OS map via npe maps

Preceding station	Disused railways			Following station
Hindley Green		LNWR		Tyldesley