Leek Brook railway station
Encyclopedia
Leek Brook railway station is a closed passenger station in Staffordshire
, Great Britain
.
Leek Brook railway station was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway
(NSR) in 1904. It consisted of a island platform
with two faces on the line from and and a single platform on the down (i.e. Leek bound) direction of the Churnet Valley Line
.
The railway station was a very quiet station not even advertised in timetables and was described by the NSR as a halt. The Churnet Valley platform was mainly used as an interchange platform with the St Edwards Hospital tramway
using the other side of the platform. Passengers to and from Stoke-on-Trent
used the platforms on the Stoke–Leek line and walked over to the Churnet Valley platform to catch a tram to the hospital. Passengers wishing to head south on the Churnet Valley line towards Uttoxeter
would have to catch a northbound train to Leek and then return through Leek Brook on a south bound train.
Leek Brook railway station closed to all traffic on 7 May 1956, the hospital railway had already closed two years previously in November 1954.
. This was later to become the base of the Churnet Valley Railway
(CVR). The CVR had slowly been progressing in preserving the line when in the late 1990s they had reached the site of Leek Brook station which, however, was not judged worthy of re-opening due to the large amount of other preservation projects being undertaken by the CVR and the poor access to the site.
The first CVR passenger service to the station site was on 24 August 1996 and Leek Brook is currently the northern terminus of the CVR. There is no public access to the station, so neither boarding not alighting is possible there. Trains stop there only to detach the locomotive from one end of the train and run round to attach it to the other.
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
History
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire....
(NSR) in 1904. It consisted of a island platform
Island platform
An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...
with two faces on the line from and and a single platform on the down (i.e. Leek bound) direction of the Churnet Valley Line
Churnet Valley Line
The Churnet Valley line was one of the three original routes planned and built by the North Staffordshire Railway. Authorised in 1846, the line opened in 1849 and ran from in Cheshire to in East Staffordshire...
.
The railway station was a very quiet station not even advertised in timetables and was described by the NSR as a halt. The Churnet Valley platform was mainly used as an interchange platform with the St Edwards Hospital tramway
St Edwards Hospital tramway
The St Edwards Hospital tramway was a tramway built for Staffordshire County Council for the construction of the County Mental Asylum at Cheddleton, Staffordshire...
using the other side of the platform. Passengers to and from Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
used the platforms on the Stoke–Leek line and walked over to the Churnet Valley platform to catch a tram to the hospital. Passengers wishing to head south on the Churnet Valley line towards Uttoxeter
Uttoxeter
Uttoxeter is a historic market town in Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. The current population is approximately 13,711, though new developments in the town will increase this figure. Uttoxeter lies close to the River Dove and is near the cities of Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and...
would have to catch a northbound train to Leek and then return through Leek Brook on a south bound train.
Leek Brook railway station closed to all traffic on 7 May 1956, the hospital railway had already closed two years previously in November 1954.
Churnet Valley Railway
During the 1970s a railway preservation base was set up at nearby Cheddleton railway stationCheddleton railway station
Cheddleton railway station is a passenger railway station on the Churnet Valley Railway in Staffordshire, England.-History:Cheddleton station, situated on the Churnet Valley Line of the North Staffordshire Railway, was opened to both passengers and goods on September 1, 1849.The station was a...
. This was later to become the base of the Churnet Valley Railway
Churnet Valley Railway
The Churnet Valley Railway is a standard gauge heritage railway to the east of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. The CVR has two main operational headquarters - Cheddleton station, where the motive power department is based and where the first trains ran, and Kingsley and Froghall station, where...
(CVR). The CVR had slowly been progressing in preserving the line when in the late 1990s they had reached the site of Leek Brook station which, however, was not judged worthy of re-opening due to the large amount of other preservation projects being undertaken by the CVR and the poor access to the site.
The first CVR passenger service to the station site was on 24 August 1996 and Leek Brook is currently the northern terminus of the CVR. There is no public access to the station, so neither boarding not alighting is possible there. Trains stop there only to detach the locomotive from one end of the train and run round to attach it to the other.