Longridge railway station
Encyclopedia
Longridge railway station was a passenger terminus of the Preston and Longridge Railway
Preston and Longridge Railway
The Preston and Longridge Railway was a branch line in Lancashire, England. Originally designed to carry quarried stone in horse-drawn wagons, it became part of an ambitious plan to link the Lancashire coast to the heart of Yorkshire...
. It served the town of Longridge
Longridge
Longridge is a small town and civil parish in the borough of Ribble Valley in Lancashire, England. It is situated north-east of the city of Preston, at the western end of Longridge Fell, a long ridge above the River Ribble. Its nearest neighbours are Grimsargh and the Roman town of Ribchester , ...
in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The line first opened in 1840 to carry stone from the recently opened Tootle Heights quarry on the northeastern side of the village of Longridge, as it then was. Wagons carrying quarried stone ran downhill to Preston
Deepdale Street railway station
Deepdale Street railway station was the original Preston terminus of the Preston and Longridge Railway in Lancashire, England, when it first opened in 1840. It was located in Deepdale Street, off Deepdale Road, on what was then the outskirts of Preston...
and were hauled in the other direction by horses. There were rudimentary passenger facilities at a level crossing in Burey Lane (later called Berry Lane) which at the time was a rural lane with only a couple of houses; the village of Longridge was at the southeast end of the lane. A hotel was built next to the station, and was known as the Longridge Railway Tavern and the Station Hotel before being renamed in 1853 the Towneley Arms, as it is still known today.
After the railway converted to steam power in 1848, Longridge expanded rapidly. Four cotton mills were built alongside the railway and Berry Lane became the town centre.
By 1867, the railway was owned jointly by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways...
and the London and North Western Railway
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...
, and three years later the railway bought the Towneley Arms. A station building was built on the side of the hotel in 1872.
On the opposite side of Berry Lane were many goods sidings, for the local mills, gasworks and a coal merchant. The line continued to the Tootle Heights quarries.
The line and the station closed to passengers on 31 May 1930. Goods traffic continued until November 1967; within the next year the tracks were lifted.
Today the former station building and canopy still exist and are used as the headquarters of Longridge Town Council. Where the tracks once ran through the station is a war memorial, erected in 1981. Part of the goods yard opposite has become a supermarket car park.
In late 2008, a Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
grant of £221,600 was awarded to restore the former station building for use as a heritage centre and community area. The restoration was completed in 2010.