“Lockwood Viaduct” by Brian Fawcett

A painting of Lockwood Viaduct by artist Brian Fawcett, circa 1900.

Lockwood Viaduct
Lockwood Viaduct

Out of frame to the lower left is Meltham Junction, where the Meltham Branch Line separated from the Penistone Line. The train in the foreground appears to be making its way towards Meltham.

Presumably Fawcett set up his easel on Hanson Lane, as I wasn’t standing too far away from where he painted it when I took this photo 115 years later:

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Huddersfield Daily Examiner (23/Jan/2013) – Rural Pennine Rail Line that Just Refused to Die

Rural Pennine Rail Line that Just Refused to Die

It was due to shut but now carries 1m passengers each year. Paul Salveson is a councillor for Golcar ward and founded the Penistone Line Partnership in 1993. Here he examines a new book about the massive cuts to the local railway network over many years.

Dr Richard Beeching is a name that still sends shudders down the spines of many rail supporters. He was the famous ‘axe man’ who was responsible for the closure of thousands of miles of railways in the 1960s and 1970s. His report — The Re-shaping of British Railways — was published 50 years ago, on March 27, 1963.

A new book puts the Beeching legacy into context and prominently features one particular railway — the Penistone Line — which refused to die.

“Holding the Line — How Britain’s Railways Were Saved” is written by two highly experienced railwaymen, Lord Richard Faulkner and Chris Austin, OBE.

The book is the first detailed account of successive attempts to drastically cut Britain’s railway network, of which Beeching was the low point.

While Richard and Chris are passionate about railways — and their anger about the slashing of our railways in the Beeching era comes through strongly — the book does not harangue the reader. It shows, with clear evidence, that there really was what amounts to a conspiracy in government circles to destroy what was once the best railway system in the world. And it could have been far worse.

Many lines had closed before Beeching published his infamous report.

Locally, Holmfirth lost its passenger service in 1959 and Meltham’s passenger trains ceased 10 years earlier.

The Penistone Line itself from Huddersfield to Sheffield was proposed for closure by Beeching in 1963.

Perhaps, surprisingly, it was reprieved in 1966 by Labour’s incoming transport minister, Barbara Castle, as one of six ‘conurbation commuter services’. However, that was not to be the end of the story.

The section of line between Denby Dale and Sheffield was proposed for closure in 1982, making the remaining section from Denby Dale to Huddersfield unviable.

South Yorkshire Passenger Transport executive relented on the Denby Dale-Sheffield closure but meanwhile West Yorkshire Metro had withdrawn financial support from the Huddersfield section. It wasn’t until 1987, after much pressure from groups such as the Huddersfield Penistone Sheffield Rail Users’ Association that the threat of closure was removed. However, the branch from Shepley to Clayton West saw its last train on January 22, 1983 — one of the last major closures in the country. The authors stress that the threat to large swathes of the rail network continued throughout the 1980s. The Serpell Report of 1983 presented ‘options’ which included a network of just 1,630 route miles — a loss of nearly 9,000 miles, including all of Huddersfield’s railways.

The book demonstrates that the attempts to close substantial parts of the network were highly political. Villains of the piece include Ernest Marples, Conservative transport minister at the time of Beeching, but also the shadowy figure of Alfred Sherman, a right-wing ideologue who had the ear of Mrs Thatcher. His ‘big idea’ was to tarmac over as many railways as possible and turn them into ‘super-highways’. But Labour Governments do not escape criticism either. The incoming 1964 Labour Government of Harold Wilson could easily have saved several well-used routes such as Whitby to Scarborough and York to Beverley.

The last major attempted closure came in the early 1980s when British Rail announced its intention to close the Settle-Carlisle Line. The route had been threatened, but reprieved, in the 1960s. The announcement led to a high-profile campaign which saw over 23,000 objections — including one dog!

The Government backed down. Like many other lines which had been threatened by Beeching, the Settle-Carlisle went on to prosper, today carrying a mix of both passenger and freight trains. Other lines in West Yorkshire which Beeching wanted to close included the now-electrified commuter line to Ilkley.

Sadly, the line to Wetherby succumbed and one has to wonder at the madness of closing what might have been an important part of the West Yorkshire commuter network had it survived.

Since the ‘final’ reprieve in 1987 the Penistone Line has, of course, gone from strength to strength. An active users’ association has been complemented by the Penistone Line Partnership, the first ‘community rail partnership’ in the country, formed in 1993. It became a model for other lightly-used lines around Britain. Passenger numbers have more than doubled and the line now carries well over a million people a year. It could so easily have been lost.

The main problems facing Britain’s local railways today are not lack of passengers but shortage of capacity to meet rising demand.

The so-called ‘basket-case’ lines of the 1970s are now carrying trains which are bursting at the seams. The challenge of the next 20 years will be to provide the capacity — both extra trains and more track capacity — to meet the sort of growth that the so-called experts of the 1960s would have dismissed as a pipe-dream. It was the romantics like John Betjeman who were proved right, not the ‘realists’ such as Beeching, Serpell and Sherman.

“Holding the Line: How Britain’s Railways Were Saved” by Richard Faulkner and Chris Austin is published by Ian Allan.

Sheffield & Rotherham Independent (13/Sep/1884) – Local Intelligence: Shocking Accident at Penistone Station

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

Shocking Accident at Penistone Station.

An inquest on the body of Elliott Hawkyard, a young man who was employed at Messrs. Charles Cammells and Co.’s Works, Penistone, and who lodged at Thurlstone, was held on Thursday, at the Wentworth Arms, Penistone. The deceased was killed by falling from the parapet of the viaduct, near Penistone Station, on Tuesday night. He was a passenger by a train from Sheffield to Penistone, and as the night was dark, and he rather short sighted, it is supposed that he mistook the parapet of the viaduct for the platform of the station, and after stepping out of the carriage to the parapet, took another step forward and fell to the ground, a distance of 75 yards. The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental death,” and added a recommendation that an iron railing should be placed along the whole length of the parapet. The Coroner said he would forward the recommendation of the jury to the Secretary of State.

Huddersfield Chronicle (10/Jul/1869) – Opening of the Branch Line of Railway to Meltham

MELTHAM.

Opening of the Branch Line of Railway to Meltham.

After innumerable predictions, the opening of the Meltham Branch Railway is an accomplished fact. On Monday morning the line was opened for passenger traffic, and although no public demonstration took place, the inhabitants of the valley were highly delighted with the event. The first train consisting of engine, tender, and eleven carriages — with a large number of passengers left Huddersfield station — for Meltham. The engine was under the care of Mr. McConkey, who was accompanied on the engine by Mr. Normanton, the assistant superintendent of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company ; Mr. Thornton, superintendent of the locomotive department ; Mr. Goldstraw, the contractors’ engineer ; Mr. Thompson, the Huddersfield station master ; and other officials. As the train moved from the platform fog signals were fired. At Lockwood about a score of passengers were taken up, and fog signals were fired as the train left the station. At Netherton a large number of persons congregated and welcomed the arrival of the tram with hearty cheers. Flags were flying at the station and across the line, and a large number of fog signals were discharged. Hundreds of the inhabitants flocked into the train, the first ticket issued being obtained by Mr. James Wrigley, who has taken a lively interest in the construction of the line from its commencement. At Healey House station flags were hoisted and signals fired. At Meltham thousands of persons lined the side of the cutting above the station, and in various ways demonstrated the pleasure they felt at the opening of the line, which had already been productive of great benefit to them by a reduction in the price of coal by at least 3s. 6d. per ton. On the arrival of the train a large number of fog signals were discharged. The first ticket issued at this station was to Master Walker, son of the station master. During the whole of the day the trains were well filled with passengers, and ample provision made for their comfort and entertainment at the Rose and Crown, the Swan, Victoria, and other inns in the town. The line, although a short length, has been very expensive in its construction owing to the many difficulties which beset the contractors, Messrs. Barnes and Beckett. The first sod was lifted by Charles Brook, Esq., of Enderby, on the 4th of April, 1864, and Monday being the fifth day of July, the line has occupied five years, three months, and one day in its construction. The difficult portions of the undertaking were at Dungeon Wood and Netherton tunnel. From the junction at the Lockwood viaduct to Meltham is a distance of three miles and a half, and the gradients are very heavy. On leaving the main line at the above junction the gradient is one in 100; at Dungeon Wood to Butternab it is one in 60 ; at Netherton it is one in 95; and from Healey House it is one in 120. The line is level at all the stations. The line passes through picturesque scenery, the Netherton valley being one of the finest for miles round, and presents a fine opening for the erection of villa residences. Emerging from the Butternab tunnel, a magnificent gorge is opened out on the right hand side, which, for beauty and variety of foliage, can scarcely be equalled in this part of the country. Leaving Netherton station, a fine, extensive panorama is opened to view. The picturesque valley, the beautiful silk mills of Messrs. Charles Brook and Sons, overtopped by the extensive thread works of Messrs. Jonas Brook and Brothers, flanked by the Spink Mires Mills, with the pretty church of St. James and the parsonage in the centre, and the extensive view of pasture, wood, and moorland forms a picture rarely met with, and this will be much enhanced when the Convalescent Home is erected. There is little doubt but that the Meltham line will prove a great attraction for pic-nic parties to Harden Moss, the Isle of Skye, and other places in the locality.


1869.07.10 Opening of the Branch Line of Railway to Meltham - Huddersfield Chronicle 10 July 1869