Woodlesford

The Story of a Station
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Woodlesford Station
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Bill Tiffany
Peter Kirton
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Water Haigh Colliery
Bentley's Brewery
Armitage Quarries
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Fleet Oil Depot
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Peter Kirton had a long and successful career on the railways. He started work as a train recorder at Goose Hill Junction signalbox just south of Normanton where the old Manchester and Leeds route diverged from the Midland Main Line. Later he was a relief signalman based at Woodlesford from 1963 to 1968. He went on to be Chief Trains Inspector on the East Coast Main Line and retired in 1993 from a job at the headquarters in York. He published several books including his railway autobiography - Proceed at Caution. Peter passed away in May 2011 at the age of 76. Here he talks about his early career and of his time at Woodlesford.
 
The routine at Woodlesford box.wma

An unidentified War Department 8F outside Woodlesford signal box. Photo by Derek Rayner.


An express passes through a deserted Woodlesford station on a Sunday in the 1960s. The signal box was probably closed and "locked out" with the signals pulled off. In the distance is a gantry across the line for Water Haigh colliery's ropeway which carried waste to slag heaps adjacent to the canal. Photo by Derek Rayner.