Woodlesford

The Story of a Station
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Woodlesford Station
Station Masters
Clerks and Porters
Signalmen
Goods and Parcels
Drivers and Guards
Trains
Enthusiasts & Passengers
Water Haigh Colliery
Bentley's Brewery
Armitage Quarries
Aire & Calder Navigation
Fleet Mills
Potteries
Hulse and Co Ltd
Fleet Oil Depot
Village Memories
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An 8F loco 48080 shunts wagons from a "pick up" freight into Woodlesford's last remaining station siding. When this photo was taken by station clerk Alan Bailey in May 1964 the loco was based at Farnley Junction shed, 55C, in Leeds. It had previously been based at Stourton and Royston. Designed by Sir William Stanier of the London Midland and Scottish Railway and built at the Vulcan Foundry in 1936, it was sent to Persia during the Second World War. It was cut up for scrap at Draper's in Hull after being withdrawn from service in 1966.

Woodlesford station opened in 1840 as part of the North Midland Railway, one of the first long distance railways in the country running between Derby and Leeds Hunslet Lane. The line was designed and engineered by George and Robert Stephenson and built by railway navvies working for a number of contractors. In 1844 it was absorbed into the Midland Railway and in 1923 became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company. On the creation of the nationalised British Railways in 1948 the railway through Woodlesford became part of the London Midland Region. In 1950 it was moved into the North Eastern Region. Throughout the early part of the 20th century the station had a thriving goods business including coal trains from the nearby Water Haigh colliery, and sidings serving George Armitage's stone quarry and brickworks. Raw materials for Bentley's Yorkshire Breweries arrived by train, and beer was dispatched all over the north of England. There was also parcels traffic for the Rothwell district, and homing pigeons were sent by fanciers far and wide for training and competitions. This website tells the history of the station and the industries and people it served in the township of Oulton and Woodlesford.


Woodlesford Station in 1959 by John Thorp.
More pictures and information will be added to the site over time. If you have any information or pictures please contact me.  
This site is being created by Howard Benson