Rawcliffe Railway Station: A Forgotten Halt

Nestled in the picturesque village of Rawcliffe, near Goole, is a hidden gem that has largely slipped from the public consciousness. Once a bustling hub of activity, connecting the small village of Rawcliffe to the wider railway network, the station now stands as a testament to a bygone era, receiving only minimum trains per day, a "Parliamentary" service to avoid the need for closure proceedings.

A Brief History

The date of Rawcliffe Station's opening was 1st April 1848, by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and for many years the line was busy, connecting Leeds with Goole and beyond. Sadly, as cars became more popular, usage began to decline, and in the 1980's the line was singled betweenHensall and Goole, the abandoned west bound platform still stands but is now overgrown. The stations signal box was removed, the level crossing automated and the station builings sold to become a private house during this era. Rawcliffe's decline has continued and now it is frequently featured in the top 10 least used railway stations for the whole of the United Kingdom.

Today's Station

The lack of services has seen the station continue to decline seeing only 36 passengers in 2020/21, and in the low hundreds in the following years. There are no facilities at the station other than a basic shelter, no car parking, or information boards, it did feature step free access and a telephone. There is currently 3 trains per day Monday to Saturday, 2 in the direction of Leeds, 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening, and 1 train in the direction of Goole in the evening. There is no Sunday service.

I took the pictures below on the 10th August 2024 with a Nikon d3300, they can also be seen in higher resolution on my Clickasnap account.

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All the images remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Denton Railway Station

 Denton Railway Station is a frequent inclusion in the top 10 least used stations in the United Kingdom having seen an average of just 1 passenger a month use the station during the last full years of figures. This is more than likely caused by a managed decline of the stations services and facilities, with the station having zero facilities in no shelters, toilets, disabled access, and only being served by 2 trains per week, 1 in either direction on Saturday mornings. This policy is deliberate as serving the station with at least 1 train a week prevents the cost's involved in a full closure program.

Once a busy railway line which carried trains to London Euston much of the services, line and infrastructure was reduced during the 1960's, the station going from 4 platforms to just 1 which is the island platform still remaining.  Despite surviving attempts at full closure the station is unlikely to receive extra train services due to congestion at junctions further up the line.

These pictures were taken on the 15th December 2020 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera. There are a total of 9 to view, which can be seen below and on Clickasnap full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

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Reddish South Railway Station

Reddish South Railway Station is a stop that serves the community of Reddish, Stockport. Frequently amongst the 10 least used stations in the whole of the UK, Reddish South currently has 2 scheduled stops per week both on a Saturday morning in each direction.

Reddish South opened in October 1845 when the line between Stockport and Guide Bridge was completed by the Manchester & Birmingham Railway, barely a year later the line passed into the ownership of the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) when the M&BR, Grand Junction Railway and Liverpool and Manchester Railways merged.

The station was a busy stop in it's early tears and consisted of 2 island platforms, a signal box, engine shed and large goods yard. The station was busy throughout it's first half century until trains were redirected in May 1899, reducing much of the passing railway traffic.

Reddish South continued to decline and by the 1960's, British Rail was under large scale downsizing as part of the Beeching cuts and despite many stations like Reddish South and lines like the Stockport-Stalybridge closing they survived the cuts. Despite surviving the station continued to be run down with a lack of investment with the line reduced to single track status, the 2 island platforms reduced to 1 and the the track bed filled in, the station buildings and engine shed demolished and eventually the sidings and land around the station sold off and redeveloped. 

By the 1980's Reddish South had become a request stop only and even this was eventually reduced to a parliamentary service of 1 train per week at 9.22am on a Friday from Stockport to Stalybridge. In 2007 proposals were made to close the station along with Denton to the north, but keep the line open. This prompted a campaign to get more services and investment at Reddish South and a local group has added a mural, flower bed and picket fence to brighten the station up.

The station today suffers because of a lack of investment, no facilities and only 2 scheduled stops per week, both on a Saturday morning in each direction. Whilst there you could see plenty of house buildings adjacent to Reddish South and a large Morrisons store is located just behind the mural that are potential customers to the stop. Just 158 passengers used the station in 2019/20, an average of 3 per week, the stop is just 1 mile from Reddish North Railway Station which served 242000 in the same period, over 1531 times the amount that used Reddish South.

The pictures were taken on the 15th December 2020 using a Nikon d3300 SLR, they can be seen below and on Clickasnap un-watermarked and higher resolution by clicking any image.

The stations only entrance, the infilled section to the right was once trackbed making the station multi platform, it is now served by 1.

Despite low usage, a lack of investment, and 1 train a week stopping the stations limited facilities are looked after by Friends of Reddish South.

To the stations northern end, past a limited size fence is the disused section of the platform. The construction site to the right used to be the stations goods yard.

The fence represents the end of the used part of the station.

The used part of the station, showing the lack of facilities and shelters.

Freightliner 66610 passing through the station, the line is mainly used by freight trains.

The station viewed from the bridge, the former goods yard having houses constructed on it.

Clicking any image should open a link in another window to the un-watermarked, higher resolution version on Clickasnap.

Thanks for looking, please take a moment to share and follow me on social media.

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.