Showing posts with label Low Moor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Low Moor. Show all posts

Saturday, 16 May 2020

Spen Valley Greenway. Low Moor to the M62.

The Spen Valley Greenway is a cycle-pedestrian corridor connecting Low Moor with Ravensthorpe, West Yorkshire, passing through the towns of Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike and Liversedge on route. The route runs for approx. 8 miles along the former routes of the Spen Valley Railway and Ravensthorpe Branch Lines. 

The Greenway was planned after Sustrans acquired the trackbed in 1998, and opened in 2000. In addition to the remaining bridges, occasional railway signposts and ornamental benches along the route, there are artworks including Sally Matthews flock of Swaledale sheep and Trudi Entwistle's Rotate. The route is traffic free and pretty flat along it's length, with a few small gentle slopes up and down. There are supermarkets along the route including a Tesco alongside the former site of Cleckheaton Station and a Morrison's a short walk from the site of what was Heckmondwike Station.

The following is a short video i put together of the pictures I took along the line, it includes images of the station sites whilst still operational.

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Before conversion from an overgrown and abandoned former railway to a pleasant tarmacked cycle and pedestrian route, the greenway had a life as a railway known as the Mirfield and Low Moor Railway. The original double track line opening was in 2 stages, from Low Moor to Mirfield on the 18th July 1848, and the Ravensthorpe Branch connecting Thornhill with Heckmondwike on the 1st June 1849. At it's height the line had 8 stations along it's route which included Low Moor, Cleckheaton Central, Liversedge Central, Heckmondwike Central after which the line split with stops at Northorpe North Road and Mirfield along the Mirfield route, and Ravensthorpe Lower and Thornhill along the Ravensthorpe Branch Line. The line remained in use until passenger services were withdrawn in July 1965 and goods traffic ended in the late 1980's.

There are currently small campaigns trying to get the line reopened, as much of the trackbed remains clear and unbuilt upon this seems an easy but perhaps expensive plan. There is currently a population of over 50000 along the Spen Valley Route with limited access to rail without commuting. There are competing plans featuring heavy rail and light rail proposals.

The following pictures are taken on the route from Low Moor to the M62 Motorway Bridge at Chain Bar. They were taken on the 30th December 2019 with a Nikon d3300.


















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

All the images remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Saturday, 11 January 2020

Low Moor Railway Station, Bradford

Low Moor Railway Station is a new station on the Caldervale line between Bradford and Halifax, West Yorkshire. Opened in April 2017 at a cost of £10.8 million pounds the station serves the villages of Low Moor and Oakenshaw and it's location close to the M62 and M606 motorways see's it promoted as a park and ride station.

The station has limited facilities with a small shelters of both platforms, there are card only ticket machines that mean tickets must be purchased prior to travel. The station is unmanned and has no refreshments, toilets or cash machines available. Access to the platforms is via steps or lift. The station was used by 133600 passengers in 2017 - 18 or approx. 2570 per week, and this figure will only continue to grow as recent timetable changes mean more stops at the station. 

The first station at Low Moor was opened at the same location in July 1848, and it's early years saw the station very busy as it was the terminus for both the line from Halifax and the Spen Valley line which ran through Heckmondwike, Liversedge and Cleckheaton. The line through to Bradford not complete until 1850. The station remained busy until the 1960's when it was marked for closure along with the Spen Valley route by the infamous Dr Beeching, with closure arriving on the 14th June 1965 to passengers with goods traffic withdrawn 2 years later.

The set of pictures were taken on the December 30th 2019 using a Nikon d3300 SLR camera. They can be seen here and on Flickr with selected ones also available to view on Clickasnap.














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

Here's a video slideshow I put together for YouTube.

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

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Through a Glass, Darkly: Hebden Bridge Railway Station in Negative

 There's something hauntingly beautiful about old photographs, especially when they're presented in a way that flips our perception....