Town Gate, Heptonstall and Hebden Bridge Signal Box Artworks.

 Created by me based on 2 pictures I took in November 2013 are these images of Town Gate the main road through the village of Heptonstall and the signal box at Hebden Bridge Railway Station. Both can also be seen on Clickasnap un-watermarked.

The versions shown here are watermarked and lower resolution. Clicking either image should open a link in another window to the Clickasnap version.

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Copley Valley, During Redevelopment

 Copley Valley is an area of Calderdale to the east of Sowerby Bridge, redeveloped in the early 2010's as industrial, housing and nature reserve.

Prior to the development the area was more commonly known as Milner Royd and you could find the remains of the Sowerby Bridge Sewage Works, a large dam which was popular with anglers until it was drained, Sterne Bridge (Built 1914), the old Standard Wire Factory and an area teaming with wildlife and nature. The area is bordered by the railway to the south, split down the middle by the River Calder and again bordered to the north by the Calder & Hebble Navigation Canal.

The pictures were taken in 2014 whilst the redevelopment was ongoing, the new road and bridge having been built and land set aside for the building of new industrial units, there are 5 which can be seen below or on ClickAsnap where they are full size, resolution and un-watermarked.

Copley Valley Nature Reserve, The picture was taken looking west with
my back towards Copley Viaduct. 

Copley Valley, this area which had been cleared for industrial units and
the new access road was the site of Sowerby Bridge Sewage Works opened
in 1896. The road passes over what was the dam, the water that filled it now
underground to the River Calder.

Hollas Lane Railway Bridge, built circa 1840 to carry the Manchester and
Leeds Railway over Hollas Lane.

Milner Royd Bridge carries Milner Royd Lane over the railway, closed
to the public by gates at both ends, the bridge used to be one of the main
walking / packhorse routes down from Norland to the valley bottom.

Milner Royd Signal Box, was still in operation when I took this picture
in 2014, closing in the summer of 2018. The box had been built in 1876 to
control the junction to the right of the picture where trains head off in the
directions of Brighouse or Halifax.

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

All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Halifax Railway Station (2013)

In July 1844 Halifax celebrated as the first single track line to reach the town arrived, terminating at Shaw Syke near to the current B and M store, the town had finally joined the railway revolution. The line had been constructed from the Manchester and Leeds Railway at Greetland along the the current route that passes by Salterhebble. By August 7 1850 the line had been extended to Bradford and a new station was opened with temporary buildings at its current location, the Shaw Syke site now being developed as a goods yard.

The temporary station was replaced by permanent stone buildings which were designed by Thomas Butterworth, these opened on the 23 June 1855 and Halifax now had a station to be proud of. The station became a junction station in the 1870's when the Great Northern Railway constructed the Queensbury Line to Keighley and Bradford. The line branching off just beyond the end of the platform over a viaduct in the direction of North Bridge Station. This new venture led to the station being redesigned and a new access bridge crossing the much enlarged station beneath, by this time it had grown to a station of 7 platforms.

Due to the growth of the railways in Halifax the station was renamed in June 1890 as Halifax Old Station to distinguish it from Halifax North Bridge and Halifax St Paul's Station's, it was renamed in September 1951 as Halifax Town Station, and again in June 1961 back to just Halifax after the closures of the St Paul's and North Bridge Station's.

The station was greatly reduced in size over the next few years, eventually becoming a 2 platform island station with poor facilities and access. The local paper the Halifax Evening Courier eventually started a campaign for a station fit for the 21st century which led to Northern and Network Rail investing in repairs and refurbishment of the stations facilities. In October 2014 there was a plan to restore the 1855 building as a third platform to improve services from the building, but the seems to have stalled whilst Calderdale Council plan a near £30 - £40 million development that will remove the bridge and higher access station,  add ground level access, retail and facilities and supposedly give an all round much better experience for travellers. Personally I will believe it when I see it, our local council always seem to manage to make a bad project out of a good idea.

The station currently offers direct trains to Bradford, Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester, with additional services to Chester Hull and London. The station is manned with ticket counters in addition to ticket machines. There is a small retail shop and a toilet if required, the station is not step free access but there is a lift down to platform level, I believe when there are staff in attendance. Before the pandemic hit the station saw approx 1.914 million passengers a year, an average of approx. 36800 per week. The last full year of figures during the Corona Virus era saw an average of approx 7000 per week using the station.

These pictures were taken in November 2013 using a Samsung Galaxy Tablet.

The bridge is the only access to the stations island platform

The Nestle Factory can be seen to the right of the picture

The listed 1855 building, having housed officers and a nursery for
the Eureka Children's Museum, their are now plans to reopen this
building.

The operations were moved to York and this signal Box Closed
in October 2018.

The following pictures were taken near to the station buildings.

Halifax Station is built upon a viaduct, high wall and this is one of the
tunnels underneath the station.

This bridge used to cross a number of lines and the goods yard, it was built
to provide a new access to the station in the 1880's.
There are currently plans going forward to demolish this structure.

The station buildings roofs captured from Bailey Hall. The Halifax
branch of the Calder & Hebble Navigation used to terminate
near to this site which is occupied by Nestle now.

Lilly Lane Footbridge was built to replace Lilly Lane, 
the road having been split in 2 by the railways arrival
and the station construction.

One of the tunnel paths that lead underneath
Halifax Station.

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

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All the pictures remain the copyright of Colin Green.

Steam and Modern Trains at Milner Royd Junction, Sowerby Bridge

Milner Royd Junction sits approx. 1 mile to the east of Sowerby Bridge Railway Station, West Yorkshire. The site is where the Caldervale line towards Halifax and the Calder Valley (the older of the 2) towards Brighouse split. The line towards Brighouse was closed to passenger services in 1970 and was a mainly freight line until reopening in 2000. The signal box is now redundant but still stands at the junction which is crossed by a 4 arch bridge. The bridge used to have a path towards Norland but for as many years as I can remember has been closed off and locked at its accessible northern side. The higher southern gate to the bridge is normally unlocked but is hard to access as the area around it in overgrown. It's just a spot I like to go now and again as you know you'll be left alone and you can watch the world of train transport pass by.

On Sunday 3rd November 2019 I had heard a steam train was to pass along the valley and through Milner Royd Junction, it was travelling from Blackburn to Wakefield Kirkgate an so I was there early to catch it, which turned out to be a good decision as the train was early which is not something you normally associate with British railways. The following 2 videos are taken from my YouTube account and were filmed that day.

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