Great Central - Godley to Glossop and Dinting Railway Centre

Walk from Broadbottom station to Dinting Station. Distance 3 Miles

Godley

I previously covered the Cheshire Lines Committee Godley to Tiviot Dale and Tiviot Dale to East Didsbury. The Cheshire Lines Committee was a collaboration between the Great Central, Great Northern and Midland Railways with the aim of breaking the monopoly of the London & North Western Railway in the north west. At Godley Junction the CLC met the Great Central's mainline, the Woodhead Route. The original station at Godley Junction was replaced with the current one a short distance to the west that opened in 1986. I visited the original station site on my walk from Godley to Tiviot Dale.

When the Woodhead Route closed as a through route in 1981 part of the line remained in use as far as Glossop and Hadfield for Manchester suburban services. There are a couple of interesting sites of the important mainline that once ran here that I visited with the remaining suburban train services and a bit of walking.

Rail Map Online

Open Street Map

1910 Map

Broadbottom

We took the train as far as Broadbottom and walked along Mottram Road and Lower Market Street to Long Lane where a footpath runs along the south side of the surviving railway line through the site of the large Mottram Yard.

Below - Our train at Broadbottom.

Below - The former Broadbottom goods shed. Note the gantry for wires on the line in to the goods shed.

1954 Map

Mottram Yard was a large marshalling yard established in 1935 prior to the proposed electrification of the Woodhead route (which would not be completed until after the war). It was a convenient location to split off and attatch wagons heading to and coming from Manchester with those heading to and coming from the further west via the CLC line around the south of Manchester from Godley. The entire site was on a gradient of 1 in 85 so it could be gravity shunted without needing a hump. When the Woodhead route closed in 1981 Mottram yard was also closed as the line through it no longer saw freight traffic from across the Pennines.

Below - A small platform in the former yard, I couldn't find this on the old map. It looked as if it had been a cattle dock as there were the remains of fencing on the platform, though as far as I know the yard just dealt with re-marshalling wagons.

Below - The large Glossop Road bridge that spanned the narrower part between the arrival yard and sorting sidings.

Mottram Staff Halt

Below - A view from Glossop Road bridge looking west. All the land seen to the left of the surviving running lines was once occupied by sidings. The platforms of the staff halt can be seen. Though appearing to be an old station the platform was for the exclusive use of railway staff working in the yard.

1972 photo on Flickr

Dinting

Though there were paths along the site of the yard east of the Glossop Road bridge we continued on Glossop Road to Dinting Vale as the footpaths were a bit muddy.

Below - A 323 unit crosses Dinting Viaduct. Note the seemingly random arrangement of the piers of the viaduct, this is due to extra piers being added as the weight of trains increased.

A path along the bottom of Dinting Viaduct leads to paths through the site of the Dinting Railway Centre. The railway centre closed in 1991, the three road display hall was demolished and nature has taken over the rest of the site since.

Dinting Junction (original station)

1887 Map

Dinting was where the branch line to Glossop met the mainline from Sheffield via Woodhead. Originally the junction faced the Sheffield direction so passengers travelling from Glossop to Manchester had to change at Dinting Junction station. Soon realising there was greater demand for travel towards Manchester than Sheffield, the station was rebuilt to form a triangular junction with platforms on the corner of the triangle facing Manchester. The original alignment of the line from Glossop was used for an engine shed and engineers' sidings. It was this shed and sidings that in the 1970s and 80s formed the Dinting Railway Centre.

1921 Map

Dinting Railway Centre

Below - A video about the Dinting Railway Centre.

Below - The site today.

Below - The former coaling stage.

Below - The single road maintenance shed.

Below - Lean to buildings on the side of the original shed building. Old pictures of the site show this building with a refreshment room sign at the entrance as this was a tea room for most of the preservation era but was replaced by a cafe near the display hall in later years.

Below - Remains of buildings that stood at the eastern edge of the line on which brake van rides were operated.

Below - The floor of the three road display hall, the tracks sat between the sections of concrete floor.

Below - Rubble at the western end of the three road shed. In the background the former station building on one of the disused platforms of Dinting station can be seen.

Below - The disused station building. Originally this was on the platform used by trains from Glossop to Manchester but since the closure of the Woodhead route as a through line the lines around the triangular junction have been reduced to single track. With trains using the opposite platform the buildings on this platform were used by the railway centre. 

Below - Remains of one of the buildings near the station associated with the engineers' sidings.

Below - The platform constructed by the railway centre to give brake van rides along the site.

Below - Section of wall at the access from the car parking to the platform and display hall.

Below - At the eastern end of the site was the gate on what was once the car park entrance.

Below - At the eastern end of the site the site of the mainline connection in to the railway centre can be seen.

Below - The hut at the mainline connection to the site.

Below - The footbridge at the Dinting Lane crossing. The level crossing is now closed so the footbridge is the only access across the line at this point now.

Dinting (second station site)

From Dinting Lane we continued on Dinting Road to the current station site. As mentioned before it is a shadow of its former self, once the juntion between the Glossop branch and the GCR's mainline from London Marlybone to Manchester via Woodhead today it just sees commuter trains from Hadfield and Glossop in to Manchester.

Below - Nearly all trains now call at Platform 2. Originally this platform was used by Manchester to Glossop trains.. With the three sides of the triangle being single track now the trains call at this platform in both directions, towards Hadfield and towards Manchester. After calling at Glossop trains to Hadfield pass the station site again on the north side of the triangle which has no platforms on their way to Hadfield. Dinting does still have a ticket office, though with limited opening times.

Below - The disused building on the former platform for trains from Glossop to Manchester that was previously part of the railway centre. It can be seen that this building is bigger than that on Platform 2, there being more passengers heading towards Manchester.

Below - The former mainline side to the triangle with buildings bigger still as more of the trains once stopped here. The former platform for trains from Manchester towards Sheffield was on the left and has since been removed and the building has become a house. Platform 1 is the former platform for trains to Manchester from the Sheffield direction, this now just has one train in a morning that misses out Glossop.

Below - Dinting Station signal box on Platform 1, the last survivor of signal boxes that sat at each of the three corners of the site.

Below - Looking towards Manchester on the former mainline platforms.

Below - The south corner of the station with platform 1 on the left and platform 2 on the right with a train for Manchester calling at Platform 2.

Below - A train for Glossop at Hatfield at Platform 2.

Glossop

Below - We caught a train to Glossop and Hadfield, it is seen here at Glossop. Just one platform of the terminus station remains. On the right former goods shed buildings are now in use as a supermarket.

 I have previously cycled the former Woodhead route from Hadfield to Penistone but I intend to go back and walk the route so will likely feature Hadfield onwards in due course.

Diggle to Stalybridge Loop Line

Starting Point - Greenfield Station. Finishing Point - Stalybridge Station. Distance -10 Miles

I previously mentioned the railway and canal tunnels at Standedge on my Standedge Canal Tunnel article, having journeyed through the canal tunnel on a boat tour. I have also travelled through the 1894 built two track railway tunnel countless times but you don't get to see anything. The 1848 and 1871 built single track railway tunnels are disused but are only accessible to Network Rail staff.

When the railway route was widened to four tracks with the construction of the 1894 tunnel obviously the lines up to the tunnel needed similar capacity. Between Stalybridge and Diggle this was achieved by creating a loop line parallel to the existing route through Mossley and Greenfield as there wasn't space to widen the existing route. Being easier to build than the tunnel, this opened before the new tunnel in 1885. Four intermediate stations were provided from 1886, though these closed early as the line was primarily used by freight traffic. Remarkably remains of a few of these stations survive. In 1966 the route was closed completely apart from a small stub at the Stalybridge end which served the Hartshead Power Station.

Rail Map Online

Open Street Map

1906 Map

From a passing train the top of north portal of the tunnel the loop line enters shortly after diverging from the main line can just be seen, though this is not accessible. A footpath starts where the south portal of the tunnel once stood.

I started at Greenfield station and followed the Huddersfield Narrow Canal until the footpath connecting it to Kenworthy Gardens, from there I walked along High Street to Ryefields Drive. There are an upper and lower Ryefields Drives and the Saddleworth Linear Path links them, this is the path that follows the railway and this was the location of the now filled in tunnel portal.

Below - The first evidence of the railway, the culvert over Pickhill Brook.

Below - The bridge over Church Road, the original span has been replaced with a higher footbridge above the original abutments.

Below - Information panel at the Church Road bridge.

Uppermill

1910 Map

Below - The former Uppermill station. There was nothing to see at track level, just high wooden fences at either side of the path. Another higher footbridge replaces the rail bridge on the original abutments. From street level the station buildings can be seen. The station closed back in 1917.

A leisure centre now occupies the site of Uppermill's goods yard. 

Below - The bridge taking Rush Hill Road over the former railway. A concrete arch has been built under the partly filled in original bridge, presumably a means of strengthening it. It can be seen there were two spans on the original bridge, the filled in one on the right having been for the lines in to the goods yard.

Below - The bridge taking the footpath from Carr Lane to Fur Lane over the former railway.

The bridges over Higher Arthurs and Chew Valley Road and the Friezland Viaduct are gone. The path continues, with a few slight wiggles, at ground level to the site of Friezland station seen at the bottom of the above map.

Friezland

Below - Despite also closing in 1917 the station building at Friezland survives.

1906 Map

Another viaduct south of the station has been removed. Like Uppermill, the goods yard at Friezland was located south of the station.

1922 Map

Below - A playing field now occupies the site of Friezland's goods yard. This pillar once supported the crane shown on the above map. On the side the letters LNW Crewe are cast in to it.

The tunnel is filled in and the path continues via a series of zebra crossings complete with high buttons and red and green horse signals for horse riders using the path which is a bridleway at this point. A few footpath over bridges have been removed with the paths now meeting that at rail level.

Below - Remains of a couple of the footpath bridges.

1922 Map

Below -  The bridge under Winterford Lane.

Micklehurst

Below - Micklehurst station closed in 1907 but the station building is still in good condition. It is not shown on the old map as a station having already closed but it can be seen on Station Road towards the centre of the map.

Below - The BR Totem style sign on the station building is a bit misleading, the station having been closed by the London & North Western Railway and not seen passenger use under the LMS or BR.

Another viaduct has been removed south of Micklehurst station.

Below - The stub of the abutment at the south end of the viaduct at Micklehurst on Egmont Street.

Again the goods yard was south of the station. At Micklehurst this is now occupied by a large industrial complex which is not accessible. Instead I had to take a short detour via the canal alongside the former railway.

Below - An archway at the side of the canal which looks to have led to the goods yard, though this isn't shown on the map.

Next to the canal lock a footpath returns to the course of the railway.

1935 Map

Below - Remains of the bridge over the farm track to Kershaw Hay, on the right a path leads up to the track level.

Below - Bridge taking another farm track over the former railway.

We now get to the stub of the line that survived a little longer to serve the power station.

Below - A concrete yard lamp at the site of Millbrook Sidings.

Below - Remains of a single road engine shed in Millbrook Sidings that seems to have been very recently demolished.

Below - Remnants of an inspection pit and buffer stops. Presumably this shed would have serviced a shunter used for the power station traffic.

Below - A piece of retaining wall around the site of the signal box.

Below - I'm not sure what this tower was and can't see it on the old maps. It may be associated with the reservoir on the other side of the line.

Below - The remains of the conveyor that took coal from the sidings to the power station on the other side of the canal.

Below - The large goods shed is still largely intact.

Below - It was possible to photograph through the fencing across the doorways. Locations of hoists for lifting goods to the upper levels could be seen.

Below - Remains of the goods offices on the south end of the building.

Below - A ballast bin and remnants of signalling equipment.

Below - The roadway in to the goods yard.

Staley & Millbrook

1898 Map

South of the goods yard another viaduct has been removed and the path emerges on to Grove Road. From the back of the Canal & River Trust depot a path returns to the railway at the site of Staley & Millbrook station which closed in 1909.

Below -  The site of Staley & Millbrook station.

1935 Map

The line approached Stalybridge on another viaduct which has been demolished. The path descends the embankment to what the old map shows as North Road but is now just a footpath.

Below - Where the canal narrows slightly the railway would have crossed on a viaduct.

Below - The line went straight from a viaduct to a tunnel under Cocker Hill. The tunnel portal is now half way up a slope up from the River Tame, seen here from the footpath along the former Higher Mill Road.

Stalybridge

1922 Map

The tunnel emerged alongside that of the original (and surviving) line just outside Stalybridge station. I walked along Market Street to the suriving station. 

Below - Stalybridge station entrance today.

Below - Outside the station a couple of stone walls are the remains of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway's own station. The former L&Y line to Manchester Victoria survives but now runs in to the former LNWR & Great Central joint platforms via Victoria Junction

Below - A train to Manchester Victoria in one of the recently reopened bay platforms.