Lamb's Cottage railway station

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Coordinates: 53°28′18″N 2°26′19″W / 53.4718°N 2.4385°W / 53.4718; -2.4385
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Lamb's Cottage
General information
LocationAstley Green, Wigan
England
Coordinates53°28′18″N 2°26′19″W / 53.4718°N 2.4385°W / 53.4718; -2.4385
Grid referenceSJ710973
Platforms2 (probably)
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLiverpool and Manchester Railway
Key dates
15 September 1830Station opened
October 1842Station closed[1][2]

Lamb's Cottage was a short-lived, original railway station on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to the southeast of Astley village in what was then the county of Lancashire, England. The station was 32 chains (0.64 km) east of what later became Astley station and in 2015 was Astley signal box and level crossing carrying Rindle Road.

History[edit]

Lamb's Cottage shows on the OS map surveyed in 1845 and published in 1848 at the point where a footpath running NW to SE crosses the railway.[3] The footpath remained in place in 2015.

The station was in the general area of Chat Moss which was then very sparsely populated. It remained sparsely populated in 2015. A narrow gauge tramway can be seen on the 1848 map running north north west from the River Irwell at Boysnope, terminating at Lamb's Cottage station's eastern neighbour, Barton Moss (1st) station, shown on the map as "Barton Station". This tramway was part of an early scheme to bring in manure and human excrement to "improve" the Moss. Later schemes greatly expanded this enterprise,[4] which had the intended effect of turning land from unproductive to very fertile.[5]

In 1908 work started to sink Astley Green Colliery and to build a line southwards to the Liverpool to Manchester line to take its coal to customers. This involved using Stephenson's method of floating the ballast and tracks on wood and brush.[6] The line was completed by 1914, making a triangular junction on Lamb's Cottage's station site, obliterating what little evidence remained.[7] That line and junction continued in use until 1970 and has since been lifted.[8]

Modern times[edit]

By 2015 no trace of the station survived. The Stephensons' masterpiece had been electrified and provided a service in their spirit.


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Astley
Line open, station closed 		  Liverpool and Manchester Railway   Barton Moss
Line open, station closed

References[edit]

  1. ^ Butt 1995, p. 138.
  2. ^ Holt 1957, p. 16.
  3. ^ The station on an 1848 OS map via National Library of Scotland
  4. ^ The station site on an 1888-1913 OS map via National Library of Scotland
  5. ^ The impact on lowland mires via DEFRA
  6. ^ Townley et al. 1995, p. 324.
  7. ^ The station site on a 1948 OS Map via npe maps
  8. ^ Townley et al. 1995, pp. 326 & 387.

Sources[edit]

  • Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  • Holt, G.O. (January 1957). "Correspondence". Journal of the Railway and Canal Historical Society. 3 (1). Caterham: RCHS. ISSN 0033-8834.
  • Townley, C. H. A.; Appleton, C. A.; Smith, F. D.; Peden, J. A. (1995), The Industrial railways of Bolton, Bury and the Manchester Coalfield, Part Two, The Manchester Coalfield, Runpast, ISBN 1-870754-32-8

External links[edit]

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