Cleckheaton Central railway station

Cleckheaton Central railway station

The entrance to the central island platform was on the left between the two bridges.
Location
Place Cleckheaton
Area Kirklees
Coordinates 53°43′28″N 1°42′57″W / 53.724380°N 1.715723°W / 53.724380; -1.715723Coordinates: 53°43′28″N 1°42′57″W / 53.724380°N 1.715723°W / 53.724380; -1.715723
Grid reference SE188253
Operations
Original company Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Pre-grouping LNWR
Post-grouping LMS
Platforms 2 (removed)
History
1847 opened
14 June 1965 closed (passengers)
May 1969 closed (goods)
Disused railway stations in the United Kingdom
Closed railway stations in Britain
A B C D–F G H–J K–L M–O P–R S T–V W–Z
UK Railways portal

Railways in North Kirklees (Past, present and future)

Legend
to Bradford
Birstall Town

to Leeds
Lower Birstall
Howden Clough
Upper Batley

to Leeds
Carlinghow

Gomersal

to Bradford
to Leeds
Cleckheaton Spen
Cleckheaton Central
Batley
Liversedge Spen
Liversedge Central

Chickenley Heath
Heckmondwike Spen
to Wakefield
Batley Carr

Staincliffe and Batley Carr
Heckmondwike Central
Dewsbury Central
Dewsbury Wellington Road
Earlsheaton
Ravensthorpe Lower
to Wakefield
Northorpe Higher
to Wakefield
Northorpe North Road
Dewsbury Market Place
Ravensthorpe
Dewsbury Midland Goods
Battyeford

Thornhill
Mirfield
to Royston and Notton
to Huddersfield
to Huddersfield

Cleckheaton Central railway station was a railway station serving the West Yorkshire town of Cleckheaton, England, until it was closed in the Beeching era, which saw the closure of many minor lines and stations around the United Kingdom through the 1960s. It has the distinction of being the only British railway station to have been stolen.[1]

History

The station was originally constructed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which was absorbed by the LNWR in 1922 and subsequently the LMS in 1923 at grouping and finally to British Rail on nationalisation. It served traffic from Heckmondwike, Low Moor (near Bradford) and Mirfield. The Mirfield line opened in 1848 and through to Low Moor in 1849.[2] The last passenger train working was the service from Bradford on 12 June 1965 arriving at Cleckheaton at 11:21 p.m.; the station closed to freight traffic some four years later.

Theft case

In 1972 a Dewsbury man appeared at Wakefield Crown Court accused of stealing stone, timber, metal, track, chairs and even the buffer stops from the site; in the words of the prosecution counsel "what the case really comes to is that this man last August in effect stole Cleckheaton station".[1][3][4] In August 1971 British Rail had made a contract with another contractor who would clear the site and had the permission to sell and retain the proceeds from disposal of all materials and any scrap. However, on arrival, the firm discovered that the station and most of the material had already gone. It transpired that the defendant had been contracted by another company to clear the site. After he had been given an advanced sum to hire plant equipment, he had spent three weeks clearing the site. Subsequent efforts to trace the second firm failed. The court found the man not guilty deciding that he had been duped and left significantly out of pocket. The case is cited as an example of how the Theft Act 1968 can be extended to cover goods forming part of a property.[5]

Preceding station Disused railways Following station
Low Moor   L&Y   Liversedge Central

References

  1. 1 2 Spenborough Guardian
  2. Lost Railways of Yorkshire
  3. Body, Geoffrey: Railway Oddities, Tempus, 2007 ISBN 978-0-7524-4399-7
  4. "Man denies theft of railway station", The Times, 25 April 1972, p. 3.
  5. Storey & Lidbury, Criminal Law, Willan Publishing, 2004 ISBN 1-84392-100-6, p. 166
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