Ainsdale Beach railway station

Former railway station in Merseyside, England

53°36′26″N 3°03′24″W / 53.6071°N 3.0568°W / 53.6071; -3.0568Grid referenceSD302128Line(s)Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension RailwayPlatforms2[1][2][3]Other informationStatusDisusedHistoryOriginal companyCheshire Lines CommitteePre-groupingCheshire Lines CommitteePost-groupingCheshire Lines CommitteeKey dates19 June 1901Station opened as "Seaside"1 January 1912Station renamed "Ainsdale Beach"[4]1 January 1917Station closed as a wartime economy measure1 April 1919Station reopened7 January 1952Station closed[5]
  • v
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Cheshire Lines Committee
Legend
Merseyside Lines
 Southport Lord Street
Birkdale Palace
Up arrow to Southport
 Ainsdale
Ainsdale Beach
Down arrow Northern line Up arrow
 Woodvale
Freshfield
Barton
Mossbridge
Hillhouse Junction
 Altcar and Hillhouse
Lydiate
Sefton and Maghull
Up arrow to Ormskirk
 Old Roan
Aintree Junction
Southport Junction
 Aintree Central
Aintree
Down arrow Northern line Up arrow
 Warbreck
Orrell Park
Walton
to Kirkby Right arrow
 Rice Lane
Fazakerley Junctions
 Walton on the Hill
Huskisson
Clubmoor
West Derby
Knotty Ash & Stanley
Broad Green
Left arrow
City
Line
Right arrow
 Childwall
Gateacre
Up arrow Northern line
 Liverpool Central
St James
Brunswick
(original)
Egerton Street Junction
 Brunswick
St Michaels
Otterspool
Aigburth
Cressington
Garston
Liverpool South Parkway
Hunts Cross West Junction
 Hunts Cross

Ainsdale Beach was a railway station located in Ainsdale, Merseyside, England.

History

The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened a line extending their existing system from Aintree to Southport on 1 September 1884.[6] Seeing the potential in Ainsdale's large beach they subsequently built this station, which opened as Seaside in 1901. In 1911 it was decided to rename the station Ainsdale Beach, which took effect from 1 January 1912.

The station was built adjacent to a hotel called The Lakeside Hotel (in 2015 named 'The Sands' and trading as a local pub) situated at the coastal end of Shore Road. A terraced row of railway staff cottages immediately next to the station still stood in 2015, although all station structures, signal box and level crossing[7][8] have long gone.

It was served by trains from Southport Lord Street, Liverpool Central and Manchester Central.[9]

A total eclipse of the sun occurred in June 1927. The railway provided many excursion specials to many locations, including Ainsdale Beach.[10]

Run down and closure

The station first closed in 1917, along with all other stations on the extension line, as a First World War economy measure.

The station reopened on 1 April 1919, and continued in use until 7 January 1952, when the SCLER was closed to passengers from Aintree Central to Southport Lord Street. Public goods facilities were ended at Woodvale, Lydiate and Sefton & Maghull stations on the same day and there never were any goods facilities at Ainsdale Beach station. The line remained open for public goods traffic until 7 July 1952 at Southport Lord Street, Birkdale Palace and Altcar & Hillhouse stations. A siding remained open at Altcar & Hillhouse for private goods facilities until May 1960. The last passenger train to run on the SCLER was a railway enthusiasts' special train between Aintree and Altcar & Hillhouse stations on 6 June 1959.[11][12]

The line came under the Cheshire Lines Committee until nationalisation in 1948, whereafter it came under the London Midland Region of British Railways until closure.

The site today

Later the track bed through the station site was used to support what is now the Coastal Road, which runs from Woodvale to Southport. At this point the road is also part of the Trans Pennine Trail.

References

  1. ^ Bolger 1984, pp. 26–7.
  2. ^ Foster 2000, pp. 79 & 82.
  3. ^ Biddle 1981, p. 30.
  4. ^ Dow 1962, p. 142.
  5. ^ Butt 1995, p. 13.
  6. ^ Griffiths 1947, p. 53.
  7. ^ Dyckhoff 1999, Title Page and p108.
  8. ^ Travers 2013, pp. 374 & 376.
  9. ^ Bolger 1984, pp. 5–7.
  10. ^ Dyckhoff 1999, p. 62.
  11. ^ Railtours via sixbellsjunction
  12. ^ Travers 2013, p. 377.

Sources

  • Biddle, Gordon (1981). Railway Stations in the North West. Clapham, North Yorkshire: Dalesman Books. ISBN 978-0-85206-644-7.
  • Bolger, Paul (1984). An Illustrated History of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Merseyside: Heyday Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-947562-00-7.
  • 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.
  • Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1469-5. OCLC 655324061.
  • Dyckhoff, Nigel (1999). Portrait of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-2521-9.
  • Foster, Harry (2000). New Ainsdale The struggle of a seaside suburb 1850-2000. Birkdale: Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society. ISBN 978-0-9510905-5-8.
  • Griffiths, R Prys (1947). The Cheshire Lines Railway. Lingfield: The Oakwood Press. OCLC 752555378. OL5.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Travers, Ian (June 2013). Blakemore, Michael (ed.). "The Southport Extension of the Cheshire Lines Committee 1884-1952". Back Track. 27 (6). Easingwold: Pendragon Publishing.

External links

  • The station Disused Stations UK
  • The station on an 1888-1913 Overlay OS Map National Library of Scotland
  • Station on a 1948 O.S. map npe Maps
  • Station and line HTS railwaycodes
  • Railtours sixbellsjunction
  • Aerial photos Britain from Above
  • Rare photos Ainsdale Civic Society
  • An early station plan flickr


Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Woodvale
Line and station closed 		  Cheshire Lines Committee
SCLER 		  Birkdale Palace
Line and station closed
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Closed railway stations in Merseyside
Birkenhead Railway








Canada Dock Branch
Cheshire Lines Committee
Chester and
Birkenhead Railway
East Lancashire Railway
Lancashire Union Railway
Liverpool and
Manchester Railway
Liverpool, Crosby and
Southport Railway
Liverpool Overhead Railway
Liverpool, Southport and
Preston Junction Railway
Liverpool, St Helens and
South Lancashire Railway
Mersey Docks and
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Runcorn Gap Railway
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