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On to Hellifield – UK Rail Journeys Series 2 – Episode 11
In ‘On to Hellifield‘ I continue my journey from Leeds to Carlisle. We travel from West Yorkshire into North Yorkshire.
Please click on a thumbnail to see the photographs that go with the podcast:
Apperley Bridge:
Just before Apperley Bridge station we pass Woodhouse Grove School which has around 1,000 pupils. It was founded by Methodist theologian Adam Clarke and the Wesleyan Conference.
2015 sees Apperley Bridge station open on a different site from the old one. The old station closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching Axe.
363,000 passengers use Apperley Bridge station in 2022 / 23.
Almost immediately we pass the large Esholt Sewage Works. In 1906 Bradford Corporation buys the site and builds the works. It deals with the growing population’s sewage and waste chemicals and grease from the textile trade.
Shipley Station:
Shipley station is on a triangle, actually a Wye. It can be used to turn loco hauled trains. The triangle has confused passengers over the years. Trains to Leeds, Bradford and Skipton can leave from two different platforms. In addition more than one train to a destination can be in the station at the same time. Apparently there is only one other triangular station in Britain.
It is a commuter station. In 2022 / 23, 1,107,000 passengers use it.
Bingley:
Grade II listed Bingley station hosts 920,000 passengers in 2022 / 23.
It is near the Three Rise Locks on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and dates from July 1892. Sadly, the Five Rise Locks, the steepest flight of locks in the United Kingdom, is behind trees.
And on to Hellifield:
We pass through Keighley, Skipton and Gargrave before we reach Hellifield.
Like Trent and Normanton, Hellifield was at a railway crossroads. In the early 20th Century around sixty per cent of the village work on the railway. A busy time with ninety passenger trains each day and, each year, nearly 200,000 goods wagons passing through the sidings.
My recent visits to Hellifield are with the Railway Touring Company’s Cumbrian Mountain Expresses which take on water in a siding at Hellifield. We then take the Lancashire line through Blackburn and on to Preston.
Listen to the podcast to hear about my journey from towards Hellifield.
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Music:
AKM Music licenses Steam Railway and Presentation Corporate for use in this podcast.