Bury Bolton Street railway station is a heritage railway station in

Bury, Greater Manchester Bury ( ) is a market town on the River Irwell in Greater Manchester, England. Metropolitan Borough of Bury is administered from the town, which had an estimated population of 78,723 in 2015. The town is within the historic county boundarie ...

, England. Located on the

East Lancashire Railway East Lancashire Railway is a heritage railway line in North West England which runs between Heywood, Greater Manchester and Rawtenstall in Lancashire. There are intermediate stations at Bury Bolton Street railway station, Bury Bolton Street, ...

Bury (Bolton Street) railway station 1954623 014957cf

History

It was formerly the main station serving the town, with links north to

Ramsbottom Ramsbottom is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. The population at the 2011 census was 17,872. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the River Irwell in the West Pennine Moors, northwest of Bury, a ...

, thence via Stubbins Junction either to

Rawtenstall Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county town of Lancaster. The town is at the cen ...

and

Bacup Bacup ( , ) is a town in the Rossendale Borough in Lancashire, England, in the South Pennines close to Lancashire's boundaries with West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The town is in the Rossendale Valley and the upper Irwell Valley, east of ...

or to

Haslingden Haslingden is a town in Rossendale, Lancashire, England. It is north of Manchester. The name means 'valley of the hazels' or 'valley growing with hazels'. At the time of the 2011 census the town (including Helmshore) had a population of 15,96 ...

and

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

; and south to Radcliffe Central, Whitefield,

Prestwich Prestwich ( ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Greater Manchester, England, north of Manchester city centre, north of Salford and south of Bury. Historically part of Lancashire, Prestwich was the seat of the ancient parish o ...

and

Manchester Victoria Manchester Victoria station in Manchester, England is a combined mainline railway station and Metrolink tram stop. Situated to the north of the city centre on Hunts Bank, close to Manchester Cathedral, it adjoins Manchester Arena which was ...

or via to Clifton Junction and the Bolton line. There was also a local branch to Holcombe Brook and a curve to connect with Bury Knowsley Street station. The station was opened by the

(ELR), on 28 September 1846, as Bury station. The ELR was absorbed by the

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

on 13 May 1859. The station was renamed Bury Bolton Street in February 1866. The building is situated in a cutting with a low level yard on the east side, approached by an incline from Bolton Street and a flight of steps from Bank Street. To the north is the Bolton Street Tunnel. In its original incarnation, it boasted the headquarters of the East Lancashire Railway, situated on the up platform adjacent to the yard. This fine neo-classical structure in the

italianate style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

had the usual station accommodation on the ground floor and the company offices (including a boardroom) on the upper floors. The headquarters building supported an overall train shed roof in the Paxton style, supported on the other side by a row of iron columns on an island platform. The west side had through lines and a rope-hauled incline giving access to the wagon works, now the site of Bury Leisure Centre. The station was rebuilt in the 1880s and the existing platform canopy dates from that time. Street frontage buildings were also provided. The Manchester - Prestwich - Radcliffe Central - Bury line was electrified in 1916. The station passed to the

London Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally ...

in 1923. From 1 January 1948, the station was operated by

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

. The street level buildings were destroyed by fire on 14 May 1947 and were replaced with a new brick and concrete entrance and footbridge in 1952. The old headquarters building was demolished in January 1974. BR closed the station on 17 March 1980, when it was replaced by a new bus/rail interchange; this has been the terminus of the Metrolink service from Manchester since 1991.

Station information

The station was extensively remodelled by the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

(the company absorbed the ELR in 1859) who gave it its present form. There are four platforms, viz: Platform 1. A bay platform at the south east end. Platform 2. The up platform on the east side. Platform 3. The down platform, one side of the island platform. Platform 4. A bidirectional platform, one side of the island platform and adjacent to the Western retaining walls which had a unique bidirectional signal mounted on a wall bracket. The platforms were equipped with normal canopies and a new entrance was created on Bolton Street, with street frontage buildings across the tracks accessing a footbridge. Since re-opening as part of the heritage railway operated by the East Lancashire Railway, a new platform building, incorporating a façade from the former Bury tram depot, has been erected on the up platform and the station is undergoing a comprehensive refurbishment and redevelopment plan. It is once again signalled and the old Bury South box is back in operation.

Original services

Passenger trains on the Holcombe Brook branch ended in 1952. Those on the lines to Accrington, Bacup & Clifton Junction were withdrawn in 1966, with the Rawtenstall trains following suit in 1972. That left only the link to

which in turn was severed in 1980 with the opening of

Bury Interchange Bury Interchange is a transport hub in the town of Bury, Greater Manchester, England. Opened in 1980, it is the northern terminus of the Manchester Metrolink's Bury Line, which prior to 1992 was a heavy-rail line. It also incorporates a bus sta ...

. Bolton Street Station, with its original features, was rescued from demolition and placed in the care of the

, a preservation group. The line to Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall was re-opened as a heritage railway, under the name

in 1987 and has since been extended to Heywood. The line and station have since become a leading tourist attraction in the area.

Gallery

Image:Bury Station, East Lancs Railway.jpg, View of platform 2, showing the 'refreshment room' Image:Bolton Street Station.JPG, View of platform 4 Image:Bury bolton street 2.JPG, View of the entire station, taken from the bottom of the station Image:BurySouth signal box interior1.JPG, Interior view of Bury South signal box Image:BurySouth signal box interior2.JPG, Interior view of Bury South signal box

Present day services

References

*Lost Railways of Lancashire by Gordon Suggitt () *The Directory of Railway Stations, R.V.J. Butt, 1995, Patrick Stephens ({{ISBN, 1-85260-508-1) *Encyclopedia of British Railway Companies, Christopher Awdry, 1990, Guild Publishing (CN 8983) Heritage railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Bury Former Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway stations Buildings and structures in Bury, Greater Manchester Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1846 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1980 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1987 1846 establishments in England