Ledsham railway station was on the
Chester and Birkenhead Railway
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
near Little Sutton and about a mile from the hamlet of
Ledsham on the
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to t ...
in
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The station was originally named 'Sutton' but renamed Ledsham on the opening of the Hooton to Helsby branch to avoid confusion with the newly built station named Little Sutton. The station opened on 23 September 1840 at the same time as the railway line, and was closed on 20 July 1959 due to a decline in passenger numbers.
In October 1839, Sutton was the scene of a serious riot. On completion of the works a gang of Irish navvies working from the Birkenhead end met with a gang of English & Welsh navvies working from the Chester end when the contractors' wages clerk for the Irish gang made off with the pay for his men. Violent fighting between the two gangs ensued over two days involving some 2,000 men; military were sent from Liverpool and Chester, including a piece of ordnance from Chester, and 28 rioters were jailed.
In 1891, the track from Ledsham Junction (half a mile south of the station) to Rock Ferry was quadrupled and Ledsham Station acquired four platforms. After the station closed the quadruple track was reduced to double in the 1970s. Two remaining platforms were in existence until the 1990s when they were demolished to accommodate a new road bridge which was built on the realignment of the A550. The double track through the station site now forms part of the
Wirral Line
The Wirral line is one of two commuter rail routes operated by Merseyrail and centred on Merseyside, England, the other being the Northern line.
The Wirral line connects Liverpool to the Wirral Peninsula via the Mersey Railway Tunnel, with b ...
to Chester, operated by
Merseyrail
Merseyrail is a commuter rail network serving the Liverpool City Region and adjacent areas of Cheshire and Lancashire. Merseyrail operates 66 railway stations across two lines – the Northern Line and Wirral Line, which are dedicated electri ...
.
Services
References
Further reading
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External links
Ledsham railway station on Disused Stations
Disused railway stations in Cheshire
Former Birkenhead Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1840
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1959
1840 establishments in England
1959 disestablishments in England
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