Leek railway station served the town of

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. It was opened by the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was based i ...

in 1849. Passenger services to Uttoxeter were withdrawn in 1965, with complete closure following in 1970. For a short time in 1961–62, special football excursions (the ''Stanley Matthews Express'') were arranged to Stoke following the return of

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

Stoke City FC Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

History

Leek had a substantial station and

goods yard A goods station (also known as a goods yard or goods depot) or freight station is, in the widest sense, a railway station where, either exclusively or predominantly, goods (or freight), such as merchandise, parcels, and manufactured items, are lo ...

, but competition from road transport led to the withdrawal of services to in 1956 and the remaining passenger services to in 1965. Freight workings continued until 1970. The site of the station is now occupied by a

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets, trading as Morrisons, is the fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Scotland, as well as one in Gibraltar. The company is headqua ...

supermarket, although the road bridge is still in situ between the latter's car park and petrol station.

Future

In 2009, Moorlands and City Railways Ltd (MCR) bought the 20 miles of railway line from Stoke in the west-direction of Leek, with a view to reconnect Leek with the national network. A new station could be constructed in Leek, possibly on the Cornhill development on the outskirts of the town, although the MCR would prefer a station closer to the town centre. Following its initial refusal of planning permission in September 2014, Moorlands District Council accepted a second proposal which would see a station provided next to the 17-acre Barnfield Industrial Estate in Cornhill, on a site previously occupied by Hughes Concrete Products. The new station would become the

Churnet Valley Railway The Churnet Valley Railway is a preserved standard gauge heritage railway in the Staffordshire Moorlands of Staffordshire, England. It operates on part of the former Churnet Valley Line.which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway. ...

's northern terminus and the headquarters of the MCR. The ¾-mile extension from would be funded by the sale of land within a triangle at Leekbrook for housing.

Route

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leek Railway Station Disused railway stations in Staffordshire Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1849 Buildings and structures in Leek Former North Staffordshire Railway stations Beeching closures in England 1849 establishments in England