Oakworth Railway Station serves the village of

Oakworth Oakworth is a village in West Yorkshire, England, near Keighley, by the River Worth. The name "Oakworth" indicates that the village was first established in a heavily wooded area. Oakworth railway station is on the route of the Keighley and ...

, near Keighley, and within the

City of Bradford The City of Bradford () is a local government district of West Yorkshire, England, with the status of a city and metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Bradford, but covers a large area which includes the towns and v ...

Metropolitan District,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

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 ...

History

The station was built by the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (KWVR) and opened with the rest of the line for passengers on 15 April 1867 and for goods traffic on 1 July that year. The

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

leased the line and absorbed the KWVR with effect from 1 July 1881. 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 ...

absorbed the Midland Railway from January 1923 and took over operation of the line.

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 ...

took over the UK's railway system on 1 January 1948 and the line was closed to passengers on 1 January 1962 and to goods traffic on 18 June 1962.

Stationmasters

*Albert W. Horton until 1872 *J. Mawby 1872 - 1874 *T. Heelis 1874 - 1876 *D. Daw 1876 - 1878 (afterwards station master at Haworth) *W.F. Best 1878 - 1879 *F. Hayward 1879 - 1880 *W Snow 1880 - 1883 *John Butterworth 1883 - 1884 (formerly station master at Halton, afterwards station master at Killamarsh) *J. Perry 1884 - 1887 *William Clarke 1887 - 1892 *A.C. East 1892 - 1894 *Richard Roberts 1894 -1929 *J.W. Tate (formerly station master at Lymm, later station master at Ribblehead) *E. Bird from 1938 (also station master at Damems)

Operations

Originally there was a signal box at the station which controlled a goods loop giving access to the goods yard and the level crossing. This was removed in the 1950s and control of the level crossing passed to the station staff, although it is still noticeable that the level crossing is still double track width, even though there is only a single line through the crossing.

Preservation

The

Keighley and Worth Valley Railway The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway is a heritage railway line in the Worth Valley, West Yorkshire, England, which runs from Keighley to Oxenhope. It connects to the National Rail network at Keighley railway station. History Inception ...

Preservation Society took over the line and re-opened the line and the station on 29 June 1968. Milk churns displayed on a hand cart and old railway posters bring back images of a former age. The platform fencing is used to display old enamel advertisement signs for period products such as Virol. The station is famous for being the main location used in the film ''

The Railway Children ''The Railway Children'' is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in ''The London Magazine'' during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 film ...

''. The Station can still be seen much as was in the period 1905–1910. It is still lit by gas lights both inside the buildings and on the platform. The station foreman on duty at Oakworth also has responsibility for the level crossing at the end of the platform, which is controlled by interlocked signals. The station was also a location for filming part of the Joe Jackson video for the song "Breaking Us in Two" from the "Night and Day" album in 1982. Some scenes for the first and second episodes of ''All Creatures Great and Small'' (2020 TV series) were filmed at the station.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * {{Railway stations in the City of Bradford Heritage railway stations in Bradford Former Midland Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1867 Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1962 Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1968 Keighley and Worth Valley Railway

History

Stationmasters

Operations

Preservation

See also

References