Howe Bridge railway station, originally Chowbent station, is a former railway station in Atherton,

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

. It was situated within the historic county of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

History

The station at

Howe Bridge Howe Bridge is a suburb of Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically within Lancashire, it is situated to the south west of Atherton town centre on the B5215, the old turnpike road from Bolton to Leigh. The settlement was built as a ...

, in common with other stations on the

Manchester to Wigan Line The Manchester and Wigan Railway refers to a railway in North West England, opened in 1864 and closed to passengers on 3 May 1969, which was part of the London and North Western Railway before the Grouping of 1923. This route was an alternative ...

, was opened by the

London and North Western Railway The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom. In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...

on 1 September 1864. At a junction to the west of

Tyldesley railway station Tyldesley railway station is a closed railway station in Greater Manchester. It was situated within the historic county of Lancashire. Background Coal mining was the chief motivation for building a railway in the area and the railway's sup ...

, the line to

Wigan North Western railway station Wigan North Western railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town centre of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. It is a moderately-sized station on the West Coast Main Line. It is operated by Avanti West Coast, and is als ...

headed north west via Chowbent, Hindley and Platt Bridge to Springs Branch near Wigan. The timber built Chowbent Station was situated on an embankment accessed by steps and was renamed Howe Bridge in 1901. The station joined 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 ...

during the

Grouping Grouping may refer to: * Muenchian grouping * Principles of grouping * Railways Act 1921, also known as Grouping Act, a reorganisation of the British railway system * Grouping (firearms), the pattern of multiple shots from a sidearm See also ...

in 1923. It passed to the

London Midland Region of British Railways The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

in 1948. It closed on 20 July 1959.

Coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when ...

deposits were the chief motivation for building a railway in the area and the railway's supporters included many local colliery owners and industrialists. A connection to

Fletcher, Burrows and Company Fletcher, Burrows and Company was a coal mining company that owned collieries and cotton mills in Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Gibfield, Howe Bridge and Chanters collieries exploited the coal mines (seams) of the middle coal measures ...

Chanters Colliery Chanters Colliery was a coal mine which was part of the Fletcher, Burrows and Company's collieries at Hindsford in Atherton, Greater Manchester, then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. Geology Chanters Colliery exploited the Midd ...

was provided by the LNWR to the east of the station. Colliery locomotives would sometimes work through the station.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

The station on a 1948 OS map via ''npe maps''
{{Closed stations Greater Manchester Disused railway stations in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Former London and North Western Railway stations Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1864 History of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1959 Atherton, Greater Manchester