The Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway (MB&MR) was a railway line between

Macclesfield Macclesfield () is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is sited on the River Bollin and the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; the town lies south of Ma ...

and Marple,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

; it was in length. The route was opened jointly by the

Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway The Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) was formed in 1847 when the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway joined with authorised but unbuilt railway companies, forming a proposed network from Manchester to Grims ...

(MS&LR) and the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a Great Britain, British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shro ...

(NSR) in 1869. It was part of an alternative link between

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and destinations south of Macclesfield. The line was closed in 1970 and its route now forms the

Middlewood Way The Middlewood Way is a 10-mile (16 km) shared-use path in north-west England, between Macclesfield and Rose Hill, Marple; it was opened on 30 May 1985 by Dr David Bellamy. It serves the needs of walkers, dog walkers, cyclists, joggers an ...

, a trail used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

History

In the 1840s and 1850s, the was trying to find a route from Macclesfield to Manchester independent of 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 LNWR was the largest joint stock company in the world. Dubbed the "Premier Line", the LNWR's main line connec ...

(L&NWR), which insisted on any traffic going via

Crewe Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the parish had a population of 55,318 and the built-up area had a population of 74,120. ...

, thus ensuring a higher mileage and charges. In 1863, a Macclesfield businessman, Thomas Oliver, promoted a scheme for a local line from Macclesfield to Marple, via

Bollington Bollington is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, to the east of Prestbury. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield and the ancient parish of Prestbury. At the 2021 census, the parish had a pop ...

, where it would connect with the . It was hoped that the line would revive Bollington's

cotton industry Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ce ...

, carry the stone from quarries in

Kerridge Kerridge is a village in the civil parish of Bollington, in the Cheshire East district, in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Kerridge borders the neighbouring parish of Rainow. It gives its name to Kerridge Ridge – one of the ...

and serve the collieries around

Poynton Poynton is a town in the civil parish of Poynton-with-Worth, in the Cheshire East district and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England; from 1974 to 2009 it was in Macclesfield district. It is located on the easternmost fringe of the Cheshi ...

Summer 1961 Hayfield-Manchester timetable

The seized on this scheme because the company needed another line from which to start a possible independent extension line to London. In 1864, Parliament authorised the creation of the railway by passing the ( 27 & 28 Vict. c. cciv). Both the and were empowered to subscribe £80,000 each for its construction, and for its operation and maintenance once open. In response to such competition, the , which was surprised by the success of the 's proposal, quickly came to an amicable traffic agreement with the . This deal negated the original purpose and urgency of the line because the now no longer needed an independent route to Manchester, as it could use lines. Under these conditions, and with a general trade depression of the mid-1860s, construction of the new line was very slow. On 2 August 1869, a single-track line opened for passengers only; goods traffic started on 1 March 1870. In 1871, the whole line was double-tracked. Initially, there were five stations on the line: Marple (Rose Hill), High Lane, Higher Poynton,

and

. In 1879, a new station was opened at Middlewood; it was later renamed ''Middlewood Higher''. In 1948, the line became part of the

London Midland Region 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 ...

British Railways British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commis ...

. In 1960, Middlewood Higher station closed. By the 1960s, the line was considered to be a loss maker and was recommended for closure under the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts, also colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named ...

. On 5 January 1970, the section between Rose Hill (Marple) and Macclesfield closed to all traffic; the track was lifted in early 1971. Only Rose Hill remained in operation due to the high number of passengers commuting to

Manchester Piccadilly Manchester Piccadilly is the main railway station of the city of Manchester, in the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England. Opened originally as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchest ...

. It is now a terminus for a spur off the

Hope Valley Line The Hope Valley line is a trans-Pennine railway line in Northern England, linking Manchester with Sheffield. It was completed in 1894. Passenger services on the line are operated by Northern Trains, East Midlands Railway and TransPennine ...

. The station buildings at Higher Poynton and Bollington were demolished at around the same time. High Lane station remained derelict for seven years after closure; the buildings were demolished in 1977. Bollington station goods yard is now the site of the Clough Bank industrial estate.

Middlewood Way

Since closure, the trackbed has been turned into the

, a

shared-use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, Bridle path, bridleways and ra ...

between Macclesfield and Rose Hill in Marple. It was officially opened on 30 May 1985 by Dr David Bellamy. The platforms of High Lane and Higher Poynton stations are still extant; they have been restored and include picnic sites. The trail crosses over a small valley of the

River Dean The River Dean rises at Longclough in Macclesfield Forest on the western edge of the Peak District foothills above the village of Rainow in north east Cheshire, England. Together with a number of tributary streams it is impounded by the dam a ...

at Bollington, via a curved 23-arch stone viaduct. The viaduct was originally slated to be demolished but, after protests, it was saved to form part of the trail.

References

Railways of Marple and District From 1794

History

Middlewood Way

References

Further reading