When the Rails Ran to Burnley

The remains of the booking office at Holme Station, demolished when a goods train went off the rails on September 27 1907. The station was not rebuilt. Code no 186RD. ALGC

Following the success of the Leeds to Manchester rail line, completed in 1841, it was decided to link the upper Calder Valley with Burnley.

A private consortium started construction of the line but had to be bailed out by the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway company which finished the job in 1849.

A constant flow of goods helped to keep profits high for the rest of the 19th and the early 20th centuries. But decreasing use by mills as local industry went into decline brought about inevitable cutbacks which accelerated during the Beeching era in the 1960s.

The stations at Cornholme, Portsmouth and Holme have long since vanished and trains no longer run between Todmorden and Burnley, although there have been strenuous efforts over the years to restore this important link.

Read the full story in Milltown Memories, issue 14. If this or other stories stirs a memory, we'd be happy to know - send us your memories and comments.