Westhoughton Local History Presentations and Photos

Westhoughton's local history in visual form

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Westhoughton station

Westhoughton station in the 1950s

Westhoughton acquired its station when the Liverpool to Bury line was opened on 20th November 1848. The line connected into the Bolton and Preston Railway at Lostock, which had opened on 18th June 1843.

Originally, there was as additional station at Chew Moor, but this only lasted until 1852.

As with most railways in this area, it was progressively merged into the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. This lasted until 1923, when all railways merged into the “Big Four”. The L&YR became part of the London Midland and Scottish (LMS). In 1948, all railways were nationalised into “British Railways”.

The line to Bury closed in the 1960s and the service through Westhoughton mainly turned into a service for commuters and visitors from Southport and Wigan to Manchester Victoria. The Castlefield link was opened in the 1980s, connecting the new station at Salford Crescent to Deansgate, allowing trains to run through to Oxford Road, Manchester Piccadilly and later, Manchester Airport.

The heyday for thousands of local families was to go on holiday to the seaside by train. Just note the length of the special train, in comparison with train lengths these days.
There was also a plentiful freight service, some of it serving sidings at the Metal Box factory north of the A6.

These days, we are indebted to the wonderful “Friends of Westhoughton Station”, who have created the beautiful gardens and appealing statues and animals which grace the station and delight passengers.

An early train of assorted stock, probably around 1860. Sadly the photographer did not capture the locomotive very clearly.

The road bridge on Church Street continues to the present day. Access to the Bolton-bound platform was via staircase in the two-storey station building. This building was demolished in 1974, and access became a simple ramp down from the road.

The building on the Wigan-bound platform was a more modest, single storey.

The Wigan-bound platform, where access was by a ramp straight down from Church Street.
“Arthur Station” looks after the magnificent work of the Friends of Westhoughton Station

  • Our website is called westhoughtonlocalhistorypresentationsandphotos.com10th Jun 2021
  • Launch of new web site8th Jun 2021
  • Welcome to Westhoughton!17th Jan 2021

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