Cheadle railway station

For other similarly named stations, see Cheadle railway station (disambiguation).

Cheadle railway station served the town of Cheadle, Staffordshire, England. It was the terminus of a branch line from Cresswell and opened in 1901.^[1]

Cheadle
Cheadle station in 1908, with the temporary station building on the left
General information
Location	Cheadle, Staffordshire, Staffordshire Moorlands England
Coordinates	52.9807°N 1.9929°W / 52.9807; -1.9929
Grid reference	SK003425
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Original company	North Staffordshire Railway
Post-grouping	London, Midland and Scottish Railway London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 January 1901	Opened
17 June 1963	Closed to passengers
6 March 1978	Closed to freight
1986	Closed completely

Facilities

The initial station buildings were of a temporary nature and a permanent structure was built in 1910. Later that year, the goods yard was expanded and the goods shed was extended. A new loading dock was also built and a crane was later provided. Cheadle station had a loop but no turntable and so most trains left Cheadle with the locomotive running "bunker first".^[1]

The remains in 1983

Later years

Passenger services were withdrawn in June 1963, though the closure of the service was not directly due to the Beeching Axe (withdrawal had already been proposed prior to the publication of his report in March of that year). Local sand traffic from nearby quarries continued and a new road-rail loading dock replaced the goods shed in the late 1960s.^[1] Approximately 1,200 tons per day was being moved by this time but in the 1970s the amount of traffic reduced and on 6 March 1978 public freight working was withdrawn. A small amount of traffic for railway civil engineering use continued until November 3, 1984.^[2]

An InterCity charter train ran from Euston to Cheadle in 1985, InterCity choosing the Cheadle branch to show the versatility of their charter service. Passengers were taken to Alton Towers by coach from Cheadle, which fueled debate about a regular service, however this came to nothing

Cheadle station building was demolished in 1986, leaving just a bare platform at the end of the branch line that quickly became overgrown with weeds.^[3]

The site today

Former station masters house in 2018

The only trace of the station that remains today is the station master's house; the station platform was demolished in 1994, and the sand loading dock and a buffer stop that was left behind by the track lifters in 1992 were also crushed to make way for a new housing development.^[2]

Looking in a similar direction to the 1983 photo towards Tean

Preceding station		Disused railways		Following station
Tean Line and station closed		North Staffordshire Railway Cheadle Branch Line		Terminus

References

1. Baker, Allan C. (1979). The Cheadle Railway. The Oakwood Press. ISBN 085361248X.
2. Ballantyne, Hugh (2005). British Railways Past & Present: North Staffordshire and the Trent Valley. Past & Present Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1858952042.
3. "Railway Herald :: Imaging Centre :: 47532 at Cheadle, Staffordshire".

Further reading

• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2016). Derby to Stoke-on-Trent. West Sussex: Middleton Press. figs. 106-110. ISBN 9781908174932. OCLC 954271104.