Cleckheaton Central railway station

Cleckheaton Central railway station was a railway station serving the West Yorkshire town of Cleckheaton, England, until it was closed in the Beeching era, which saw the closure of many minor lines and stations around the United Kingdom through the 1960s. It has the distinction of being the only British railway station to have been stolen.[1] It is one of two disused stations in Cleckheaton, the other being Cleckheaton Spen.

Cleckheaton Central railway station
The entrance to the central island platform was on the left between the two bridges.
General information
LocationCleckheaton, Kirklees
England
Coordinates53.724380°N 1.715723°W / 53.724380; -1.715723
Grid referenceSE188253
Platforms2 (removed)
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyLancashire and Yorkshire Railway
Pre-groupingLNWR
Post-groupingLMS
Key dates
1847opened
14 June 1965closed (passengers)
May 1969closed (goods)
Railways in North Kirklees
Past, present and future
Great Northern Railway
to Bradford
Leeds New Line
to Leeds
Howden Clough
Upper Batley
enlarge… to Leeds
Birstall Town
Birstall
Carlinghow
enlarge… to Leeds
Gomersal
Chickenley Heath
Batley
Cleckheaton Spen
Liversedge Spen
Batley Carr
Staincliffe and Batley Carr
Heckmondwike Spen
Dewsbury Wellington Road
Dewsbury Central
Dewsbury Market Place
Northorpe North Road
Earlsheaton
Ravensthorpe Lower
Dewsbury Goods
(NMR)
Huddersfield Line
to Wakefield
Ravensthorpe
original
proposed
Thornhill
North Midland Railway
to Royston and Notton
Mirfield
Leeds New Line
to Huddersfield
Huddersfield Line
to Huddersfield

History

The station was originally constructed by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which was absorbed by the LNWR in 1922 and subsequently the LMS in 1923 at grouping and finally to British Rail on nationalisation. It served traffic from Heckmondwike, Low Moor (near Bradford) and Mirfield. The Mirfield line opened in 1848 and through to Low Moor in 1849.[2] The last passenger train working was the service from Bradford on 12 June 1965 arriving at Cleckheaton at 11:21 p.m.; the station closed to freight traffic some four years later.

Theft case

The passenger station buildings were demolished by British Rail in February 1968 - but the stone-built island platform remained in situ for a few years more.

In 1972 a Dewsbury man appeared at Wakefield Crown Court accused of stealing stone, timber, metal, track, chairs and even the buffer stops from the site; in the words of the prosecution counsel "what the case really comes to is that this man last August in effect stole Cleckheaton station".[1][3][4] In August 1971 British Rail had made a contract with another contractor who would clear the site and had the permission to sell and retain the proceeds from disposal of all materials and any scrap. However, on arrival, the firm discovered that the station and most of the material had already gone. It transpired that the defendant had been contracted by another company to clear the site. After he had been given an advanced sum to hire plant equipment, he had spent three weeks clearing the site. Subsequent efforts to trace the second firm failed. The court found the man not guilty deciding that he had been duped and left significantly out of pocket. The case is cited as an example of how the Theft Act 1968 can be extended to cover goods forming part of a property.[5]

Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Low Moor   L&Y   Liversedge

References

  1. Spenborough Guardian
  2. Lost Railways of Yorkshire
  3. Body, Geoffrey: Railway Oddities, Tempus, 2007 ISBN 978-0-7524-4399-7
  4. "Man denies theft of railway station", The Times, 25 April 1972, p. 3.
  5. Storey & Lidbury, Criminal Law, Willan Publishing, 2004 ISBN 1-84392-100-6, p. 166
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