Goldsborough railway station

Goldsborough railway station served the village of Goldsborough, North Yorkshire, England from 1850 to 1965 on the Harrogate line. The station was over 13 miles (21 km) west of York railway station, and nearly 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Knaresborough.

Goldsborough
The site of the station in 2000
General information
LocationGoldsborough, North Yorkshire
England
Coordinates54.0098°N 1.4027°W / 54.0098; -1.4027
Grid referenceSE392572
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyEast and West Yorkshire Junction Railway
Pre-groupingNorth Eastern Railway
Post-groupingLNER British Railways (North Eastern)
Key dates
February 1850 (1850-02)Opened
15 September 1958Closed to passengers
3 May 1965 (1965-05-03)Closed completely

The site of the station has been bought by a development company, with a view to reopening as Flaxby Parkway.

History

The station was opened in February 1850 by the East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway, however, passenger trains stopped at the site on market days since the line's opening in October 1848.[1][2] The station was situated close to the A59 bridge over the railway, and was geographically closer to the village of Flaxby, but was named Goldsborough as the users of the stately home at Goldsborough Hall used the station.[3] The station was listed variously in timetables as either Gouldsborough, Goldsboro', or G'boro.[2] One writer states that the name of Goldsborough was used instead of Flaxby to avoid confusion with the station of Flaxton on the York to Scarborough line.[4]

The station site was 2.75 miles (4.43 km) east of Knaresborough and 13 miles (21 km) west of York.[5][6] The platforms were staggered either side of the former Flaxby Road level crossing (what used to be the A59 road, before a bypass was built), with the down platform (towards Knaresborough) on the east of the level crossing, and the up platform (towards York) on the other side.[7][4][8]

Goldsborough Cold Store, near Flaxby, North Yorkshire

In 1922, the North Eastern Railway estimated that the local population was 374 and 4,405 ticket were sold; goods traffic handled at the station were livestock and 251 tonnes (277 tons) of barley.[9] The goods facilities and coal depot were located west of the up platform with a small timber warehouse beside the crossing. When World War II began, a huge brick buildings was built northwest of the station, which was a refrigerated cold store where the Ministry of Food could house emergency meat. On completion, two private sidings were provided running on either side of the brick monolith and two loop reception sidings.[10] The cold store was demolished in 2016.[11]

In the 1877 Bradshaws Timetable, seven trains in both directions were listed as stopping at the station.[12] By 1906, this was down to six return workings,[13] and in 1946, six services to York, but only five to Harrogate.[5]

In the summer of 1958 the services at the station were reduced to one in each direction. The station closed to passengers on 15 September 1958[14] and to goods traffic on 3 May 1965.[4] With the reduction in freight services along the line, the track was singled through the station site in 1973.[15]

In December 2017, it was proposed that the station could reopen as Flaxby Parkway to serve a new development nearby.[16] In 2019, a development company bought the station site with a view to reopening not only to serve their proposed new village nearby, but also to help ease traffic flow on the adjacent A59 road. The location of the site so close to the A1(M) is seen as a potential for a new parkway station.[17]

References
  1. Hoole, Ken (1974). A regional history of the railways of Great Britain. Vol. 4, North East England. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 113. ISBN 0-7153-6439-1.
  2. Quick, Michael (2019). "Railway Passenger Stations in England, Scotland and Wales; a Chronology" (PDF). rchs.org.uk. p. 190. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  3. Body, Geoffrey (1989). Railways of the Eastern Region Volume 2: Northern operating area. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens. p. 109. ISBN 1-85260-072-1.
  4. "Disused Stations: Goldsborough". Disused Stations. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  5. Bradshaw's Official Guide for Great Britain and Ireland 1946 at the Internet Archive
  6. Padgett, David (2016). Railway Track Diagrams, Book 2 - Eastern (4 ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. 18D. ISBN 978-0-9549866-8-1.
  7. "Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland". maps.nls.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  8. Chapman 2011, p. 73.
  9. Hoole, Ken (1985). Railway stations of the North East. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. p. 167. ISBN 0-7153-8527-5.
  10. Catford, Nick (10 October 2002). "Goldsborough Cold Store – Subterranea Britannica". www.subbrit.org.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  11. Rayner, Jay (29 July 2018). "Brexit provides the perfect ingredients for a national food crisis". The Observer. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  12. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide 1877 at the Internet Archive
  13. Bradshaw's General Railway and Steam Navigation Guide 1906 at the Internet Archive
  14. Burgess, Neil (2014). The lost railways of Yorkshire's West Riding : Harrogate and the north. Catrine: Stenlake. p. 49. ISBN 9781840336559.
  15. Chapman 2011, p. 70.
  16. "UK railway news round-up". Railway Gazette International. 17 January 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  17. Bean, Dan (10 January 2019). "Historic railway station could be set to reopen". York Press. Retrieved 1 April 2020.

Sources
  • Chapman, Stephen (2011). Railway Memories No. 24; Harrogate & Wetherby. Todmorden: Bellcode Books. ISBN 978-1871233-24-7.
Preceding station Historical railways Following station
Hopperton
Line open, station closed		   East and West Yorkshire Junction Railway
Harrogate line		   Knaresborough Hay Park Lane
Line open, station closed
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