Thornton for Cleveleys railway station

Infobox UK disused station
name = Thornton for Cleveleys
manager = Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway / London and North Western Railway
locale = Thornton
borough = Wyre
platforms = 2


caption = Remains of the station in 2005
line = Preston and Wyre Joint Railway
latitude = 53.8706 | longitude = -3.0000
gridref =
years = 30 May 1865| events = Opened
years1 = 1970
events1 = Closed

Thornton for Cleveleys (originally simply Cleveleys) was a small-sized railway station which served the two English Lancashire towns of Thornton and Cleveleys, but was situated in the centre of Thornton. Located on the now disused line between Poulton-le-Fylde and Fleetwood, the station also had a shunting yard for the making-up of freight trains for Preston and beyond. During its life it was also known at times as Thornton station and Thornton-Cleveleys station. In the 1860's and early 1870's the line was of great importance being the direct route from London to Glasgow, before the Shap route was opened passengers (allegedly including Queen Victoria) would travel from Euston to Fleetwood and then onwards via steamer to Scotland.

The original station was opened in 1865 to the south of Station Road in Thornton, near an older halt called Ramper Road, the Station Masters house and station building can still be seen in use as a private residence. This station closed in 1927 when the new station (the first to be built by the LMS) opened to the north of the level crossing. Rationalised in the 1950's/60's the station eventually closed in 1970 when the Fleetwood line was closed to passengers. [ Welch, M.S. (2004) "Lancashire Steam Finale", Runpast Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 1 870754 61 1, p.28] [Suggitt, G. (2003, revised 2004) "Lost Railways of Lancashire", [http://www.countrysidebooks.co.uk Countryside Books, Newbury] , ISBN 1 85306 801 2, p.37] Freight continued on the line to nearby Burn Naze until 1999.

Today, the station buildings at Thornton are long since demolished but the platforms remain, albeit fenced off and covered in weeds. The site of the main station buildings and bus turning circle now being the site of a supermarket and small shops.

There have recently been moves towards reopening the Fleetwood line and its stations, including Thornton. A feasibility study into the line's re-opening was commissioned in 2006 by Poulton Market Town Initiative and the Wyre Strategic Partnership.

On 1 July 2007, the station was leased by Network Rail to the Poulton & Wyre Railway society to allow the group of volunteers access to the site to clear it of vegetation and undertake cosmetic works.

References

External links

GBoldmap|53.8706|-3.0000|SD|3435|4206|Thornton for Cleveleys Station
NPE Maps=(1947)
Vision of Britain=y

* [http://www.pwrs.org Poulton and Wyre Railway Society] , working towards restoring passenger services to Fleetwood.

rail line one to two
previous=Burn Naze Halt
next1=Poulton-le-Fylde
route1=Preston and Wyre
Joint Railway
Fleetwood Branch Line
next2=stnlnk|Poulton Curve Halt
route2=Preston and Wyre
Joint Railway
Blackpool Branch Line
col=964B00
###@@@KEYEND@@@###