Ainsdale Beach railway station

Ainsdale Beach was a railway station located in Ainsdale, Merseyside, England.

Ainsdale Beach
Station site in 2020.
General information
LocationAinsdale, Sefton
England
Coordinates53.6071°N 3.0568°W / 53.6071; -3.0568
Grid referenceSD302128
Line(s)Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway
Platforms2[1][2][3]
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Original companyCheshire Lines Committee
Pre-groupingCheshire Lines Committee
Post-groupingCheshire Lines Committee
Key dates
19 June 1901Station opened as "Seaside"
1 January 1912Station renamed "Ainsdale Beach"[4]
1 January 1917Station closed as a wartime economy measure
1 April 1919Station reopened
7 January 1952Station closed[5]

History

The Southport & Cheshire Lines Extension Railway (SCLER) opened a line extending their existing system from Aintree to Southport on 1 September 1884.[6] Seeing the potential in Ainsdale's large beach they subsequently built this station, which opened as Seaside in 1901. In 1911 it was decided to rename the station Ainsdale Beach, which took effect from 1 January 1912.

The station was built adjacent to a hotel called The Lakeside Hotel (in 2015 named 'The Sands' and trading as a local pub) situated at the coastal end of Shore Road. A terraced row of railway staff cottages immediately next to the station still stood in 2015, although all station structures, signal box and level crossing[7][8] have long gone.

It was served by trains from Southport Lord Street, Liverpool Central and Manchester Central.[9]

A total eclipse of the sun occurred in June 1927. The railway provided many excursion specials to many locations, including Ainsdale Beach.[10]

Run down and closure

The station first closed in 1917, along with all other stations on the extension line, as a First World War economy measure.

The station reopened on 1 April 1919, and continued in use until 7 January 1952, when the SCLER was closed to passengers from Aintree Central to Southport Lord Street. Public goods facilities were ended at Woodvale, Lydiate and Sefton & Maghull stations on the same day and there never were any goods facilities at Ainsdale Beach station. The line remained open for public goods traffic until 7 July 1952 at Southport Lord Street, Birkdale Palace and Altcar & Hillhouse stations. A siding remained open at Altcar & Hillhouse for private goods facilities until May 1960. The last passenger train to run on the SCLER was a railway enthusiasts' special train between Aintree and Altcar & Hillhouse stations on 6 June 1959.[11][12]

The line came under the Cheshire Lines Committee until nationalisation in 1948, whereafter it came under the London Midland Region of British Railways until closure.

The site today

Later the track bed through the station site was used to support what is now the Coastal Road, which runs from Woodvale to Southport. At this point the road is also part of the Trans Pennine Trail.

References
  1. Bolger 1984, pp. 26–7.
  2. Foster 2000, pp. 79 & 82.
  3. Biddle 1981, p. 30.
  4. Dow 1962, p. 142.
  5. Butt 1995, p. 13.
  6. Griffiths 1947, p. 53.
  7. Dyckhoff 1999, Title Page and p108.
  8. Travers 2013, pp. 374 & 376.
  9. Bolger 1984, pp. 5–7.
  10. Dyckhoff 1999, p. 62.
  11. Railtours via sixbellsjunction
  12. Travers 2013, p. 377.

Sources
  • Biddle, Gordon (1981). Railway Stations in the North West. Clapham, North Yorkshire: Dalesman Books. ISBN 978-0-85206-644-7.
  • Bolger, Paul (1984). An Illustrated History of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Merseyside: Heyday Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-947562-00-7.
  • Butt, R. V. J. (October 1995). The Directory of Railway Stations: details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-508-7. OCLC 60251199. OL 11956311M.
  • Dow, George (1962). Great Central, Volume Two Dominion of Watkin 1864-1899. Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 978-0-7110-1469-5. OCLC 655324061.
  • Dyckhoff, Nigel (1999). Portrait of the Cheshire Lines Committee. Shepperton: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7110-2521-9.
  • Foster, Harry (2000). New Ainsdale The struggle of a seaside suburb 1850-2000. Birkdale: Birkdale and Ainsdale Historical Research Society. ISBN 978-0-9510905-5-8.
  • Griffiths, R Prys (1947). The Cheshire Lines Railway. Lingfield: The Oakwood Press. OCLC 752555378. OL5.
  • Jowett, Alan (2000). Jowett's Nationalised Railway Atlas (1st ed.). Penryn, Cornwall: Atlantic Transport Publishers. ISBN 978-0-906899-99-1. OCLC 228266687.
  • Jowett, Alan (March 1989). Jowett's Railway Atlas of Great Britain and Ireland: From Pre-Grouping to the Present Day (1st ed.). Sparkford: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85260-086-0. OCLC 22311137.
  • Travers, Ian (June 2013). Blakemore, Michael (ed.). "The Southport Extension of the Cheshire Lines Committee 1884-1952". Back Track. Easingwold: Pendragon Publishing. 27 (6).
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Woodvale
Line and station closed		   Cheshire Lines Committee
SCLER		   Birkdale Palace
Line and station closed
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