Lees railway station

Lees
General information
LocationOldham
England
Coordinates53°32′23″N 2°04′09″W / 53.5396°N 2.0693°W / 53.5396; -2.0693
Platforms2
Other information
StatusDisused
History
Opened5 July 1856 (1856-07-05)
Closed2 May 1955 (1955-05-02)
Original companyLondon and North Western Railway
Pre-groupingLondon and North Western Railway
Post-groupingLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway
Key dates
2 May 1955Closed to passengers
16 December 1963Closed to goods traffic
13 April 1964Line closed

Lees railway station opened on 5 July 1856 at Lees, Lancashire, when the London and North Western Railway (L&NWR) opened the branch from Greenfield to Oldham.[1][2]

The station was located to the south-east of St. John Street, where it crossed the railway. There were two running lines with platforms on the outer sides connected by a footbridge. The main building was to the south of the line and was accessed by a ramp running down from the road over-bridge.[3] To the south east of the station was a goods yard with a goods shed and between the station and the goods shed was a coal depôt. The goods yard was able to accommodate most types of goods including live stock and was equipped with a ten ton crane.[3][4]

Services Initially services ran to Oldham Mumps (L&NWR) and to Greenfield with some of these continuing to Delph. From 1 July 1862 trains were extended from Oldham Mumps to Oldham Clegg Street, later that year the L&NWR closed its Mumps station replacing it with Oldham Glodwick Road.[5][6]

By 1866 the station saw fourteen services in each direction (four on Sundays) of which three continued to Delph (none on Sundays).[7] By 1922 the number of services had increased to about thirty-nine each way (there was some variation on Saturdays) of which eighteen continued to Delph (none on Sundays).[8] In 1939 the LMS service was about the same with around thirty-eight services each way, with even more variation on Saturdays, twenty-one of which continued to Delph (except on Sundays).[9]

The station closed to passengers on 2 May 1955, when the Delph Donkey passenger train service to Delph via Greenfield was withdrawn.[2][10] The station closed to goods traffic on 16 December 1963.[11] The line remained open until 13 April 1964.[12]

Not far from the station, to the north east, was Lees Engine Shed which was open from 1878 to April 1964.[11]

Currently the line is a cyclepath and there is no evidence of the station remaining.[13][14]

Delph Donkey
Legend
Delph
Measurements Halt
Dobcross
Huddersfield line
to Huddersfield
Moorgate Halt
Greenfield
Grasscroft
Huddersfield line
to Stalybridge
Lydgate tunnel
Grotton and Springhead
Lees
Oldham Loop Line
to Rochdale
Oldham Glodwick Road
Oldham Mumps L&YR
Oldham Mumps LNWR
Metrolink
to Manchester Victoria
Oldham Central
Oldham Clegg Street
LNWR Goods Depot
GC Goods Depot
Oldham Werneth
Oldham, Ashton & Guide Bdge
to Ashton-under-Lyne
Oldham Loop Line
to Manchester Victoria
Scottfield GC Goods Depot
Preceding station   Disused railways   Following station
Oldham Glodwick Road   L&NW
Delph Donkey 		  Grotton and Springhead


  1. ^ "Opening of the new Railway to Greenfield". The Manchester Guardian (1828-1900). 7 July 1856. p. 3. ProQuest 473916112.
  2. ^ a b Quick 2022, p. 277.
  3. ^ a b "Ordnance Survey 25 inch map Lancashire XCVII.7". National Library of Scotland. 1894. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ The Railway Clearing House 1970, p. 29.
  5. ^ Reed 1996, p. 60.
  6. ^ Brown 2021, p. 91.
  7. ^ Bradshaw 1866, pp. tables 118 & 119.
  8. ^ Bradshaw 1985, p. 484.
  9. ^ LMS Railway 1939, p. table 150.
  10. ^ Hurst 1992, p. 10 (ref 0453).
  11. ^ a b Brown 2021, p. 92.
  12. ^ Hurst 1992, p. 25 (ref 1272).
  13. ^ "Oldham Cycle Network" (PDF). Visit Oldham. Cycle GM. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  14. ^ Allsop, Stuart. "View of former Lees station". Google Maps. Retrieved 14 January 2022.