West Didsbury tram stop

West Didsbury is a tram stop on the South Manchester Line (SML) of Greater Manchester's light-rail Metrolink system. It opened to passengers on 23 May 2013, in West Didsbury, south Manchester, England. The Metrolink stop is 300m south-east of the former heavy rail station of the Midland Railway, which opened 1 January 1880 as Withington; was renamed on 1 July 1884 to Withington and Albert Park; renamed again on 1 April 1915 to Withington and West Didsbury; and closed on 3 July 1961. The route was earmarked for redevelopment with a light rail system during the 1980s, and was confirmed and funded as part of Metrolink's Phase 3b of expansion in 2006.

1. Service pattern

12 minute service to Shaw and Crompton, with double trams at peak times; 12 minute service to Rochdale Town Centre, with double trams at peak times; 6 minute service to East Didsbury, with double trams at peak times.

1. History


1. = Railway station =

Withington and West Didsbury railway station opened in 1880 as "Withington" when the Midland Railway opened its new Manchester South District Line out of Manchester Central Station. The station was renamed "Withington & Albert Park" in 1884 and then "Withington & West Didsbury" in 1915. The station closed in July 1961, although local services to other stations on the Manchester South District line continued to pass through until January 1967, and express trains continued to use this route until 1969, when the entre line was closed as part of the Beeching cuts. By the 2000s, the original cobbled station approach road and wall were still visible off Lapwing Lane, and the remains of the station platforms could still be seen at the bottom of the overgrown embankment.

1. = Metrolink stop =

In 1984, Greater Manchester Council and GMPTE announced the Project Light Rail scheme to develop a new light rail/tram system by re-opening use of disused railway lines in the region, including the route through West Didsbury. The first phase of the Manchester Metrolink system opened in 1992, but it was not until 2013 that the network was expanded to reach as far as East Didsbury, as part of Phase 3b of the Metrolink expansion project. Tram tracks were laid along the former trackbed and a new tram stop was constructed in the railway cutting on the opposite side of Palatine Road from the original railway station. The West Didsbury Metrolink stop opened on 23 May 2013.

1. See also

Sheffield and Midland Railway Companies' Committee Midland Railway Didsbury railway station

1. References


1. External links

"Withington & West Didsbury Station (1880-1961)". Disused Stations. Retrieved 23 October 2020. "Map of West Didsbury Metrolink Stop" (PDF). GMPTE. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2017. Metrolink stop information West Didsbury area map

Nearby Places View Menu

Northern Lawn Tennis Club

The Northern Lawn Tennis Club, or simply The Northern, is a members-owned sporting club in West Didsbury, Manchester. It was home to the prestigious Northern Championships, considered one of the most important tournaments in the world for many years (the others being Wimbledon, the U.S. National championships and the Irish Championships). It was later the venue for the Manchester Trophy (the successor to that former event), which was played on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women's Circuit.

Tennis

Withington Town Hall

Withington Town Hall, also known as West Didsbury Town Hall, is a former municipal building on Lapwing Lane, Withington, a town in Greater Manchester in England. The building, which served as the offices and meeting place of Withington Urban District Council and now accommodates a firm of solicitors, is a Grade II listed building.

Government Historic Site

Withington and West Didsbury railway station

Withington and West Didsbury (previously named Withington and Withington & Albert Park) is a former railway station in West Didsbury, in south Manchester, England. It was located on Lapwing Lane, close to the junction with Palatine Road and opposite Withington Town Hall. Nothing now remains of the old station buildings, which have been demolished. The area is now served by West Didsbury tram stop, which is approximately 85 metres (279 ft) further down the line from the original station.

Landmark Train

421 m

Greens (English restaurant)

Greens was a restaurant at 41 to 43 Lapwing Lane in West Didsbury. An existing vegetarian restaurant, Greens was reopened in 1990 by Simon Rimmer and Simon Connolly after they spotted it in a pub, with Rimmer becoming its chef after discovering that they could not afford to hire someone. A sister restaurant opened in Sale, Greater Manchester in July 2022, though both closed in 2024 as a result of that decade's cost-of-living crisis. The Didsbury branch was awarded an AA Rosette in 1992, became the first purely vegetarian restaurant to appear in The Good Food Guide, and has appeared on a number of 'best of' lists. Writers for SquareMeal, Time Out, and Manchester Evening News also gave the restaurant positive write-ups. Its staff have included Eddie Shepherd, who set up a successful vegetarian restaurant of his own, and MasterChef winner Simon Wood, who spent a period cooking there between winning and setting up his own restaurant.

Restaurant