Ingleton railway station (Midland Railway)

Ingleton (Midland) railway station was one of two stations serving the village of Ingleton, North Yorkshire, England. It was originally open for just ten months between 1849 and 1850, and did not reopen until 1861. It then served as the frontier between the Midland Railway to the south and the London and North Western Railway to the North, with trains from each railway terminating at the station. Through trains did not begin until the two companies were merged in 1923. The station closed in 1954. The village's Community Centre is now on the site of the former station.

1. History

Ingleton station opened on 31 July 1849 as a temporary northern terminus of the "Little" North Western Railway (NWR), who were authorised to build a line from Skipton to Tebay. However, the company ran into financial difficulty and decided to concentrate on the less expensive construction of a branch line to Lancaster, and on completion of that branch, the short section between Clapham and Ingleton was closed only ten months after opening, on 1 June 1850. A complex sequence of negotiations over the building of line north of Ingleton followed. A number of railway companies were interested in the line as part of a route from London to Scotland; the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) already had such a route and were opposed to their competitors gaining one. Eventually it was agreed that the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway (L&CR) would build the Ingleton Branch Line from the existing Ingleton Station to Low Gill. By the time the branch was completed in 1861, the L&CR was operated by the LNWR, and the NWR was operated by the rival Midland Railway (MR), and the LNWR did everything in its power to frustrate the MR's ambition of using the new line as a main route to Scotland. Thus the LNWR had its own station at the other end of Ingleton Viaduct. The Ingleton Branch, and the LNWR station, opened on 16 September 1861. The MR reopened the original Ingleton station two weeks later on 1 October 1861, but refused to let LNWR trains use it. Passengers had to walk nearly a mile (1½ km) between the two Ingleton stations, descending into the valley below and climbing up the other side, where they often had a long wait as the companies did not cooperate over timetabling either. By 1862, the MR agreed to allow LNWR trains to terminate at the Midland station, but both Ingleton stations remained open and connections were not timetabled. The presence of the Midland station played a major role in the success of the Ingleton Waterfalls Trail which opened in 1885 and attracted visitors from Bradford, Manchester and Leeds. In 1923, the LNWR and MR were merged into the London, Midland and Scottish Railway. The LNWR station closed and, for the first time, passengers could travel through Ingleton without changing trains. The site of the former LNWR station was host to three LMS caravans in 1934 and 1935, four from 1936 to 1938 and finally two caravans in 1939. On 30 January 1954, the station closed along with all passenger services on the line. The station continued to be used for goods until 1965, and the tracks were lifted in 1967. The station was demolished and the site is now occupied by Ingleton Community Centre and the village's main car park.

1. = Stationmasters =


1. Ingleton Viaduct

A viaduct of 11 arches each 57 feet (17 m) wide, 800 feet (240 m) long with a maximum height of 80 feet (24 m) crosses the valley of the River Greta. The foundations of this had been laid in 1849 by the NWR, but it was left to the L&CR to build it from late 1858 to 18 May 1860. It was built with white sandstone from a Bentham quarry, to designs by the line's engineers, Joseph Locke and John Errington. The two Ingleton stations were at either end of the viaduct. The viaduct was designated a Grade II listed building on 23 November 1988.

1. References


1. External links

Ingleton Viaduct: The North-West Frontier Archived 5 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine

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Ingleton, North Yorkshire

Ingleton is a village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. The village is 17 miles (27 km) from Kendal and 17 miles (27 km) from Lancaster on the western side of the Pennines. It is 9 miles (14 km) from Settle. The River Doe and the River Twiss meet to form the source of the River Greta, a tributary of the River Lune. The village is on the A65 road and at the head of the A687. The B6255 takes the south bank of the River Doe to Ribblehead and Hawes. All that remains of the railway in the village is the landmark Ingleton Viaduct. Arthur Conan Doyle was a regular visitor to the area and was married locally, as his mother lived at Masongill from 1882 to 1917 (see notable people). It has been claimed that there is evidence that the inspiration for the name Sherlock Holmes came from here. Whernside, 6 miles (9.7 km) north-north-east of the village, one of the Yorkshire Three Peaks, is the highest point in the parish at 736 metres (2,415 ft). There are major quarries within the parish. Ingleton Quarry is active, Meal Bank Quarry no longer is, but extracted Carboniferous limestone and possesses an early Hoffman kiln. There was a textile mill, and the coalfield supported twelve or more small collieries, but Ingleton is mostly known for its tourism, being partially in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, offering waterfalls in a SSSI, limestone caves and Karst landscape walking opportunities.

Hiking Landmark

River Twiss

The River Twiss is a river in the county of Yorkshire, England. The source of the river is Kingsdale Beck, which rises at Kingsdale Head at the confluence of Back Gill and Long Gill in the Yorkshire Dales. Beneath Keld Head, the river changes its name to the River Twiss. It has two notable waterfalls, Thornton Force and Pecca Falls, and its course follows part of the Ingleton Waterfalls Walk, then through Swilla Glen to Thornton in Lonsdale and down to Ingleton, where it meets the River Doe to form the River Greta. The English landscape artist J. M. W. Turner was a frequent visitor to the area, and his sketch of Thornton Force in 1816 is currently part of the Tate collection.

Hiking Landmark

River Doe

The River Doe is a river in North Yorkshire, England. The river's source is near God's Bridge close to the settlement of Chapel-le-Dale and flows through Twisleton in a south-westerly direction to Ingleton, where it meets the River Twiss to form the River Greta. The river forms part of the River Lune system that flows into the Irish Sea.

Landmark Park

St Mary's Church, Ingleton

St Mary's Church is the parish church of Ingleton, North Yorkshire, a village in England. There was a church on the site by the 12th century. The oldest part of the current building is the tower, dating from the 15th century. Between 1886 and 1887 the remainder of the church was rebuilt, to a Decorated Gothic-style design, by Cornelius Sherlock. The building was grade II* listed in 1958. The church is built of stone with a slate roof, and consists of a nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, a south porch, a chancel with a north vestry, and a west tower. The tower has three stages, diagonal buttresses, a west doorway with a pointed arch, a chamfered surround and a hood mould, above which is a three-light window, a south clock face, two-light bell openings, a string course, and an embattled parapet with corner finials. Inside, some fragments of wall painting survive, but the highlight is the 12th century font, described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "one of the best in the West Riding". It is cylindrical, and is carved with an arcade design, with fourteen Biblical scenes. It was rediscovered in the 18th century, cleaned and brought back into use in 1830, and mounted on its current base in 1858.

Church Landmark