Walking through Levenshulme’s history part 1 ............. a railway station

Now there is a lot in Levenshulme that I have missed over the years so here is a short series focusing on the bits that have gone, the bits that may soon go and a lot more that is still there if you know where to look.

And that is where Andy Robertson comes in because on a grey and very unpromising July day he set off to record a place he knows well.

I could have started with any one of the four-eight images he recorded but given our joint fascination for all things railway, here is Levenshulme Station and associated pictures, and because someone has done its history far better than I here also is a little bit about when the railway arrived.*

The station which many will remember as Levenshulme South was originally just called Levenshulme and was opened by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway on May 2nd 1892 and was on the Fallowfield Loop line.

And for those of us living in Chorlton it would have been just a few minutes down the line, but alas the station was closed as a passenger service in 1958.

Freight traffic continued to be handled until June 1965 when the station was downgraded to a coal depot only.

The building is still there and you can now walk the walk where once trains thundered past.

We have yest to do this bit of the loop but will do in time.

And that I think is where I shall stop for today, but as Levenshulme is a place I never lived and my knowledge of railway history is sketchy I shall await the experts to add more to the story of the station and the surrounding area.

And no sooner had the story been posted and  Anthony commented, "just a quick comment Andrew, although Levenshulme South closed to passengers in 1958, the line remained in passenger use, I think until the closure of Manchester Central in 1969. Liverpool Central - Manchester Central - Harwich Parkeston Quay boat trains had been routed via Levenshulme and Guide Bridge to Sheffield Victoria. In 1957-61 generally hauled by B1 class steam locos, with 61002 'Impala' and 61161 making regular appearances."

Which was followed up by Cedric who wrote, "so sad to see it today. I have a distant memory of catching a train at Levy south but I can't have been more than 3 years old at the time. 

I remember playing on the platform after the station closed, you had to be careful as there was broken glass everywhere after the vandals finished off the station buildings. 

The KK cash and carry shown in the photos was a hardware merchants after the station closed and I remember there was a shoe repairers next door who had the necessary leather working tools to restitch my school satchel when it started to come apart. 

Do kids still have satchels? I guess not." 

And I shall finish with a correction, Brian who runs that excellent facebook site,Greater Manchester History, Architecture, Faces and Places  added "Oh and Andrew, the loop was opened throughout on 2.5.1892, but it had been opened from Chorlton Junction to Fallowfield on 1.10.1891."

Now that is how I like my history, local, instant and full of new things to learn.

Next; that cinema

Pictures; of Levenshulme Station and more July 2015, from the collection of Andy Robertson

*Disused Stations, http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/l/levenshulme_south/index.shtml