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The Hilton House Branch

 

The short link between Blackrod and Crows Nest Junction at Hindley was opened in 1868 as part of a scheme which also involved the White Bear to Boars Head line to the North east (see Intro). It closed again in 1968, having lasted almost exactly a century. The short stretch of line had two small stations/halts, which came under the jurisdiction of the Station Master at Blackrod.

Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway drawings dating from the time of the line's construction show a large number of mineral tracks covering the area Hilton House. The original connection to the main line for these was a few 100 yards south of the junction built by the L&YR. It had a tight curve which brought the line to the same crossing point on the A6 which was used by the Hindley line thereafter. The 1890 OS maps of the area show all these lines still in-place, co-existing with the Hilton House line. By the time of the second edition of OS 25in maps around 1900, the mineral lines seem to have been removed.

 

These mineral lines were associated with the many small coal pits in the area, and were not the only ones within the confines of Blackrod. Theses lines are covered in detail on the Mineral Lines page. 

 

Hilton House - Blackrod's other station!

The first of these stations could be considered as Blackrod's second station, since it was just across the road from the Georgian House Hotel on the A6, right on the Border with Westhoughton. 

This photo is of Hilton House station and signalbox as they looked in 1963. This site is almost unrecognisable now. Not only have all the railway buildings gone, but the area close to the road has been filled to the extent that there is no need for a bridge. Hilton House its self, clearly visible across the A6 on the right of the picture is still there, but the area to the left of it, is now occupied by the heavily developed Georgian House hotel. Interestingly, the Hilton House shown here is the second building to bear that name, when in the 1840s, the original Hilton House became Hilton Farm.

 

This photograph was taken a short time after the line was dismantled - presumably in the early 70s. Taken from the other side of the A6 to the picture above, the building to the left of the track-bed is Hilton House itself, and the station would have been out of sight behind the embankment which has already replaced the bridge under the A6. 

In the 1963 shot above, there is a post visible just under the bridge - could that be the signal shown in this picture? The track-bed seems very straight on this side of the road compared with the curve shown above.

 

Photo by Jon Fitness

 

Dicconson Lane

Dicconson Lane station doesn't appear on all maps which show Hilton House. It may be the case that this station was an earlier casualty than the rest of the line, or that DIcconson Lane was added as a halt after Hilton House. If the stations had been built at the same time, it would seem reasonable to expect their buildings to be the same. Although they are broadly similar, there are enough differences to assume that they were not built at the same time. 

 

Dicconson Lane station served an area to the south west of Aspull which would have been sparsely populated, so it is fair to assume that the it would not have been heavily used.

This photo and the one of Hilton House  are taken from the Bolton Environmental Services publication "Bolton's Disused Railways", which is available in some of Bolton's libraries.