|
Burslem & Cobridge
The Stations in the parks
On the loop
line between Tunstall and Hanley were the stations at Burslem and
Cobridge. Both of these stations were alongside or in the respective
parks.
Both Burslem Park and
Cobridge Park can be accessed by the greenway which runs along much of the
route of the old Loop Line.
The
Potteries Loop Line was completed as far as Burslem in 1873 with stations
there and at Cobridge; the station on the main line was then named
Longport instead of Burslem. On the 1902 map below the Loop Line station
at Burslem is called "Hamil Station", however in reality the station was
nearer Moorland Road (where it was accessed from) and was generally called
Burslem Station.
Route of the Loop
Line through Burslem and Cobridge - 1902 map
Greenway following the
Loop Line through Burslem and Cobridge - 2008
[Google maps]
The tree lined route of
the greenway is easily visible on this map.
The blue circle on Scotia Road is near the Pinnox junction, the red circle
is the location of Burslem Station - off Moorland Road and on the bottom
edge of Burslem Park and the green circle is Cobridge Station in Cobridge
park.
|
The cutting of the first sod for the Loop Line
was at Burslem "By mid-June, 1870, the directors of the
North Staffordshire Railway were actively engaged in completing
arrangements for the start of the long projected Loop Line and
several contractors had been invited to send in tenders. The tenders
of Messrs. John and William Pickering, of London, were accepted for
the construction of the Potteries Loop Line and that of Mr. Mackay,
of Silverdale, to make the Burslem branch line.
A station was to be at the eastern end of Cobridge for the
convenience of that place and Sneyd Green. Other stations were to be
at Burslem (Moorland Road),.....
On Thursday, July 21st, 1870, the ceremony of the cutting of
the first sod took place in a very unostentatious manner at
Burslem.
The contractor, Mr. Pickering,
accompanied by Mr. Forsyth, resident engineer, and other
officials, arrived on the ground which was in Moorland Road, on
the site selected for the station.
At three o'clock, the party was met by Mr. John Watkin, the Chief
Bailiff, and other members of the Board of Health. On the
invitation of the contractor, the Chief Bailiff cut the first sod
and deposited it in a wheelbarrow and to quote from a contemporary
newspaper, surely unintentionally humorous, 'and sundry other sods
followed.'
With the barrow fully charged, the Chief Bailiff steered it along
a plank and discharged the contents in a workmanlike manner, amid
the cheers of the assembled spectators.
The party then adjourned to the Leopard
Hotel, in Burslem, where, by the liberality of the contractor and
the Chief Bailiff, 'Success to the Potteries Loop Line was
heartily drunk, in sparkling bumpers.' "
E J D Warrillow - A
Sociological history of Stoke-on-Trent |
|
