THE BEECHING cuts of the 1960s left a tarnished legacy as railway stations and lines across the country were closed forever, several of which were in our town.

There was a time when Bolton had a plethora of railway stations.

Some of our readers may still be able to recall stations at Daubhill, known as Rumworth and Daubhill, Plodder Lane and Chequerbent. Indeed, many of Bolton’s smaller districts boasted stations.

In the town centre alone, we had both Great Moor Street and Trinity Street Station!

Great Moor Street was used for trains travelling to North Wales and was once the town’s hub. The line went out towards Great Lever and under Bobby Heyward Park.

It split into two with one line going towards Lostock and Westhoughton.

The other line went out towards Farnworth passing under Lever Street and Settle Street, up near Bolton Royal Hospital, then known as Townley’s, where it stopped at Plodder Lane Station.

Part of the old track is now a walkway starting from Lever Street up to the Royal Bolton Hospital. From there it went to Manchester and eventually North Wales.

Back in its heyday in the 50s there would be huge queues for the train at Trinity Street Station in September as Bolton would empty for the “wakes’ weeks” as the mills and other businesses closed for the annual break.

After the Beeching cuts removed the rail links, many small seaside towns on the Fylde coast declined as people stopped going there.

Some other nearby stations including Little Hulton and Atherton (Bag Lane) on this same, now defunct line, were lost following the cuts.

Crook Street was one of several stations removed on the Blackburn and Bolton Line, which mostly catered for freight trains carrying heavy loads.

The town also suffered from the loss of a rail link between Bolton and Wigan. The Lostock Junction, which had platforms linking Bolton to both Wigan and Preston, was shut in 1966.

It later re-opened in 1988 as Lostock Parkway, though the Parkway part of the name was eventually dropped, but now only connects to Preston.

Many of our “more mature” Looking Back enthusiasts will recall the Beeching cuts that caused all of this to happen.

These cuts were a reduction of route networks and a restructuring of railways in Great Britain following the Beeching Reports which were published in the 1960s.

The now infamous Beeching Axe removed 5,000 miles of rail network across the country and more than 2,000 stations were lost.

Some people say that when you consider the region’s current traffic problem, Beeching made a mistake cutting so much of the railway network.

The say that high levels of congestion and difficulties commuting into Manchester mean that it was short sighted to remove so many stations and branch lines.

Back in the 60s things were somewhat different as the popularity of cars was increasing dramatically and trains were considered costly.

In 2018, however, and with cars becoming more expensive to run, perhaps more people are hankering after the days of the railway.