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Liverpool Echo

National

James McNeill

Long forgotten Sefton railway stations that are now memories

Sefton Southport

Many train stations around Sefton have been confined to history.

The borough now has just a fraction of the stations it once had with many being closed and demolished in the 1950s. The borough was once much easier to navigate by train, with most villages and townships having their own stations- such as Woodvale.

Some of them were used to transport goods rather than people, such as the Gladstone Dock railway station in Bootle. Sefton has some 30 disused railway stations and the ECHO has looked back at some of the lost and forgotten train stations that once served the borough.

Ainsdale Beach

The Sands pub in Ainsdale (Southport Visiter)

The station opened in 1901 and was originally called 'Seaside'. It was later decided to rename the station 'Ainsdale Beach'. The station was built next to a hotel called The Lakeside Hotel (now the Sands pub) and was situated at the end of Shore Road. The station closed down in 1917 during WW1 . It reopened in 1919 and remained in use until January 7, 1952.

Aintree Racecourse

Originally opened as 'Aintree Cinder Lane' in 1890 the station fell out of use and was only opened during the Grand National. The platform was removed in 1969 but the line continued to be used for freight until 1971. The line was converted into a foot and cycle path during the 1990s and no evidence of the station remains.

Alexandra Dock

The station was opened on the March 6, 1893 by the Marquis of Salisbury and was the northern terminus of the line until it was extended to Seaforth Sands just over a year later. The station closed, along with the rest of the line, on December 30, 1956. No evidence of this station remains.

Altcar Rifle Range

Situated a third of a mile north of Hightown it opened in 1862 as Hightown Rifle Station and was renamed in July 1886. The station served the nearby Altcar Rifle Range and a small tramway was used to transport munitions.

The station was closed briefly between October 1893 and April 1894, before shutting down forecer on October 3, 1921. The line through the station remains open and is today used by trains on the Merseyrail, Northern Line. The station is long gone but there are still some traces of the platform left that are now very overgrown.

Birkdale Palace

The Palace Hotel in Birkdale (Southport Visiter)

Opened in 1884, the station was built next to a hotel called the Birkdale Palace Hotel (now closed and demolished) and was sandwiched between Palace Road & Weld Roads. It closed in 1952 and the route was converted into what is now Coastal Road which runs from Woodvale to Southport

Blowick

Blowick railway station was on the Manchester and Southport Railway in the Blowick suburb of Southport. The station opened as 'Cop End' in early 1871 and was renamed Blowick. The station closed on September 25, 1939.

Bootle Village

Located right in the heart of Bootle the station opened in 1850 on the southern side of Merton Road and closed in 1876.

Churchtown

Opened in 1878, the railway ran above the streets on an embankment and crossed Cambridge Road on an iron bridge. The booking office was situated at street level roughly where Churchtown Medical Centre stands today.

Seaforth Sands

The station opened on April 30, 1894, as a northern extension from Alexandra Dock at a total cost of £10,000. In 1901 the country's second moving escalator was installed in the station. Unfortunately, in 1906, the escalator was removed due to complaints of long skirts getting trapped in the machinery.

Located close to Crosby Road South, Knowsley Road and Rimrose Road junctions, the station fell victim to a serious arson attack on February 4, 1956. The attack happened overnight with evidence of an old tyre having been found inside the station building.

Firemen fought throughout the night to temper the blaze and around £30,000 worth of damage was caused. The station closed in 1956.

Full list of disused railway stations