Kirby Park railway station
Kirby Park | |
|---|---|
 The site of Kirby Park station on the Wirral Way. | |
| General information | |
| Location | West Kirby, Wirral England |
| Grid reference | SJ217860 |
| Platforms | 1 |
| Other information | |
| Status | Disused |
| History | |
| Pre-grouping | Birkenhead Railway |
| Post-grouping |
|
| Key dates | |
| 1 October 1894 | Opened |
| 5 July 1954 | Closed to passengers |
| 17 September 1956 | Closed to school traffic |
| 7 May 1962 | Closed to freight |
Kirby Park railway station was a station on the single track Hooton to West Kirby branch of the Birkenhead Railway, on the Wirral Peninsula, England.
History
[edit]The Birkenhead Railway, owned jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London and North Western Railway (LNWR), had initially opened a branch line from Hooton to Parkgate in 1866. An extension to West Kirby was completed twenty years later[1] although Kirby Park station did not open until 1 October 1894.[1][2] It was named after Kirby Park, the area surrounding the house Kirbymount, formerly the summer residence of John Hurleston Leche XV of Carden.
Originally considered an experimental station,[1] it was constructed primarily of timber 800 m (870 yd) to the south of the current West Kirby railway station and served largely as a school stop for the nearby Calday Grange Grammar School.
Closure
[edit]Kirby Park railway station closed before most of the stations on the line on 5 July 1954, however for school purposes it remained open until 1956. The track continued to be used for freight transportation and driver training for another six years, closing on 7 May 1962.[1][2] The line was lifted two years later with the station building and platform completely demolished.[1] The only evidence that a station stood on this site is the entrance on Sandy Lane in West Kirby.
Wirral Country Park
[edit]The route became the Wirral Way footpath and part of Wirral Country Park in 1973, which was the first such designated site in Britain.[1][3][4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Disused Stations: Kirby Park, Subterranea Britannica, retrieved 21 November 2008
- ^ a b Maund, T.B. (2000), The Birkenhead Railway, The Railway Correspondence and Travel Society, pp. 44, 69, ISBN 0-901115-87-8
- ^ Wirral Country Park, Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, archived from the original on 30 October 2008, retrieved 21 November 2008
- ^ Wirral Country Park, Visit Liverpool, retrieved 21 November 2008
Further reading
[edit]- Merseyside Railway History Group (1982). The Hooton to West Kirby Branch Line. Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. ISBN 9780904582048. OCLC 60074290.
- Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Birkenhead to West Kirby. Middleton Press. figs. 74-75. ISBN 9781908174611. OCLC 885451764.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Kirby Park railway station at Wikimedia Commons
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Caldy | Birkenhead Railway Hooton to West Kirby branch |
West Kirby |
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