Index of TopicsTo sections on this page.
Index of Topics
To sections on this page.
Navigation
Each sub-section page has clickable symbols which link to:
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Links to Railway Sub-sections
Although Penistone had for a long time been on the various horse-drawn coach routes, the arrival of the railway in the mid nineteenth century transformed our town from a quiet rural backwater into an industrial centre; a place to build businesses. The new railway service led to the arrival of the Cammel Laird steel works and other industries. Penistone's population and house-building would escalate and make it more important than neighbouring Thurlstone which, previous to the railway, had been more populous and industrious. Thurlstone's main business had been textiles but it was an industry in slow decline.
The arrival of railways at the tail-end of the stage coach era also allowed people to go to places which would have been difficult to access before. Now there could be day trips to the seaside and to other towns and cities. Not all of this travel was in good taste. During the Holmfirth flood of 1852, hundreds of people went by train to rubber-neck at the unfolding catastrophe.
| Links to Railway Sub-sections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stations Old & New |
The platform and canopy |
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| 2 | The Woodhead Line | |||
| 3 | The Huddersfield Line | |||
| 4 | Beeching's Axe | |||
| 5 | The Flying Scotsman - and Mr Pegler |
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Penistone remained a major junction until the Woodhead line was closed by 'Beeching's Axe' just over a century later. The Woodhead line was also a trail-blazer for electrification in the 1950s, but using a DC supply with electrical substations distributed along the line. It seemed like a good idea at the time but the future would be an AC system and Penistone would ultimately lose out. Much of Penistone's old railway land is now used for the Trans-Pennine Trail, for cyclists, walkers and horse-riders.
Local people can attest to the popularity of Penistone's railway from the Woodhead Line days when the waiting room gave a warm welcome with a roaring fire, through to a popular cafe on the platform; to Penistone Working Men's Club's annual day trips which might have as many as eight full coaches or more. Regular commuters and shoppers have always valued the availability of trains in Penistone as the most comfortable, if expensive, way to travel. Try lugging a holiday suitcase on to a bus! As public transport goes, taking the train is always far superior (and much more scenic) than riding on a smelly bus.
HM Government Matters
Stuff we have no real influence on.
Possible Road Tunnel
A new Trans-Pennine road tunnel had been proposed (or 'studied') in better times to link Manchester with Sheffield and take the heavy traffic from the existing Trans-Pennine road route which is often closed due to bad weather and accidents. The existing railway tunnels had not been part of the road plans. It was unlikely that the 19th century, single-track railway tunnels could be re-employed as they are in a very poor state of repair and they would not have been suitable anyway for road traffic, with limited ventilation and widths. The 1954 railway tunnel is now owned by National Grid and carries power cables across the Pennines. It had originally been designed for electric trains.
A Strategic Study (pdf p90) shows several possible road routes from Manchester to Sheffield which would directly affect our area, if only during construction. Later, the routes were whittled down to just four possibilities and one of them might have impinged on our district. This was part of the 'Northern Powerhouse' project which had mostly concentrated its efforts on a new High Speed railway line ('HS2') between Lancashire and the south and on better railway links between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. Very noticeable at our side of the Pennines was their main focus on Lancashire.
With the road scheme costing £billions, a train from Leeds to Manchester would still be 20 minutes faster, although it might not handle the freight. In 2021, it looks as though the road tunnel idea has been shelved, possibly due to government funds being much more limited. See HMG.
Campaign to Re-open Tunnels
Following a popular e-petition pressuring HM Government to re-open the Woodhead Tunnel for railway use, the following statement (April 2008) was announced by Transport Minister Ruth Kelly:
No current proposals for tunnels on the Woodhead route stop them from being re-opened for future rail use, if they are needed.The Rail White Paper, published in July 2007, identified the need for more passenger capacity across the Pennines. It concluded that this could best be met by longer trains and faster journey times on the Manchester to Leeds via Huddersfield route. The White Paper did not identify any need for substantial extra trans-Pennine capacity for freight.
The Minister of State for Transport, Rosie Winterton, proposes to meet National Grid in the next few weeks to confirm that the Government would wish to explore further the option of continuing the inspection and maintenance regime for the Victorian tunnels once National Grid have vacated them.
Following that meeting, she would also like to meet key stakeholders to gain the transport industry and northern economic perspectives on the issue of Trans-Pennine transport and how that will tie in with the process of developing a longer term strategy. This will be conducted as part of the process outlined in the document - Towards a Sustainable Transport System (TaSTS).
And... nothing happened. In fact the National Grid makes use of the tunnel and is unlikely to be uprooted any time soon. They do have plans to remove the pylons along the Don valley from Dunford Bridge towards Penistone but that will not affect the tunnel.
The 'Don Valley' Railway?
Well, not quite, as they are naming it after the wrong river! Stocksbridge is not on the River Don. Stocksbridge is trying to get the old steelworks railway line reinstated for passenger use, and with good reason. It would do them a lot of good by connecting them with the main Sheffield railway. It would give a real boost to Stocksbridge businesses and bring extra trade in the other direction, into Sheffield. A great idea in principle, so - get on with it.
It looks do-able too as there was a railway line before to Fox's steelworks and the old trackbed is largely untouched by the later Fox Valley shopping area. A railway trip on Youtube travels the Sheffield to Deepcar line and it is still a good line. They inspect it from time to time to keep it in working condition.
However, one might expect some comment about their chosen name. It is erroneous as 'Don Valley Railway' is not geographically correct. Both the rivers Porter (aka 'Little Don') and Don have their sources close together on the moors above Winscar Reservoir but they go off in different directions. The Don flows gently through Penistone while Stocksbridge has the River Porter (or 'Little Don'), which later becomes a tributary to 'our' River Don heading towards Sheffield.
The confusion probably arises from the 'Don Valley' district of Sheffield City Council and the Don Valley parliamentary constituency. They use 'Don Valley' quite a lot towards Sheffield but they did not ought to do so in Stocksbridge. Somebody get them a map please! Also, the existing railway route from Penistone to Sheffield lies in the Upper Don Valley, erm, through Penistone. Bah humbug!
Further Reading
A good but small book to seek out is 'Pennine Journey' by William B Stocks (Penistone Library), printed by the Huddersfield Examiner press. It is long out of print but used copies can be bought cheaply on the internet. It looks into the background of the Manchester to Leeds and Huddersfield railways, and from Huddersfield to Penistone.
The book also discusses early opposition from canal companies to the proposed railway routes, which would ultimately affect the established railway routes that we know to this day. Further opposition came from an unlikely source. The coal mining industry of Barnsley opposed a proposal to extend a branch line coming from the Penistone to Huddersfield line to connect to Darton via Skelmanthorpe. Coal suppliers did not want too direct a link between Barnsley and Huddersfield but their reasoning was not explained in the book.
Maps
Links
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
- 'Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.'
