Station Name: CHESTER GOLF CLUB HALT

[Source: Paul Wright]


Date opened: 1891
Location: Just to the north of Hawarden Bridge Halt
Company on opening: Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway
Date closed to passengers: 18.5.1896
Date closed completely: 18.5.1896
Company on closing: Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway
Present state: Demolished
County: Flintshire
OS Grid Ref: SJ314697
Date of visit: 4.3.2011

Notes: Chester Golf Club Halt was named after the club it served. It was situated on the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway’s (MS&LR) Chester Northgate and Hawarden Bridge line which opened to passengers on 31st March 1890. The MS&LR line connected with the Wrexham, Mold & Connahs Quay Railway (WM&CQR) who built a new line from their existing Wrexham and Buckley route to an end-on junction with the MS&LR on the south side of the River Dee, close to Connahs Quay. The two companies had thereby created a through route between Wrexham and Chester that could compete with the Great Western Railway (GWR).

Chester Golf Club Halt was located north of Hawarden Bridge which carried the MS&LR over the River Dee. It was first brought into use in 1891 and was probably a very basic affair being constructed from timber. The line was double-track so it would have had two platforms.

The halt did not appear in the timetable but would have been served by trains between Wrexham Central and Chester Northgate.

In order to create a through route to the River Mersey, the MS&LR lured the WM&CQR into a venture that would see the creation of a line from a point just north of Chester Golf Club Halt, to Bidston, on the Wirral Railway’s (WR) network. The WR had originally proposed the line and received an Act to build it, but they could not raise the capital. To progress matters the WM&CQR and the GCR formed a joint company that ultimately became known as the North Wales & Liverpool Railway Committee. Work on the line began on 21st October 1892 and it opened on 18th May 1896.

The opening of the new line created a triangle of railways to the north of the Hawarden Bridge. At the south end was Wrexham Junction, the point at which the new Bidston line diverged from the original MS&LR line to Chester. At the north point of the Triangle was the Birkenhead Junction. From here a line went eastwards from the Bidston route to connect with the Chester Northgate line at Chester East Junction. Trains were thus able to run between Wrexham and Bidston, between Wrexham and Chester, and between Chester and Bidston.

Chester Golf Club Platform was no longer in a suitable location, and so new facilities were opened to the north which could serve both Wrexham - Bidston and Chester - Bidston services. The original halt closed when the new facilities opened on 18th May 1896.

On 22nd September 1924 Hawarden Bridge Halt was opened, just south of the site of Chester Golf Club Halt, by the London & North Eastern Railway who
had recently inherited the line. Its primary purpose was to serve Shotton steelworks on the north bank of the River Dee. Hawarden Bridge Halt became simply Hawarden Bridge in 1954 and remained open in February 2011, although very few trains called there.

Route map drawn by Alan Young

Sources:

To see other stations on the Wrexham Central to Bidston Line click

Wrexham Central, Wrexham Exchange, Rhosddu, Hope High Level, Buckley (1st station), Birkenhead Junction Golf Club Platform, Sealand Rifle Range Halt, Burton Point, Storeton,

See also
Liscard & Poulton, Seacombe

See also stations on the WMCQR Brymbo Branch
Highfield Road Halt, Moss & Pentre, New Broughton Road Halt, Plas Power (WM&CQR), Brymbo (WM&CQR)

See also MS&LR Stations between Shotton and Chester Northgate
Chester Junction Golf Club Platform, Sealand, Saughall, Blacon,
Chester Liverpool Road, Chester Northgate

See also related items

The Buckley Railway
Hawarden Loop
Hawarden Bridge

Railways at Bidston



Looking northeast at the site of the Chester Golf Club Halt in March 2011. In the distance can be seen a signalbox that is now called Dee Marsh. It once controlled Wrexham Junction where the lines to Chester and Bidston diverged. By 2011 only the Bidston line remained. During the period when the halt was in use there was only the line between Chester Northgate and Wrexham Central.
Photo by Paul Wright

There are no maps that show Chester Golf Club Halt so this later map has been
altererd to show its position.

Looking north towards the site of the Chester Golf Club Halt from the south end of Hawarden Bridge station which opened in 1924, many years after the halt had closed. The Golf Club halt was beyond the northern end of Hawarden Bridge station's platforms. Hawarden Bridge station had been built primarily to serve the adjacent Shotton steelworks. When this picture was taken in March 2011
very few trains called.
P
hoto by Paul Wright

September 2006

Click on thumbnail to enlarge




 

 

 

[Source: Paul Wright]




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