Fennant Road Halt was opened by the Great Western Railway (GWR) in 5 June 1905 for the introduction of a rail motor service that ran to Wrexham General via Legacy.

Located on the north side of the Fennant Road level crossing, in the district of Ponkey, the Halt was situated on the 1¾ mile Ponkey Branch line that had opened from Gardden Lodge Junction (on the Shrewsbury - Chester Line) to Ponkey on 1 August 1868. The branch was extended by 1¼ miles to Legacy on 27 August 1876 and it was connected to the Ross branch (at Legacy) in 1901. In order to introduce a passenger service onto the line the section between Ponkey level crossing and Legacy had to be upgraded with improved signaling and it became titled on maps as the Legacy Branch.

In 1907 there were was a small residential area just to the west of Fennant Road Halt which would have been the reason for it being provided. No photos are known to survive of Fennant Road Halt. The OS 25-inch map of 1909 shows a platform west of the single track, but unlike neighbouring  Aberderfyn and Ponkey Crossing halts no form of shelter is indicated. The platform was probably of timber construction.

The November 1906 timetable below (click here for larger version) showed twelve trains in each direction on Monday-to-Friday with three additional services on Saturday. The journey time to Wrexham was 13 minutes.

Electric trams ran to Wrexham from High Street which was a relatively short distance to the east (on a line opened on 4 April 1903). The trams competed successfully with the railway and the rail-motor service was withdrawn on 22 March 1915. Fennant Road Halt closed completely.

Although it was disconnected from the Rhos branch two years after the passenger service ceased the tracks were severed south of Legacy, and by the 1930s the rails had been lifted between Legacy and a point just to the south of the Fennant Road level crossing. The line between Gardden Lodge Junction and Ponkey remained in use, serving local industry until 31 August 1964.

Tickets from Michael Stewart and route map by Alan Young

CLICK HERE  TO SEE AN OS MAP SHOWING THE PASSENGER RAILWAYS OF THE WREXHAM AREA AT THEIR GREATEST EXTENT

CLICK HERE FOR A DETAILED HISTORY OF FENNANT ROAD HALT AND THE PONKEY BRANCH

Sources:

• Awdry, C. British railway companies (Guild Publishing,1990)
• Bodlander, A; Hambley, M;  Leadbetter, H; Southern, D and Weatherley, S.Wrexham Railways (Bridge Books, 1992)
• Bodlander, A; Hambley, M;  Leadbetter, H; Southern, D and Weatherley, S.Wrexham Railways vol.2  (Bridge Books, 1993)
• Bodlander, A; Hambley, M;  Leadbetter, H; Southern, D and Weatherley, S. Marcher Railways: the Railways of Wrexham and Oswestry A Photographic  Journey (Bridge Books, 2008)
• Clinker, C R. Clinker’s register of closed passenger stations and goods depots in England, Scotland and Wales - 1830 -1977 (Avon-Anglia,1978)
• Cobb, M H The Railways of Great Britain - Volume 1 (Third Edition), Author, 2015
• Quick, Michael Passenger Railway Stations in Great Britain - A Chronology (RCHS, 2009 and on-line supplements).

To see the other stations on the Legacy Branch click on the station name:
Ponkey Crossing Halt and Aberderfyn Halt

See also: Rhostyllen, Legacy, Rhos, Brook Street Halt, Pant Halt and
Wynn Hall Halt from the Rhos Branch

Click here to see Register of Closed Railways 1901 - 1994