Notes: Heswall station was opened on the 19th April 1886 as part of the GWR and LNWR Joint Railway’s extension of its Hooton to Parkgate branch line to West Kirby.
Heswall Station was situated on the west side of its namesake. The line was crossed by a road overbridge which carried Station Road. The station was located on the south side of the bridge and it had a substantial brick built building which housed the booking office at street level on the east side of the line. The station was provided with two platforms so that trains could pass |
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at this point, the line being a single track branch. Steps led down from the booking office building to the Hooton direction platform. On the west side of the bridge steps led directly from the road to the West Kirby Platform. Both platforms also had single storey brick built buildings that housed waiting facilities. Canopies were also provided on both platforms. A signal box stood on the Hooton platform just south of the waiting rooms.
Goods facilities were provided on the north side of Station Road where the goods yard was the the largest on the branch, excluding West Kirby, and it comprised of a long siding on the north side of the line which also served a cattle dock. There was also an unusually large10 ton crane.
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At the time of opening passenger services mostly ran between Hooton and Parkgate with some services continuing on to Birkenhead Woodside. .At the time of opening passenger services mostly ran between Hooton and West Kirby with some services continuing on to Birkenhead Woodside. In the early days some long distance passenger services used the connection |
and excursion traffic used the connection at West Kirby onto the Wirral line.
In later years the only significant through service was once a day when one or two coaches ran from New Brighton via Bidston to Hooton and Chester, where it was attached to a London Euston train; this ran until 1939. Heswall was without doubt the busiest station on the branch
One of the major users of the line were scholars travelling from stations along the route to the secondary schools in West Kirby. The line became uneconomical after WW1 with a further reduction in passenger traffic in 1927 when Neston Colliery closed but the line remained open serving a largely agricultural community and also day trippers visiting the sea side towns of Parkgate and West Kirby.
| In 1923 the line became GWR and LMS Joint but things continued as they had done previously. In 1948 the line became part of the British Railways (London Midland Region). In 1950 nine trains operated in each direction on weekdays with four on a Saturday. The Hooton to West Kirby line suffered increasing road competition in the 1950s and its passenger |
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service was withdrawn on the 17th of September 1956. Heswall Station closed to passengers on this day.
In 1961 newly introduced DMUs passed through Heswall station. However they were not for the use of passengers. The line was being used to train drivers in the use of the DMUs.
Heswall Station station continued to be used for goods until the 7th May 1962. The last goods train called at Heswall to collect any remaining fixtures and fittings that were of any value. Early in 1964 the demolition gangs began their work and the line was lifted.
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In 1968 the route of the Hooton - West Kirby Branch was chosen to create Britain's first country park the Wirral Country Park opening in 1973. The park forms the central section of Wirral Way, a 12 miles cycleway and footpath that follows the course of the railway between West Kirby and Hooton.Unfortunately by that time the site of Heswall Station and its goods yard had |
been developed with housing.
Tickets from Michael Stewart
To see the other
stations on the Hooton - West Kirby line click on the station
name:West Kirby, Kirby Park, Caldy, Thurstaston, Parkgate (2nd), Parkgate (1st), Neston South, Hadlow Road & Hooton |
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