Station Name: HIGHFIELD ROAD HALT

[Source: Paul Wright]


Date opened: May 1905
Location: On the east side of Highfield Road
Company on opening: Great Central Railway
Date closed to passengers: 1.3.1917
Date closed completely: 1.3.1917
Company on closing: Great Central Railway
Present state: Demolished and the cutting in which the halt stood has been filled in.
County: Denbighshire
OS Grid Ref: SJ315523
Date of visit: 20.2.2011

Notes: Highfield Road Halt was situated on the Great Central Railway’s Brymbo branch which had originally been opened for goods in the autumn of 1887 by the Wrexham, Mold & Connahs Quay Railway (WM&CQR). The line linked Brymbo to Wrexham Central and became part of the GCR on 1st January 1905. The WM&CQR introduced a passenger service onto the line on 1st August 1889. From the start the line had to compete with a Great Western Railway (GWR) branch that also connected Wrexham to Brymbo.

On 1st May 1905 the GWR introduced a ‘railmotor’ onto their line, and they also opened additional halts to secure more traffic.

Not to be outdone the GCR followed suit also introducing a ‘railmotor’ and opening halts. The GCR opened two halts one, of which was Highfield Road, which first appeared in the timetable in May 1905.

Highfield Road Halt was located on the east side of the road after which it was named. It was in a cutting and had only basic facilities which included a short platform on the south side of the single-track line, and a simple waiting shelter. A path linked the platform to the road on the south side of the line.

From the start passenger services operated to Brymbo and to Wrexham Central calling at all stations. There were four services in each direction on Monday to Friday, but an additional six services ran on Saturdays. The GCR line struggled to compete with the GWR route and, by the end of the first decade of the 20th century, a bus service was also competing against the railway.  On 1st March 1917 the GCR withdrew the passenger service from Brymbo to Wrexham Central, and Highfield Road Halt station was closed completely.

The original purpose of the branch had been to carry goods, and it had always had more goods than passenger trains; it therefore remained lucrative to the GCR. On 1st January 1923 the line became part of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER).

On 1st January 1948 the line through Highfield Halt became part of the nationalised British Railways (Western Region). On 30th November 1954 British Railways closed the line through Highfield Road Halt from Plas Power to Brymbo Junction North Fork. The track through the station remained in situ for a few years but it was lifted in 1958.

By 2011 the cutting in which the halt had stood had been filled in. The bridge that carried Highfield Road over the line was in situ at this time.

Sources:

Route map drawn by Alan Young, Bradshaw from Chris Hind.

To see other stations between Wrexham Central and Brymbo (WM&CQR) click on the station name:

Wrexham Central, Wrexham Exchange, Rhosddu, Moss & Pentre, New Broughton Road Halt, Plas Power (WM&CQR), Brymbo (WM&CQR)


The site of Highfield Road Halt looking north east in February 1980 before the cutting was filled in.
P
hoto by John Mann


1912 1" OS map

1912 1:2,500 OS map

The site of Highfield Road Halt looking north east from Highfield Road in February 2011. The Halt was in a cutting that has been filled in. The brown horse in the field is standing roughly at the eastern end of the halt. The fence in the foreground was from the bridge that carried the road over the line.
Photo by Paul Wright

Looking south down Highfield Road in February 2011. The bridge in the foreground was built to carry the road over the WM&CQR Brymbo branch. Highfield Road Halt was to the left of the bridge in a cutting. It was reached by a sloping path that was on the far side of the bridge.
Photo by Paul Wright

Access to Highfield Road Halt was via a sloping footpath. This view from February 2011 looking north east shows where the entrance to the halt was at street level. A simple gate would have provided access to the path which in turn led down to the platform where there was a timber waiting shelter.
Photo by Paul Wright



Click on thumbnail to enlarge


 

 

 

[Source: Paul Wright]




Last updated: Sunday, 21-May-2017 11:11:02 CEST
© 1998-2011 Disused Stations