Disused Stations: Knotty Ash Station

Station Name: KNOTTY ASH

Date opened:

1.12.1879

Location:

On the north side of East Prescot Road (A57)

Company on opening:

Cheshire Lines Committee

Date closed to passengers:

7.11.1960

Date closed completely:

1.5.1972

Company on closing:

British Railways (London Midland Region)

Present state:

Mostly demolished but gate and access ramps from road level as well as parts of the platform can still be seen. .

County:

Lancashire

OS Grid Ref:

SJ402916

Date of visit:

June 1969 & 6th February 2005

Notes: Notes: Knotty Ash Station was situated on the Cheshire Lines Committee's North Liverpool Extension Line which connected its main Liverpool to Manchester line to the north Liverpool docks at Huskisson by skirting through agricultural land to the east of Liverpool. When opened the station was called 'Old Swan & Knotty Ash' but it was renamed in 1888 to 'Knotty Ash and Stanley'. It appears though that it was commonly known by the name Knotty Ash and pictures taken in the 1950s show the nameboard to show just the words Knotty Ash. At the time of the station opening Knotty Ash was a small rural village but today it is a suburb of Liverpool. On 1st September 1884 a further extension of the route opened to Southport Lord Street.
The line was always busy with goods trains accessing the docks but a number of passenger services served the station. Services went north to Aintree Central and Southport as well as to Huskisson although this latter service was cut back to Walton on the Hill as early as 1885 and ceased altogether on 1st January 1918. To the South trains served destinations to Liverpool and to Manchester.

On the other side of East Prescot Road from the station there was a cattle depot which serviced the Stanley Abattoir which was situated only a couple of miles away. During the later stages of the Great War the fields around Knotty Ash were used by the United States Cavalry as a depot for troops that had just crossed the Atlantic. Knotty Ash Station and cattle docks where then used to embark the troops for the South coast and northern France.

The CLC North Liverpool Extension line was always very busy on Grand

National days as express trains from all over the country used it to access Aintree Central. The first major service to be withdrawn was the Southport Service which finished on 7th January 1952. A local service from Aintree Central to Manchester with some peak services to Liverpool continued until 7th November 1960. The station remained open for goods traffic. The coal depot closed 6th September 1965 and the goods yard eventually closed completely on 1 May 1972.

Today the route is part of the National Cycleway Network Route 62 which is The Trans Pennine Trail.

To see the other stations on the CLC North Liverpool Extension Line click on the station name: Aintree Central, Warbreck, Walton on the Hill, Huskisson, Clubmoor, West Derby, Childwall & Gateacre

Looking south along the northbound platform at Knotty Ash station in 1954. A tram can be seen passing along the East Prescot Road on route for Liverpool city centre. When trams were introduced to the East Prescot Road they provided a much quicker way into the city centre than using the CLC line.

1908 1:2,500 OS map. The cattle pens for the Stanley Abattoir are seen bottom right.

Looking north at Knotty Ash station in the early 1960s. The station had closed to regular passenger services in 1960 but when this picture was taken it retained most of its features.
Photo by Norman Daley from the CLC Rail web site

Looking north at the Knotty Ash goods yard in 1968. The yard was located to the south of the passenger station on the south side of the East Prescot Road. The signalbox seen to the left was a CLC type 2C structure that controlled the main line at this location and access to the yard. It opened on the 25th of February 1923 having replaced an earlier one that had opened with the line on the 1st of December 1879. The 1923 box closed on the 18th of January 1970. As the yard was still open at this time it was replaced by a ground frame. Latterly the yard was only used for coal traffic and it closed on the 1st of May 1972. the ground frame was taken out on the 21st of October 1972.
Photo by James Crampton

Looking south at Knotty Ash station in June 1969. The station had lost both of
its platform buildings by this date.
Photo by Nick Catford

Looking north down the ramp that gave access to the southbound platform at Knotty Ash station in the early months of 1975. A class 40 locomotive on a working from Huskisson Dock to Edge Hill can be seen passing through the station. The line through Knotty Ash station had become a single track route with effect from the 21st of October 1972. From a point just to the north of the station to Fazakerley West Junction had been singled earlier on the 30th of November 1969. The trip workings between Edge Hill and Huskisson ran once per day in 1975 but they had ceased to be regular after the 17th of June 1975 and nothing ran after August 1975.
Photo by Norman Daley

Looking south at the site of Knotty Ash station in February 2005. The path seen to the left runs along the former southbound platform and forms part of the Liverpool Loopline Cycleway.
Photo by Paul Wright

1968

1969

1979

2005

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Last updated: Sunday, 22-May-2011 09:59:49 BST