Notes: Withington and West Didsbury station opened as Withington on 1st January 1880 as part of the Manchester South District Railway that connected Manchester Central to Stockport Tiviot Dale.

From as early as 1864 a number of schemes had been proposed to create a line from Manchester through Didsbury and down towards Stockport. In 1873 the Manchester South District Railway (MSDR) obtained an Act to create a line from Manchester via Didsbury to Alderley.  A year later, on 30th June 1874, the MDSR obtained a variation Act which proposed that

The other two CLC partners, the Manchester, Sheffield, & Lincolnshire Railway (MSLR) and the Midland Railway (MR), decided to press ahead and purchase the MSDR. The MR in particular wanted a route of its own into Manchester so that it was not beholden to other companies. Since 1867 its train services from the south had had to use Manchester

London Road Station which was a joint London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and MSLR station. A bill was granted by Parliament on 11th August 1876 which  authorised the MR and MSLR to take over the MSDR and build the line from Heaton Mersey to Manchester. Within a month of the Act being signed the MSLR got cold feet and decided that they did not want to proceed. The MR was desperate to create a route of its own to Manchester. To make matters worse it had been given notice to quit operating to London Road Station. The MR went back to Parliament and on 12th July 1877 they were given authority to take over the MSDR and build the line.

Work began on the line in 1878. Withington was the second intermediate station on the line from Manchester Central. It was located about a mile away from Withington itself, on the western edge of Didsbury. The station was located in a shallow cutting on the northeast side of Lapwing Lane and was provided with two platforms. The main station building

A signal box was located to the north of the station a few metres from the ramp of the southbound platform.

When the station opened on 1st January 1880 it was served by trains that called at all stations between Manchester Central and Manchester London Road via Stockport Tiviot Dale. Fourteen trains ran in each direction and Withington became very busy. The local service was known as the South District service. The main reason why the MR had wanted to build the

To attract business from the new Albert Park housing development, on 1st July 1884 the MR renamed the station Withington and Albert Park. The line became busier and busier, and the South District Service became more frequent, eventually running every ten minutes in each direction.

In 1900 Manchester Corporation completed an electric tramway to Withington which passed close to the station. This had a significant effect on passenger business which  declined by one third by 1910.

On 1st October 1901 the MR opened part of a new line between Heaton Mersey and New Mills, and from this date half of the South District services began to run to a new station at Cheadle Heath. The new line was built to provide a faster route to the south for express services. Cheadle Heath was an interchange station where passengers could transfer between long distance

Withington and Albert Park continued to be served by a steady stream of South District passenger trains. The service settled into a regular pattern with most services running between Manchester Central and Stockport Tiviot Dale, and Manchester Central and Cheadle Heath. On 1st April 1915 the MR renamed the station Withington and West Didsbury. The Great War

In 1923 Withington and West Didsbury station became part of the London Midland and Scottish Railway. Because of the competition from the trams and later from buses the station was one of the least busy on the line.

In 1948 Withington and West Didsbury station became part of the nationalised British Railways’ London Midland Region. By the 1950s the South District services had gone into serious decline. Trains that had consisted of seven coaches were reduced to four. By 1956 the service was reduced to sixteen trains a day in each direction, only two more than had

Early in 1961 Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs) were introduced onto the South District locals. They were unable to save Withington and West Didsbury Station which was used by only a handful of passengers each day. British Railways decided to close it to passenger services on 3rd July 1961.

The South District local services continued to operate until 2nd January 1967. By this time electrification of the LNWR route to London was complete and traffic was concentrated onto that route. The last express service along the South District line ran on 1st January 1968. From this date only two passenger trains per week were scheduled to run through the site of

Sources: . Lost Railways of Merseyside and Greater Manchester by Gordon Suggitt. Published 2004 by Countryside Books ISBN 13: 978-1853068690 The Midland Route from Manchester Part one – Central to New Mills by E M Johnson Foxline Publications ISBN 1 870119 20 7, Manchester (Rail Centres) by Stanley Hall 2008 Booklaw Publications ISBN 1 901945 29 4 , The Railways Around Stockport by Gregory K.Fox, Foxline Publications ISBN 1 870119 00 2

Other web sites: Peak Rail now providing a regular steam service between Matlock and Rowsley. David Hey's Collection - Transition from BR steam. Includes railway photographer ER Morten's photographic tour from Buxton - Derby.

Eight and a half miles of the Matlock - Buxton line now forms the Monsal Trail starting at Coombs Road Viaduct, one mile southeast of Bakewell and finishing at the head of Chee Dale, about three miles east of Buxton. There is a diversion round the tunnels.

Further reading: Railway from Buxton to Bakewell, Matlock and Ambergate (Scenes from the Past) by JM Bentley, 1992. Railways around Buxton by JM Bentley, 1987.

Tickets from Michael Stewart, route map drawn by Alan Young

To see other stations between Manchester Central & Matlock click on the station name: Manchester Central, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Didsbury, Heaton Mersey, Cheadle Heath, Hazel Grove (Midland), Buxworth, Chinley (2nd site) STILLOPEN, Chinley (1st site), Chapel-en-le-Frith Central, Peak Forest, Cheedale Halt, Buxton (Midland), Blackwell Mill Halt, Millers Dale, Monsal Dale, Great Longstone, Hassop, Bakewell, Rowsley (Second site), Rowsley (First site), Rowsley South PEAK RAIL, Darley Dale, Matlock Riverside PEAK RAIL & Matlock STILL OPEN.
See also Stockport Tiviot Dale & Stockport Portwood