Preston to Longridge Branch. Mothballed Abandoned Railway. Deepdale Ribbleton Grimsargh Courtaulds

The Preston and Longridge Railway Company was set up in 1836 to build a tramway from the newly opened Tootle Heights Quarry in Longridge to Preston. The 6½-mile (10½ km) single-track line was opened on 1 May 1840, with crude passenger facilities at Longridge, Grimsargh and Deepdale Street in Preston.
Wagons were horse-drawn from Preston uphill to Longridge. Wagons ran by gravity in the opposite direction as far as Ribbleton, which was then a village just outside Preston. Horses were used for the final two miles (3 km) to Deepdale. Longridge ashlar sandstone was widely used in the region, for example in the building of Lancaster Town Hall, Bolton Town Hall, Preston railway station and Liverpool Docks.

In 1846, the Fleetwood, Preston and West Riding Junction Railway (FP&WRR) Company was set up. It had an ambitious plan to link Fleetwood on the Lancashire coast to Leeds and Bradford in Yorkshire. It would link the existing Preston and Wyre Joint Railway to the Longridge line in Preston, and build a new line from Grimsargh via Ribchester, Hurst Green and Clitheroe to Skipton, where it would join the proposed Leeds and Bradford Extension Railway. The line would give Lancashire passengers access to the spa towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough, and beauty spots such as Bolton Abbey. Reciprocally, it would give Yorkshire passengers access to the seaside resorts of Fleetwood and Blackpool. Freight trains would carry cattle from Craven Valley, and stone from quarries near Clitheroe as well as from Longridge. Stonyhurst College would be within a mile of the line and would be able to use it to bring in supplies as well as pupils.
The P&LR was duly leased to the FP&WRR. The line was adapted for steam and the first steam-hauled train ran on Whit Monday 1848.
In 1850, a double-track extension was built connecting to the existing line a few hundred yards east of the Deepdale Street terminus. The line passed via the 862-yard (788 m) Miley Tunnel under the north part of Preston and connected to the Preston and Wyre Joint Railway very close to that line’s original terminus at Maudlands. The extension was initially used for goods only.
The first work on the Grimsargh to Skipton line was the excavation of a short cutting (which still exists) south of Hurst Green, but then the project was abandoned. In 1852, the FP&WRR Company collapsed. The Preston and Longridge Railway acquired the engines and rolling stock of the collapsed company.
However, in 1856 a reformed Fleetwood, Preston and West Riding Junction Railway Company purchased the line. The line through Miley Tunnel was opened to passengers, with new stations at each end, at Deepdale Bridge on Deepdale Road and at Maudland Bridge. The original Deepdale Street terminus was closed to passengers but continued to be used for goods.
By 1866, the plan to extend the line to Yorkshire had been revived. Fearing that the rival Midland Railway would buy the line to gain access to Preston, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) bought the line instead. From the following year, the line was owned jointly by the L&YR and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR).
In 1885, Maudland Bridge Station was closed and passenger trains ran on to the adjacent LNWR main line to Preston Station, allowing connections to other railway lines for the first time.

In June 1889, a private branch line was opened northwards from Grimsargh to Whittingham Asylum two miles (3 km) away. As well as supplies, hospital staff and visitors were carried free of charge in converted goods brake vans. Trains (as many as twelve per day) were timed to connect with passenger trains at Grimsargh.
The locomotives used on the hospital branch were industrial types with the exception of the ex-London, Brighton and South Coast Railway no. 357, Riddlesdown, which was purchased in February 1948 from British Railways.
The hospital line continued to operate long after the main branch closed to passengers in 1930. The hospital trains were now timed to connect with bus services at Grimsargh. The line eventually closed on 29 June 1957.

In 1918 there was another plan to extend the railway from Longridge to Yorkshire along the Loud and Hodder valleys to Whitewell, Tosside, Wigglesworth and Hellifield, but the plan was never implemented.
By 1930 the popularity of bus travel caused the line to close to passengers. The line to Longridge remained open to goods traffic until November 1967.
Goods traffic continued to use part of the line as far as the Courtaulds factory at Red Scar, until the last train worked on Friday 8 February 1980. The Gamull Lane bridge over the line at Ribbleton was subsequently removed. All that now remained of the whole line was a Y-shaped link between the West Coast Main Line and coal yards at the site of the original Deepdale Street terminus. This, too, was closed in the 1990s, although the tracks for this section were never taken up.

[Music] hi guys we’re back again yes this time we’re traveling the line from Preston all the way to Longridge in fact this was owned by the Preston Longridge Railway and it opened in 1840 Unfortunately they didn’t have a Terminus in Preston it was about half a mile out at a place called deepdale Street and like I say went right to the central Long Ridge and Beyond so in 1846 this was bought out by the Fleetwood Preston and West riding Junction Railway wow that’s a mouthful they took over this Railway and they did have a serus in the center of Preston and so they built an extensive tunnel Network to join the two in 1850 they had really ambitious plans here they wanted to expand this line all the way to yor cure but unfortunately this did not happen so the passenger Services were not amazing here they did last only till 1930 but the freight did last Beyond in fact uh certain sections shut in the 1960s there’s a small section that shut in the 1980s and there was one that even lasted till the 1990s so when we explore this line there will be several stages of der elction right let’s go and check it out so this land that we’re looking at the moment was the original location of the Terminus of the Fleetwood Preston and West riding Junction Railway this station was in fact a rather large complex with an engine shed to the right hand side when this line was expanded it was pointing in the wrong direction to be of any use to the new service that ran to Longridge and so unfortunately it was abandoned with a new Station built down the line at modland Bridge the original station and the original engine shed were demolished in 1892 to make way for a curve that connected this line with Preston’s main railway station as you can see here there’s loads of lines going to be feeding our line in fact this accommodated all the goods traffic similar to all the slate and such things that were coming off from the main Quarry at Long Ridge as well as the other terminals so here we are on the other side of that triangle as all the lines meet ready for our trip so as I say that last site was the site of the first station first station that had nothing to do with this line This is now the location of mland bridge station uh I don’t think we’ll find many Clues though cuz this opened in what was it 1856 but it shut in 1885 so there’s been a lot of development since I do like the oldie World feel about this place look at that look at that Cracker original cast irion and here we are as we slowly make our way to going underneath Preston Preston Town Cent’s ahead you know what this reminds me of this reminds me that remember the line we did to birken Ed docks and we had to again go through the middle of birken Ed but they didn’t want birken Ed to be seen so the count as hky I feel like I’m Deja Ving here wow look in the undergrowth and look what you find I didn’t think there was any track on this line so oh dear starts and then it finishes never mind oh well let’s look ahead onwards and upwards e so this is what lies ahead um this small tunnel followed by a very big tunnel called Miley tunnel which I believe is very dark and very long unfortunately I think I’m going to be getting wet cuz it looked like it’s flooded here at the start let’s do a bit of waddling oh no I knew I should have brought me Wellies never mind just for you guys yes I’m going to do it well there’s a tunnel we just walked and this is the tunnel ahead and look we’re back on track again we’ve got track apparently there was a freight line here that lasted till the 1980s so it looks like it’s just been abandoned and left in situe as with all these Engineers they do make mistakes looks like we may have been having some collapsing here hence these wood stroke concrete uh PLS to keep it apart there we go looking back and looking forward this looks like the black hole of C cut I should tell you the black hole of Preston let’s check it out well I’ve been walking for a good 10 15 minutes and we finally see the end of the tunnel though this isn’t a long tunnel it curves around corners so I couldn’t see this end until literally a minute ago and we’re still not there yet right so here we are at the other end and as you can see the design here it was stone for the sides then they brick the arch and stones for the other side so you can see it’s pretty old school but that walk like I say took quite a while and there should have been a gap in the middle but it looks like it’s been bridged over so uh yes it’s uh pretty pretty long but also very very dry when I do these tunnel walks you normally get soaked but no not a drop of water drop there maybe a bit of Pidgey poo but uh no water I was just thinking this would be fantastic you know to be making to a cycle Lane you know going through the The Village Etc cuz this comes straight from univille and so we head onwards and look we still got track as I say this is most probably that 1980s track that just was never lifted unfortunately as you can see we’re pretty isolated so it’s an easy Dumping Ground my God I hope I can see track underneath all this rubbish there should be a station coming up pretty soon as well let’s check it out nice Bridge old school well that’s the chaos I need to get through should be very close now to deep Dale station let’s see if we can find it just every now and then the track reminds you I’m still here don’t forget about me I’m not forgetting about you like you say let’s check out for that station that’s what I like about these spring walks you can still see there isn’t any uh foliage destroying what’s here so hopefully we’ll find some nice Clues pretty soon let’s keep checking it out well there’s an interesting feature seen this nice wall that looks very old school wonder if this is going to lead up to our station it’s just up ahead at Deep con to GPS anyway let’s check it out you certainly like a drink around here look at all them cans look at all those sleepers yeah definitely Railway territory coming up so we’ve just come under that bridge and I believe this is a site of where the station will start originally starting from up there from the roadside came down to feed the track around here let’s see what Clues we can find M look at the old white brick that’s usually a good giveaway that run station perimetry is that we’re pretty close to a signal box that is very very Railway all School yep I’m sure now we’re on the side of the station oh I can see the background just behind that foliage I’ll get close up to that but I think we found another white wall yeah definitely won’t be surprised with this for the uh toilet facilities on the station it’s here guys it is here someone told me there was nothing left of this any of these stations but prove them wrong eh you look deep enough you find the magic I just found it and what do you do you walk a couple of yards up and boom there it is there’s our platform Edge still got the white bit on our side cover the back of the station uh bit obscured on the other side more so cuz of rubbish but uh yeah this is where the station is so deepdale station does still exist in fact this isn’t the original station this was a through station that will join you on to Preston the original station was a Terminus station which later became a good shed I’ll explain about that a little later right let’s enjoy this magic beautiful I hate it when people say there’s nothing left there’s nothing left but here here it is for everyone to see nice look boom goes on and on this is fantastic for a station that shut so early this is fantastic I was going to say there’s the end but no no look it’s still going on another section oh I do like this excellent oh and the sun’s come out it was raining when I set off this morning nice one there’s a lot of Railway dereliction on the other side I’m not sure where that’s Railway related but there’s a lot of bricks there and then it just goes into that chaos that we just walked through but here as you can see the platform is standing and it still goes on this is amazing thank you you want any Railway Clues just look around everywhere all right that’s where we’re heading next let’s go wow look at this foot Bridge old school original railway Works sh about the light I hope you can see that yes under all the ivy there there is that track I can just see little glimpses uh but yes as you can see not a lot of kids are playing around here it’s a bit of an eyes saw it’s a Well boxed in with buildings either side so although as you can see yourself it’s a nice dumping ground there’s not a lot of kids on bikes and anything stupid like that very interesting Artistry here osr whatever that is let looking back like I said we’re coming up to a very interesting Junction pretty soon and up to that Junction this line was double tracked then for the rest of the journey the branch line it was single tracked they were going to double track it cuz in the very early days they were ooing and on about um doing a railway service from Fleetwood all the way to Skipton unfortunately that fell through with the omnibuses and the uh new rail links Etc but they were certainly thinking ahead by keeping it double tracked if you look at the side here you can still see the old school Stones Brick Works Etc but uh yes it’s certainly kept itself fact I can see that junction ahead so I’ll cut off now and find you a bit of angle so here’s the track we’ve just walked this is now going to come up to a junction which then had some pints in it to take it to a what was now known as deepdale good shed but originally that was known as deepdale station that was originally a Terminus station for track from this side of the line it was only at a later stage when it was re it was bought out by another company that they built this extra track to go under that tunnel we’ve just been through to join on with the Preston network but that was the original route that was the 1840s or thereabouts there is a bit of track there I’ll go and have an investigate and uh see what we can find Yep looks like we had two tracks going into this line I believe it’s now a distribution Depot Let’s uh see if we can find any clues on the way so that’s where the track is about to take to High Ground here but yeah I can just about see the two tracks looks like they’re coming up to some kind of Crossing up ahead that’s where our Line’s coming from that’s where it’s heading to as if by Magic at least he kept these things there’s the old level crossing bit Tatty but still intact and can you see the road Ro yes we got the track like I say it goes on and upwards to that Goods Depo which does not exist anymore so here it is from the other side on that uh original branch and that’s where it goes to guys like I say right down to a Goods Depo let’s see if we can see any traces of it so here we’re looking at the location of deep Dale’s original Terminus station this Lake became a goodyard and it’s now used for hly companies I think the old the world brick gives it away nice like you say this was totally demolished flattened and made into an industrial state but it’s just this tiny little clue after this it then becomes very modern and lost so we’ve come back to that Junction again see him in the background this is the line we’re following remember and Hope hope y we’ll have couple of points up ahead let’s check it out and just before we leave this section look how flat this track is wow this would need serious relaying if they were to use this track again yep here’s from the G line joining our line coming to head and also coming to a head up here it’s all still here it’s just like been abandoned abandoned Railways of Preston that’s an interesting title and so looks like we’re coming to a level crossing here yeah see if I can film that from the other side here we are at level crossing from the roadside as you can see we still got two tracks I suspect this was a m do level crossing to replace the Wen things oops hope nobody’s done on that as you can see this is private land the guy won’t let us on but uh we shall be picking it up close to where that building is up there just a s straight section of track and basically as you can see it’s just been used as a Dumping Ground well there’s that chaos and you can see the level crossing in the background and yes you can see a bit of a railway walk here it wasn’t too bad actually I did manage to find my way through so yes we’re back on track unfortunately it’s all under this hell no sign of any track yet hopefully we’ll pick it up pretty soon me and my big dub look there it is hiding hiding hiding just going that way let’s keep tracing it guys this is looking good yeah can you see it there she is still a bit desolate but still traceable yes I know this chaos look what we got in front of us this looks like where the line ends so maybe this was like a hedge hunt for that uh deep Dale goods and it went no further I believe this shut in the ’90s I haven’t got an exact date yet if I do I’ll put it on the screen look at that beauty cracker absolute cracker abandoned and so our track BL Trail continues I believe we’re now going to become a very uh respectful cycle Lane it’s going to take us up for a mile or two so let’s get on find this next station and so we make our way to Longridge know it’s that bridge I’d say that was a double one you know even though it’s meant to be single before we go ahead I want to show you here on the left is where there used to be some sidings that served a local Brick Works in fact if you look on the uh left hand side here you can see where there used to be a bit of a shunt before it went into the works itself M Old Bridge meets new so guys around here was the site of the first station at ribbleton apparently it only opened for 3 years between between 1863 and 1866 after it closed I believe it was occasionally used by the local fullwood barracks and as you can see yes the line was controlled that looks like a modern signal as well very nice notice ahead that the pathway is going up as it goes up there’s a very old building and that looks very suspiciously like a station building so I think we’re very close to our next station guys here she is guys here we are at riblon station wow look at it I think is’s a preservation order on this you know looking really good nice so I expect this gives you a general idea on what designs they use for all the stations on this line so here is the platform Edge obviously the original Bridge has been uh filled in so there’s a nice bit of history behind this building in fact this station it had three names in total the first name it was called gaman which was really a mistake cuz the meant have named it after the street that’s nearby and it’s not gamma then he named it to fullwood then another station got that name and so they eventually named it ribbleton which it retained until it closed but I believe there’s a preservation order on this building and it is going to be fully restored so bring it on so there are some nice clues about industry around here there was a lot of Mills as you can understand with this being a textile uh center of the world and they all needed coal and they all needed shipping of the cotton so the railways came in very very handy I’ve noticed three of these coping Stones so far on the trip which is a good indication that they had good Railway networks I’m sure you can hear the blight that’s uh destroying the nature around us and that’s the m6 Motorway and we’ll be crossing over it looks like this bridge is a temporary Bridge cuz it wasn’t the original Railway Bridge yep we’re finally over that noisy Motorway and here is a location of red SK rayan works it was on this side this is the one that had the railway link up to the 1980s but no traces of it at all I’m afraid yeah this is strange so like you say we’ve just been following the track and we’ve had these edgings literally for the last two miles so we just past that works it looks like someone built a structure in the way that was not definitely not there railway wise yeah problem solved don’t worry guys yeah it’s back again apparently it was a bit of a deco to go with the industrial estate it surrounded but yet as you can see our beautiful wall has returned let’s move on to the next station there’s a cycle Lane but uh as you noticed it’s now become a trail again that’s strange I thought it was a cycle Lane all the way but see where this goes it looks well Warden anyway so from the look of it I suspect this line has not seen traffic for a long time that Freight remember only went to that car place but further back there so I expect this we went very close to when saw the uh passenger Services finished but there’s still a nice trail trail which I’m following so let’s let’s follow through remember I told you earlier how this was a single line I think this was the actual single section there’s not a lot of room through that little space well that’s what we walk through uh bit of a landfill here bit of a change of use so as you can see it’s been filled in made into this private residence so I think about two houses up we’ll hopefully pick up the trail again wow that was hell of a trick but yeah we’re through we’re on the other side so here we are back on track side again just passing this nice Church and that’s where our next station lies let’s go find it now that is definitely single line and there’s that nice Bridge from the other side leading us hopefully to our next station so we finally make our way here into grimage station this was the goods line should I say the good shed it was just before the station as you can see it’s well expanded so it expanded out to the right and remember this is a single platform again it’ll be on the right hand side I’m not sure whether there’s any clues but we’ll have a look anyway so here we are at the site of grim Side Station you look at the street name old station cloth gives it away so as you can see there’s some old worldly bricks there so that was most probably access into the goods yard at the back the one that we’ve just been looking at so the railway came through here along the edge here and up and Beyond now on the left hand side here where these new houses are there was also a private Railway that served the local hospital so it’s privately funded in order to get their own resources up to the hospital but they were never really connected well it’s not much of a trail but it is a trail this is where the line went obviously all these houses on the leftand side of taking over our track bed wow and there she is look at that track I really thought this land had being cultivated when I saw this on Google Maps I could not see it so to actually see the track bed here is absolutely amazing so as you can see we’re getting to the countryside now so let’s say where this leads us now here we can see the route of the private line on the left so if you skim that fence there it take you to wittington Lunatic Asylum this was 2 mil long it had a station engine shed in fact it had a station on both ends but like you say it served passengers and goods but look at this view look our line now it’s absolutely amazing you know it’s absolutely fantastic I’m really glad I found this let’s keep exploring well here’s a bonus find look at this little big be just in the middle of the trees it was it looks like a mile marker there nothing written on it at all but uh look very unique and obviously very old school and there will be our final destination Long Ridge but there a lot of fields to travel before we get there battery’s pretty low now so I’ll see you as I hit the H skirts of Long Ridge yeah wow this Trail just goes on and on and on but I’m sure Long Ridge will’ll soon be upon us have faith young man at last looks like Civilization at last wow uh I believe it gets a bit Urban now so I’m not sure what we’re going to be seeing but hey ho beir with me mate and so we’re confined to a tiny little pathway the pathway that youed to be the big Railway leading into the Long Ridge all right let’s see where this goes well that’s where the uh paway ended up so our railroad now become a Road Road in fact this is a pretty straight Road now all the way up to Long Long Ridge yeah so I’ll see if I can find any landmarks to uh point out where the track went so here’s a bit of a old history in Long Ridge in one of the side streets if I just turn around now see where them new houses are that was the line of the Railway track came up up up up up up to where that uh pharmacist is and across the road in fact there looks like there’s an old bridge I’ll check it and that’s a positive that is the Bridge it’s going to take you into the station approach station yard and the station itself so remember this is the route of the lines totally obliterated so that’s where that last bridge is that we just looked at it came across the road here and there she is heading towards the station and there she is wow so you can certainly see we’ve got a bit of land at the moment guys we haven’t got a valley leading to the station so what is left of this station I’ve got no idea let’s go and check it out well I’ve been walking a good 5 minutes now and I’ve just been following this Corridor which is literally flush with the line hopefully hopefully hopefully we’ll see signs of this station oh it’s so elusive it’s a tease of anything so this is strange literally we are at the station approach now and all I can see is his old people’s homes so it’s not looking too good and here is where the station should be oh my God can you see it you little gem you are hiding wow it’s there the station oh come on this looks fantastic there she is guys the station it looks well preserved this this is a fantastic heritage site so you can work out yourselves that’s where the trains went through the middle and with it being a single line it only needed one platform I suppose Wow Let’s Play homage look at this this is a fantastic termin ey it’s all the way down well done well done well done let’s hope that other dodgy station could be done up just as well it’s like one of those blue is to keep you uh safe as it were like I say although this looks like it’s the end of the line it’s not the line actually went on we went on to a couple of quaries up ahead so let’s have a quick skim on them see if there’s any track of them so here we are beyond the station we’re just coming up to the what we call the goods end so where all these Posh houses are now used to be a very big goodyard serving several several wagons most probably from the quaries which are behind me we’ll be going to see them or at least where they were very shortly well as you can see there we got a nice straight line coming straight up from the station and it’s hopefully you can see here there a straight line going onto a quarry there’s also a bit of a curve on the right hand side which going to a second Quarry so this was like the industrial end of Long Ridge so here we are at the end of the trip so as you can look on that side there that’s route to one of the quaries and this the route to one of the other quaries absolutely fantastic trip so I hope you enjoyed it guys I do apologize if I sound a bit horse but hey ho onwards and upwards e see you next time [Music]