Cleckheaton Central railway station | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The entrance to the central island platform was on the left between the two bridges, photo taken in April 2008. | |||||
| General information | |||||
| Location | Cleckheaton,Kirklees England | ||||
| Coordinates | 53°43′28″N1°42′57″W / 53.724380°N 1.715723°W /53.724380; -1.715723 | ||||
| Grid reference | SE188253 | ||||
| Platforms | 2 (removed) | ||||
| Other information | |||||
| Status | Disused | ||||
| History | |||||
| Original company | Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway | ||||
| Pre-grouping | LNWR | ||||
| Post-grouping | LMS | ||||
| Key dates | |||||
| 1847 | opened | ||||
| 14 June 1965 | closed (passengers) | ||||
| May 1969 | closed (goods) | ||||
| |||||
Cleckheaton Central railway station was a railway station serving theWest Yorkshire town ofCleckheaton,England, until it was closed in theBeeching era, which saw the closure of many minor lines and stations around the United Kingdom through the 1960s. It has the distinction of being the only British railway station to have been stolen.[1] It is one of two disused stations in Cleckheaton, the other beingCleckheaton Spen.
The station was originally constructed by theLancashire and Yorkshire Railway, which was absorbed by theLNWR in 1922 and subsequently theLMS in 1923 atgrouping and finally toBritish Rail on nationalisation. It served traffic fromHeckmondwike,Low Moor (nearBradford) andMirfield. The Mirfield line opened in 1848 and through to Low Moor in 1849.[2] The last passenger train working was the service fromBradford on 12 June 1965 arriving at Cleckheaton at 11:21 p.m.; the station closed to freight traffic some four years later.
In 1998, the remains of the station's railway bed were converted into part of theSpen Valley Greenway, a greenway for people on horses, foot or bicycle.[3]
The land that the station once stood is now occupied by a series of garages, and thecar park of the local Tesco Superstore. As of July 2025, the site remains unmarked, with no mention of the station at its original location.
The passenger station buildings were demolished by British Rail in February 1968 - but the stone-built island platform remained in situ for a few years more.
In 1972 aDewsbury man appeared atWakefieldCrown Court accused of stealing stone, timber, metal, track, chairs and even thebuffer stops from the site; in the words of the prosecution counsel "what the case really comes to is that this man last August in effect stole Cleckheaton station".[1][4][5] In August 1971British Rail had made a contract with another contractor who would clear the site and had the permission to sell and retain the proceeds from disposal of all materials and any scrap. However, on arrival, the firm discovered that the station and most of the material had already gone. It transpired that the defendant had been contracted by another company to clear the site. After he had been given an advanced sum to hire plant equipment, he had spent three weeks clearing the site. Subsequent efforts to trace the second firm failed. The court found the man not guilty deciding that he had been duped and left significantly out of pocket. The case is cited as an example of how theTheft Act 1968 can be extended to cover goods forming part of a property.[6]
| Preceding station | Disused railways | Following station | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low Moor | L&Y | Liversedge | ||
