Hanley Railway Station

next: Telephone Exchange, Hanley
previous: Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Hall, Etruria
contents: index of buildings in Hanley

No 63 - Hanley Railway Station

Hanley station "in a deep cutting and on a very sharp curve"
photo: Trevor Ford - taken in the early 1960's not long after the line closed
photo looking towards Cobridge

The curve was on a very tight 175 yards radius which limited the size of locomotives which could run on the loop line.

A price of £1,600 was submitted in June 1872 for the new Hanley station alongside the Grand Hotel - this was though to be too much and by reducing the length of the covered roof the cost was reduced to £1,200.

In comparison the much larger and grander station at Burslem costs just under £5,000.

Hanley station slowly rots away summer 1975
photo: © Loose_Grip_99/Peter Hackney

photo looking towards Hanley, a small part of the Grand Hotel just visible on the left.
The newly build civic centre - Unity House can be seen - below Unity House are the Goods Sheds on the opposite side of Trinity Street.
The chimney of Masons pottery works on Broad Street can also be seen.

"It is not difficult to imagine former days of railway glory when you stand in the eerie silence of Hanley Station, one of the last reminders of the once-proud Potteries Loop Line. In its heyday, these platforms would have been crowded with jostling people. There would have been daily commuters looking anxiously at their watches, mums and dads with their excited kids, and couples making sad farewells.

The Loop Line was first envisaged in 1847 and, from the outset, was intended to run from the main line at Etruria to Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall and Kidsgrove, a distance of about seven miles. By 1858 there was still no progress, but, following major discussions, the North Staffordshire Railway Company managed to get permission to extend the Earl of Granville's private line to the centre of Hanley. A single goods line opened on December 20th, 1861, and the first passenger services were introduced to Hanley on July 13th, 1864.

With the success of this branch line the people of Hanley joined with those of Burslem and Tunstall to press for the completion of the Loop. Their efforts were successful, and on July 21st, 1870, the first sod of the extension was cut on the site of Burslem Station. A second line was laid between Etruria and Hanley, and a new Hanley Station opened on November 1st, 1873. The old station was converted into warehouses. Burslem station opened to traffic the same day; Tunstall followed a month later, and the Loop was finally completed on November 18th , 1875, when the line reached Kidsgrove. But, alas, in 1964, the last passenger train left Hanley, and the Loop, along with many other lines, was finally closed.

Now that Hanley is the commercial centre of the Potteries, and busier than ever, I would have thought there was a greater need for a station now than at any other time. The mile and a quarter route from Hanley to the main line at Etruria still exists, and the relaying of track and reopening of a terminus would help relieve congestion on the roads."

Neville Malkin 10th December 1975

next: Telephone Exchange, Hanley
previous: Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Hall, Etruria
contents: index of buildings in Hanley