The LMS Society - Occasional Paper 5

Shakespeare wrote "Much drink increases the desire but takes away the performance". This statement, from "Macbeth", is, together with the whole speech, omitted in school editions, for fairly obvious reasons. However, sessions in the Rose & Crown at Godley Brook aroused the desire to record, for the first time, the story of this little-known NSR branch, and many members have enthusiastically assisted in the performance which, frankly, could not have taken place without their help. I must particularly thank Bill Jack for much information and research, Terry Hopkinson for a most useful series of 1922 maps, and Allan Baker for locomotive information. It is hoped that this article will elicit further information.

Originally a through line from Botteslow Junction, between Fenton Manor and Bucknall, to Millfield Junction, between . Norrnacot and Longton, the LAG & BR was latterly two branches; from Botteslow Jc. to Adderley Green, and Millfield J c. to Park Hall Colliery. Between Botteslow and Adderley Green was Hulme Valley Junction where, in later years, a short siding was all that was left of the branch to Hulme Colliery (trailing from Botteslow) which passed under Dividy Road. The district served was rich in coal, the seams being between seven and nine feet thick.

At one time it was a busy line, goods and mineral only, but it was never, as far as I know, honoured with a table in the working timetables. Trains were tabled at Botteslow Jc. with a note "To (or from) Adderley Green"; and the Park Hall service appeared under the duties of the Longton shunting engine.

In 1895, for reasons given later, it was made into two entirely separate branches by the closure and abandonment of 19 chains between Park Hall Colliery at Weston Coyney and Stirrup & Pye Colliery at Adderley Green. As constructed it was 3 miles 54 chains long throughout, with the Hulme branch an extra 39 chains. Hulme Valley Jc. was 2 miles 21 chains from Botteslow Jc.

In its heyday, before the severance of the through connection, the list of sidings was as follows, taken from Railway Clearing House maps of the 1890s.

Botteslow Jc.
17 chains. Botteslow Colliery
22 chains. Mossfield West Jc.
42 chains. Ubberley Colliery North Jc.
50 chains: Mossfield East Jc.
1 mile 3 chains. Lawn Colliery North
1 mile 8 chains. Lawn Colliery South
1 mile 52 chains. Hill Top Siding
1 mile 79 chains. Hawley & Bridgewood Siding (also for Central Colliery)
2 miles 21 chains. HULME VALLEY JC.

Hulme branch:
  6 chains. Adderley Green Siding.
  39 chains. Hulme Colliery.
  2 miles 42 chains. Stirrup & Pye Colliery (Adderley Green).
  19 chains later abandoned between Stirrup & Pye and Park Hall.
  3 miles 4 chains. Park Hall Colliery.
  3 miles 54 chains. MILLFIELD JC. NORMACOT.

A note is necessary on colliery names.

The Mossfield (or Mossfields) Colliery at Botteslow is the long closed "Old" Mossfield Colliery, worked formerly by the Chatterley Iron Co. Hawley & Bridgewood's Colliery later became known as Mossfield (named by Longton miners The Old Sal), and was closed in 1963. At nationalisation, both Mossfield and Park Hall were owned by Settle Speakman.

The line was single throughout. It was worked by train staff without ticket, Hulme Valley Jc. being the only intermediate staff station. The BotteslowHulme Valley Jc. staff was square, coloured red, and the Hulme Valley Jc.Millfield Jc. staff was triangular, coloured blue. It is believed that the Hulme branch was operated by the Botteslow section staff. After the severance the sections were Botteslow-Adderley Green and Millfield-Park Hall respectively. In the latter years of the NSR the BotteslowAdderley Green staff was round, coloured white.

The first proposal for rail access to Adderley Green was in 1853, when the Potteries, Biddulph & Congleton Railway (the Biddulph Valley line) was planned. It was proposed to have a number of branches, one of 2 miles 20½ chains from Botteslow to Adderley Green on a course practically identical with that later built. The NSR subsequently built the PB & CR, but the Adderley Green and other proposed branches were omitted.

On 16th July, 1866 the Longton, Adderley Green & Bucknall Railway received Parliamentary sanction. The company was not a venture of the NSR, but a separate, closely allied company whose plans were approved by the NSR shareholders. The NSR was to maintain the line and run it at the same expense as the rest of the system; it was to be considered as part of the NSR lines. Capital of £50,000 in 10/- shares was supported by borrowing powers of £16,000. The Act authorised 4% miles of mineral line from Bucknall to Park Hall with two short branches:-

A. Of 37 chains in Weston Coyney to end in the parish of Bucknall: the Hulme Colliery line.
B. A rather mysterious branch of 55½ chains starting in the township of Fenton Vivian to end in the township of Fenton Culvert. This line was never made.

To add further confusion, one authority says the main line was from Bucknall to Park Hall, while the 1866 Act is worded "from a junction with the Uttoxeter Railway in Weston Coyney Parish to the Biddulph Branch in Hanley Parish (i.e. Botteslow)". There is no such thing, and never has been, as the parish of Weston Coyney, which lies in the big parish of Caverswall. In 1852 the parish of N ormacot was formed from slices of Caverswall and Blurton parishes; the middle of the Stoke=Uttoxeter railway was fixed as the boundary between Normacot and Caverswall so that Millfield Jc. box and the adjacent platform were in Caverswall while the other platform was in Normacot. This parochial boundary still exists. It is also no use relying on distances given us exact, as no source, from the beginning to final correspondence with BR, has ever given two figures which agree for any section. For example, I have figures of 37,39,40 and 41 chains for the Hulme branch. All this shows that there is very much more to historical research than the mere study of documents. But in general terms the LAG & BR as envisaged was what eventually came to pass.

Having obtained the Act, the NSR showed very little enthusiasm about building the line. Powers for construction were extended, and on 27th July 1872 a new Act was obtained in which the mysterious branch in the Fenton townships was abandoned and the link from Park Hall to Millfield Jc. at Normacot firmly established; this is difficult to understand in view of the wording of the 1866 Act. The line was legally bound for completion by 27th June 1874, but it was not opened until 24th September, 1875.

Meanwhile in 1874 a scheme was put forward to extend the Hulme branch to Chendle. Presumably this would have been via Dilhorne, but nothing came of it, as It was stated that gradients of 1 in 40 would have been necessary. One understands that hostility to a railway was displayed by Dilhorne Hall, which accounts for the detour via Bank Top of the Foxfield Railway from Caverswall Lane to the colliery.

Cheadle was unhappy in its many railway schemes, Lines were proposed from Hulme, Cresswell, Froghall, Oakamoor and finally Blythe Bridge Including a proposed incorporation of the Foxfield Railway to avoid the tunnel. My personal opinion is that though Hulme line would have been quite sensible, giving a passenger service between Cheadle, Weston Coyney, Longton & Stoke. Schemes of 1876 suggested a route from Cheadle via Parkhall (Cheadle), Godley Brook, Dilhorne, and either to Blythe Bridge via Forsbrook or to the NSR at Caverswall via the village. Had either of these schemes come to pass, it is a sobering thought that there would have been no-Foxfield Railway.

Anyhow the LAG & BR was open and became a successful mineral line. But working as two sections by train staff only - no ticket - made a free flow of traffic difficult. It was steeply graded with Stirrup & Pye as the summit, with long stretches of 1 in 48-57 on the Botteslow side, and grades nearly as steep on the Park Hall side. It was also always said that the NSR held firm views on the subject of rates for length of haulage; Stirrup & Pye coal travelled a shorter distance to distribution points from Stoke via Normacot than via Botteslow. In 1883 it was proposed to cut the line into two branches which was logically sensible, with empties going upgrade, loaded coal downgrade, and no cross-traffic. I was told officially that the Train Staff without Ticket working caused difficulties with two trains on the line; and the intermediate staff station at Hulme Jc. was on a gradient of 1 in 48.

From 1st January 1895 the NSR bought the LAG & BR which ceased to be a nominally separate railway. In February 1895 19, 20 or 22 chains (authorities differ) of track between Stirrup & Pye and Park Hall was closed, and on 14th May 1895 abandoned by Act of 1894. So the line became two separate branches.

Following the passing of the Light Railway Act, the NSR obtained permission in 1899 to work a number of mineral branches as Light Railways; both sections of the LAG & BR were proposed for passenger traffic but the powers were never used.

As previously stated, there were two daily workings between Botteslow and c Adderley Green; and from 1896 Chatterley-Whitfield had permission to work, at toll rates, their own traffic from Chatterley-Whitfield and Ubberley Colliery to Botteslow Wharf. This working required the possession of the branch staff and took place between the two NSR trains. Ubberley Colliery closed in 1904 and was dismantled in 1918. It was owned by Chatterley-Whitfield as, was Lawn Colliery (closed 1891). There was a narrow gauge tubway, in use by 1886, linking Lawn Colliery with Botteslow Wharf via Ub berley, where the Lawn coal was screened. Botteslow Wharf was one of the Chatterley-Whitfield outlying coal wharves and closed on 31st July 1946. A Whitfield engine was shedded there. In 1921 the wharf was used for a time by the NSR as a relief to the overcrowded yard at Hanley, and the Whitfield Chapman Furneaux 0-4-0ST "Phoenix". (1172/1899) was hired to the NSR for three years, shedded at Stoke and manned by NSR crews. She was repaired at Stoke Works before going back to Whitfield. Driver W. E. Meir, now retired and living at Brixham, fired on "Phoenix" in this period.

Botteslow Jc. was a straightforward junction, with a down bracket signal. The up Biddulph line home signal was a NSR lower quadrant signal until the closure of the junction. The branch climbed steadily to Adderley Green, the longest grades being 1 in 48 or 57, with very brief less steep breaks. The major landmarks were:

17 chains: trailing junction from right serving the old Botteslow Colliery (1860s- 1876), and later the Chatterley-Whitfield coal yard at Botteslow; this later branch passed under the Biddulph Valley line.

22 chains: Mossfield West Jc. serving Mossfield (Old) Colliery (closed by 1883) on the left. From 1898-1915 the sidings were used by Chatterley-Whitfield for wagon storage, and also by an independent crate works. A former tubway ran to Brookhouse Colliery (1841-1876), crossing the old Mossfield sidings and the LAG & BR. Mossfield East Jc., where the sidings trailed in, was at 50 chains.

42 chains: Ubberley Colliery North Jc., and 69 chains, Ubberley Colliery South Jc. Owned by ChatterleyWhitfield, the pit, on the left, was closed in 1904 and dismantled in 1918. The closure was the end of coal mining in the Bucknall area, where the measures were badly affected by faults.

1 mile 3 chains-1 mile 8 chains: Lawn Colliery, also owned by Chatterley-Whitfield, with pits on either side of the line. Closed in 1891, it was used for ventilation and pumping until the closure of Ubberley .

1 mile 52 chains: Hill Top siding, for unloading machinery for Berry Hill Top Pits. Next, on the left, was Central Colliery, derelict by 1930 but still virtually intact. Served by a cart track, it lay between the railway and Dividy Road, but the OS map of 1922 suggests that at one time an old branch trailed in on the left, from this pit and a site at Bentilee. As marked on the map, the site of Central Colliery has no rail access, but this apparent branch is close to the site. It is not clear whether it crossed Dividy Road on the level or by an underbridge. The map leads one to suppose it was once a railway; if it was a road it is odd and purposeless.

1 mile 79 chains: Hawley & Bridgewood siding serving what was later known as Mossfield (also spelt on the 1922 map as Mossfields) (The Old Sal) Colliery until its closure in October 1963. The official date of closure for the line between Botteslow to Adderley Green is 6th July 1964, but, as mentioned later, the terminal portion from Hulme Jc. to Adderley Green had been out of use, and actually blocked, since 1954. Mossfield was on a loop which rejoined at the Hulme Jc. loop. It also served wharves in Longton and Fenton by direct tubways of 1ft. 11in. gauge. Full tubs were hauled from the colliery' to Top of the Hill and thence lowered by steam driven rope to Sutherland Wharf, Longton (1900 yards, a drop of 170ft.) and Goldenhill Wharf, Fenton (1450 yards, a drop of 150ft.). In 1945 a more direct line was built to Goldenhill with electric endless rope haulage, and the Sutherland line was dismantled, the wharf becoming a car park. The Goldenhill line was closed in 1956-57. 50 or 60 years ago a 1ft. 11in. gauge 0-4-0ST "Midge" (WB 934/1887) worked for Hawley & Bridgewood at Mossfield, being sold to the Northumberland Whinstone Co. about 1920.

2 miles 21 chains: trailing in from the left into the Hulme Jc. loop was the Hulme Valley line. Leaving the loop, it ran into a cutting where there was a small loading siding in the final years used by the Hilton Gravel Company's Hulme works. In the past there were old colliery workings by the junction; the Meadow pits with tandem headgear and a curious winding engine (see Bill Jack's article in the "Foxfield News" of Spring 1974). Though virtually derelict in 1930, the pits were kept open- in connection with Adderley Green Colliery and the pumps working in the pit bottom could be clearly heard on the pit bank. The pits were filled up and the site, now the haulage depot of Messrs Wass, Cleared around 1963.

The Hulme branch then Passed under Dividy Road to Hulme Colliery. The track and land beyond Dividy Road were sold to R. Vincent Parker Jarvis and the site levelled.. The bridge under Dividy Road was filled up in 1938 and the branch terminated here. Hulme Colliery is a mystery. Branch and colliery are marked on a map of 1880; apparently the branch was built by the colliery and bought by the LAG & BR for £38,000, although it was in the original Act. A costly price for a line serving so small a pit.

After Hulme Jc. the line climbs under Anchor Road bridge and another bridge to the Summit at Stirrup & Pye Colliery, closed in 1940 and latterly owned by Settle Speakman. G. Percy Trentham used the siding until 1954 when their traffic was transferred to Longton; Anchor Road bridge needed costly reconstruction and it was cheaper to close this section and fill up the bridge. Stirrup & Pye was used for pumping and ventilation for Mossfield (Old Sal) until the closure in 1963, and the site is now a corporation refuse tip.

From Stirrup & Pye there was'the steeply graded drop, disused since 1895, to Park Hall Colliery. The section from Park Hall to Millfield J c. was largely in cutting; it closed on 23rd December 1963 when Park Hall coal commenced to be wound from Florence. At Normacot the branch gave trailing access to the down Crewe line only, with a line given off before the junction to run parallel with the main line into Bridgewood's Sidings by the disused Meir Hay Colliery. Sparrow's Ironworks was in the past by the junction. The junction home signal was NSR to the end, with two stop arms one above the other, for down mall and the Sidings respectively,

There is little left of the actual railway today. From Millfield Jc. to the crossing of Weston Coyney Road, the cutting is partly filled with rubbish: Still to be seen are the footbridges from Weston Coyney Road to Uttoxeter Road and Westonfields Drive, and Weston Coyney Road bridge. From here to Anchor Road the site is practically obliterated by levelling. Hulme Valley Jc. site is visible behind Wass's haulage depot. From here to Richard's Tile Works the track bed has been' filled up. Beyond, the track has been landscaped to form a walkway down to Fenton Road, by the Trent Tavern public house. There are three bridges on this section:
1. Bridge from Hall Hill Drive; an old bridge from Dividy Road to Mossfield (Old Sal) Colliery.
2. Bridge from Wadebridge Drive, built in the late 1950s in anticipation of building development towards Berry Hill which never took place.
3. Arbourfield Drive Bridge, also built in the late 1950s to link up new housing estates.

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THE LONGTON ADDERLEY GREEN AND BUCKNALL RAILWAY

LMS Society Occasional Paper No. 5