Hesketh Bank railway station

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Hesketh Bank Station

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53°41′55″N 2°50′22″W / 53.6987°N 2.8394°W / 53.6987; -2.8394

Hesketh Bank railway station was a railway station on the West Lancashire Railway (WLR) in North West England, which served the village of Hesketh Bank. The station, originally known as 'Hesketh Bank and Tarleton', opened on 20 February 1878 and was located on the western bank of the River Douglas near a dock where the WLR operated a steamship across the River Ribble to Lytham St Annes. By 1882 the station was referred to as 'Hesketh for Tarleton', but by 1895 the station appears to have been formally renamed to just 'Hesketh Bank'.^[1]

The station was originally the northern terminus of what was to be the Southport-Preston Line, running from Hesketh Park on the northern outskirts of Southport; the line through to Preston was opened in September 1888 after the opening of a swing bridge over the Douglas in May of that year. An engine shed was located at the station but closed when the station became a through station, and was demolished by the following year.^[1]

In 1880 a short goods line, approximately 1.25 miles (2 km) long, was opened along the west bank of the river to a terminus at Tarleton Lock, at the end of the Rufford Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. As the WLR did not own the land upon which the line was constructed, nor was it acquired by an Act of Parliament, the company had to pay a lease fee (presumably to the local borough council) until 3 September 1881, after the land was vested by Act to the WLR on 3 June 1881.^[1]^[2]

The station closed on 7 September 1964 as a result of the Beeching axe, the buildings and platforms demolished and the rails removed by February 1965, and the land later developed as a housing estate.^[1]