Macclesfield railway station (Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway)


Macclesfield railway station was a short lived railway station serving the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire, England. It was opened in 1869 by the Macclesfield, Bollington and Marple Railway - a joint line constructed and operated by the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway and North Staffordshire Railways - and closed in 1873.
The MB&M was built with the intention of connecting to the main London and North Western Railway / NSR line between Manchester and Stoke however there were numerous difficulties to be overcome; the route through town, the reluctance of the local authority to allow the railway to bridge over the River Bollin and the lack of co-operation from the LNWR to agree to a site for a station on the Manchester - Stoke line. The board of the MB&M therefore decided to open a temporary station on land they already owned to allow services to commence. The station, known simply as Macclesfield, opened on 2 August 1869 and was the southern terminus of the line. From there passengers made a short walk to the joint LNWR/NSR station at to catch services to and from the south.
Four years elapsed before a route for the line through the town was constructed and a new joint NSR/MS&L station at built. The new Central station opened on 1 July 1873 and the old station closed the same day. Following closure the old station buildings were used as stables for the horses working in the MB&M goods yard until the buildings were demolished in 1947. In 1919 they had seen temporary use, once again, as a passenger station when rebuilding work of the section of line to Central station was undertaken.