Nowadays it’s hard to believe that Holmfirth was once a thriving transport hub ... by train.

The last passenger train ran on the line in 57 years ago ... and it makes you wonder how well used the trains would be to Holmfirth now if it still existed.

The branch line serving Holmfirth and taking passengers to Huddersfield opened in 1850.

This line left the Huddersfield to Penistone line at Brockholes and went on through Thongsbridge, terminating in the town. Sadly, the last timetabled passenger train, on this short branch, ran on October 31,1959 and the line was finally dismantled in 1966.

The expansion of the railway network in the UK in the middle years of the 19th century is quite extraordinary. On September 18,1848, it was possible to travel from Huddersfield to Leeds (London North Western Railway – LNWR) and then on August 1, 1849 there was a through service from Leeds Central to Manchester Victoria through the Standedge tunnel.

Holmfirth booking office 24 years after closure in 1983

The Huddersfield to Holmfirth branch line has its genesis in a proposal, put forward by a group of local industrialists, known as the Huddersfield and Sheffield Junction Railway (HSJR). This line was to join, at Penistone, with the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway (SAMR). It had been supposed that the SAMR would operate the 13½ route of the Huddersfield line – including the branch to Holmfirth.

We can look back with a degree of amazement at the vision, energy, engineering skill and sheer audacity of our Victorian ancestors in promoting, planning and building a railway from Huddersfield to Penistone with its branches to Meltham, Holmfirth and Clayton West.

Mythombridge Viaduct 1910

The engineering challenges on the 13½ mile stretch of line between Huddersfield and Penistone were monumental. It was necessary to bore six tunnels with a total length of nearly two miles in addition to a number of deep cuttings, towering embankments and some 30 bridges, including four major viaducts.

The key engineering challenge on the short branch to Holmfirth was bridging the New Mill Dyke Valley by means of the Mythombridge viaduct just three-quarters of a mile from the junction.

Station yard Holmfirth from across valley, circa 1900

The plan to build a stone viaduct was shelved in favour of a timber structure for economic reasons. When this wooden structure was nearly finished, in February 1849, a great gale sprang up and three quarters of the viaduct fell down, fortunately without loss of life. Undaunted by public concern about the safety of a wooden structure work began again and the viaduct completed. Just beyond this viaduct was Thongsbridge station, some 5¼ miles from Huddersfield. The station at Holmfirth had a single platform beyond which was a turntable. Holmfirth station was 6¼ miles from Huddersfield and the short branch from the main line just under two miles in length.

The winter of 1849/50 was particularly severe, delaying the final works to complete the Huddersfield line. It was finally decided to open the whole line, including the Holmfirth branch, on July 1, 1850 with the first train, open to the public, leaving Holmfirth Station at 11.25am.

Imagine the excitement which would have been generated by the advertised first train from Huddersfield which would whisk them along the new line at speeds of up to 30mph. This first train, timed to leave Huddersfield at 11.25am, was an excursion to Rowsley where passengers would transfer to horse drawn coaches for a visit to Chatsworth, including access to the house and grounds. All this for a return fare of 13 shillings (65p) first class and 6s 6p (32½p) for a covered carriage. So popular was this excursion that the heavily laden train was too much for the engine and got stuck in the Thurstonland Tunnel and had to be divided.

Holmfirth Station 1918

It was a day of great rejoicing in the Holme Valley with church bells tolling from early morning, heralding the significance of the day. The Holmfirth Band assembled on the platform and played enthusiastically. July 1 was declared a public holiday in the Holme Valley and during the first week 1,869 tickets were sold at Holmfirth (population of the town around 2500 at the time).

Over the next half century the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway put in place significant improvements to timetabling, coaching and locomotive stock along with passenger and goods facilities. By the 1890s it was clear that the line would not extend beyond Holmfirth and plans were put in place to create a more substantial terminus for the line. The platform was remodelled and raised in height and an impressive overall iron and glass canopy built, some 180ft long.

Brockholes Station - still from a Bamforth film 1899

By 1879 there were nine trains a day along the branch and 10 on Tuesdays and Saturdays but only three on Sundays. The journey to Huddersfield from Holmfirth normally took 23 minutes and the return trip 25 minutes.

After 1945 road transport began to take its toll on the profitability of the branch. Coal traffic had always been significant on the branch and deliveries of coal to local merchants and mills with steam driven boilers continued in the 1940s and 1950s.

Steam trains operated the passenger service right up to its closure to passenger traffic on October 31, 1959.

After that the line became freight only with a 20mph limit on speed and the line was finally dismantled in 1966.

Holmfirth Station and Goods Shed 24 years after closure (1983)

It’s now interesting to muse about whether its fortunes might have been significantly different in our present generation – for tourists who regularly flock to Holmfirth in their hundreds and commuters who currently endure the daily grind to and from Huddersfield.

* This edition of the Huddersfield Local History Society Journal includes articles on James Mason and Huddersfield’s Music Traditions, Marsden Mechanics Institute, Travelling Around Huddersfield 1880-1920 and the Lindley Bicycle Club up to the First World War.

* The journal is available for £4 at Waterstones in Kingsgate, Huddersfield and Newstrack (Huddersfield Railway Station) or for £5.50 including p & p from www.huddersfieldhistory.org.uk or from HLHS, 24 Sunnybank Rd, HD3 3DE (cheque payable to Huddersfield Local History Society).