Castleton Station prepares to celebrate 175 years

Castleton Railway Station

Castleton Station will be celebrating 175 years since it originally opened on Monday 15 September.

Opened in 1839 as Blue Pits for Heywood, the station was a horse drawn railway that connected the area to Heywood.

In 1848 the horse drawn railway was replaced when the line was opened through from Liverpool. The station then simply became known as Blue Pits but was renamed to Castleton in 1875.

From then on the station has connected passengers to various destinations.

The appearance of the station has also changed over the years with recently installed floral displays being placed on the Manchester bound platform.

These have delighted passengers for three years and have been planted and tended to by local school children. Councillor Billy Sheerin was responsible for organising the displays, which have gone on to receive praise from Rochdale in Bloom.

On Monday 15 September, representatives from Northern Rail, Transport for Greater Manchester, The Friends of Castleton Station and rail user group STORM will come together to mark the special anniversary.

The Mayor of Rochdale, Carol Wardle will also be in attendance along with local school children and dignitaries to help with the celebrations starting from 1.30pm on the Manchester bound platform.

The Friends of Castleton Station and members of STORM will then show film from the 1960s and display photographs of Castleton Railway through the years in the Blue Pits public house from around 2.30pm onwards.