The Micklehurst Loop again. ....

[rogerfarnworth]

The Micklehurst Loop – an update at the beginning of 2025

I am indebted to ‘David’ for an update on the Plevin owned railway land in Mossley. …

It is a few years since I wrote a series of articles about the Micklehurst Loop which can be found on this blog. Circumstances have since changed at what was the Plevin site. Plevin’s relocated in 2024 to another site and their yard has been gradually deteriorating since then.

The Micklehurst Loop – an update at the beginning of 2025

I am indebted to ‘David’ for an update on the Plevin owned railway land in Mossley. … It is a few years since I wrote a series of articles about the Micklehurst Loop which can be …

rogerfarnworth.com

Previous threads can be found on these links:

The Micklehurst Loop

In the last two weeks of January 2021 my wife and I followed the length of the Micklehurst Loop from Stalybridge to Diggle. We had been looking for new local walks to undertake in the spirit of lockdown. The route proved to be a gem. Each day that we walked we travelled along part of the Loop...

www.railforums.co.uk

The Micklehurst Loop again. ......

An addendum to earlier posts about this short line. ..... https://rogerfarnworth.com/2021/09/09/the-micklehurst-loop-once-more/ While on holiday in September 2021, I was reading older copies of the magazine BackTrack from the turn of the millennium, from, at that time, Atlantic Publishers...

www.railforums.co.uk

The Micklehurst Loop once again. .......

Since publishing a series of articles about the Micklehurst Loop, I have, over the past couple of years, kept my eye open for interesting shots of the line. This is a selection of these that I have permission to share .... A big thank you to copyright holders/photographers. Their details appear...

www.railforums.co.uk

When we walked the line as exercise during COVID it was not possible to gain access to Plevin’s site. Plevin’s property was covered in the second of four substantive articles about the line.

 

[Efini92]

Such a shame this line never reopened as part of the TRU.
Especially since NR spend a lot of money maintaining the two disused tunnels at standedge.

 

[rogerfarnworth]

Yes, and given the amount of housing in the valley now, the railway might well have paid in 21st century. Unfortunately, it is no longer practicable.

 

[dodecahedron67]

Such a shame this line never reopened as part of the TRU.
Especially since NR spend a lot of money maintaining the two disused tunnels at standedge.

Having walked through said tunnels very recently (on an organised NR/TPE walk), they are upgrading the service tunnel (closest to running line) to a very high standard in case of evacuations. The cross-passages to the live tunnel were very poor and downright unsafe, and these are getting upgraded, along with GSMR emergency phones at each cross panel among other little tidbits

 

[Efini92]

Having walked through said tunnels very recently (on an organised NR/TPE walk), they are upgrading the service tunnel (closest to running line) to a very high standard in case of evacuations. The cross-passages to the live tunnel were very poor and downright unsafe, and these are getting upgraded, along with GSMR emergency phones at each cross panel among other little tidbits

I always wanted to walk through them. I believe there a big opening in the middle dubbed the cathedral, or something like that.
I hope they are going to fence off the shafts which lead to the canal.

 

[AndrewE]

I always wanted to walk through them. I believe there a big opening in the middle dubbed the cathedral, or something like that.
I hope they are going to fence off the shafts which lead to the canal.

The cross-adits are all fenced anyway, I believe, as otherwise it gives canal people access to the railway. Some are enhanced as canal evacuation locations, and we are told this is why that rail tunnel can't be brought back into use.

 

[dodecahedron67]

I always wanted to walk through them. I believe there a big opening in the middle dubbed the cathedral, or something like that.
I hope they are going to fence off the shafts which lead to the canal.

There is indeed, very pretty area.

The cross-adits are all fenced anyway, I believe, as otherwise it gives canal people access to the railway. Some are enhanced as canal evacuation locations, and we are told this is why that rail tunnel can't be brought back into use.

Not all currently fenced, there are some sheer drops into the canal with no walkway across which are going to be fixed. You wouldn’t be able to climb out the canal onto the railway as is

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Not all currently fenced, there are some sheer drops into the canal with no walkway across which are going to be fixed. You wouldn’t be able to climb out the canal onto the railway as is

Maybe it’s just me, but the concept of falling through a hole in the dark into an underground canal tunnel is the stuff of nightmares an order of magnitude worse than most.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Whilst this thread states it concerns the Micklehurst loop line in its title, can anyone tell me why Diggle station was originally constructed with the number of platform faces it had.

 

[Revaulx]

Whilst this thread states it concerns the Micklehurst loop line in its title, can anyone tell me why Diggle station was originally constructed with the number of platform faces it had.

How many was that? It certainly had four after the line was quadrupled.

 

[edwin_m]

Won't let me copy a quote, but according to the Disused Stations website Diggle had variously one, two and four platforms - the same as the number of tracks in Standedge tunnels at the time.

Disused Stations: Diggle Station

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

What is the current condition of the Butterhouse tunnel between Uppermill and Diggle?

 

[billh]

The last time I looked around the area of the Uppermill end of Butterhouse, it was all filled in with no apparent access. If the other end is similar,who knows what condition it's in? The same situation pertains at Hooley Hill tunnel on the same line at Audenshaw where I think I detect a slight subsidence in the road surface of Guide Lane where it crosses the tunnel. I hope there is some means of inspecting both tunnels by means of access manholes or something?

 

[bramling]

What is the current condition of the Butterhouse tunnel between Uppermill and Diggle?

Manchester end portal is buried. Huddersfield end portal is open, with the tunnel itself being accessible apart from the buried portal. When I visited 10 years or so ago it was in reasonable condition, though the Huddersfield portal was a bit battered.

 

[rogerfarnworth]

You might be able to find videos. I have seen some in the past.