Heeley railway station

Heeley
The station building in 2006
General information
Location	Heeley, City of Sheffield England
Coordinates	53.36132°N 1.47329°W / 53.36132; -1.47329
Grid reference	SK351850
Platforms	2/4
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Midland Railway
Post-grouping	LMSR London Midland Region of British Railways
Key dates
1 February 1870	Opened
1901–03	Extended to four platforms
10 June 1968	Closed

Heeley railway station was a railway station in Sheffield, England. The station served the communities of Heeley, Meersbrook and Lowfield and was situated on the Midland Main Line near London Road on Heeley Bridge, lying between Sheffield Midland station and Millhouses railway station.

Plan of Heeley station c.1890

The station opened with the inauguration of the Midland Railway's main line between Chesterfield and Sheffield on 1 February 1870.^[1] This new station of 1870 was designed by the company architect John Holloway Sanders.^[2] It was built on an embankment between the A61, London Road South and the River Sheaf. During construction both the road and river were diverted to create space for the station and sidings.

Railway accident at Heeley station in 1876 (contemporary engraving)

On 22 November 1876 an overnight passenger train from London St Pancras to Scotland via Carlisle derailed at Heeley due to a track defect,^[3] causing several people to be injured.^[4]

Initially the station had two platforms but this was increased to four when the line from Sheffield to Dore was widened between 1901 and 1903.^[5] Heeley station was the only station on this section of the line that was an elevated station with subway access from below to the platforms.

During the Great Sheffield Gale in 1962, there was a near miss at the station as a London to Sheffield express train narrowly avoided crashing into debris blown onto the tracks by the devastating storm;^[6] the station itself suffered damage which was never fully repaired. Heeley station closed on 10 June 1968 at the same time as Millhouses railway station and all the platform buildings were demolished. The subway is still present although both entrances have been blocked in; the entrance on London Road can be seen and iron railings are present.

In July 2017, it was proposed by Local Enterprise Partnership that new stations should be built at Millhouses and Heeley as well as new platforms at Dore & Totley.^[7] The plans would be part of a call to have better links in South Yorkshire area as well as plans for a new Woodhead Route reopening.

References

1. "Opening of the New Midland Railway". Sheffield Independent. 5 February 1870.
2. "The Sheffield and Chesterfield District Railway. The New stations". Sheffield Daily Telegraph. British Newspaper Archive. 13 April 1869. Retrieved 12 July 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
3. E. G. Barnes (1970). The Midland Main Line 1875–1922. London: Allen & Unwin.
4. "Fearful Railway Accident at Healey". Sheffield Independent. 25 November 1876.
5. Batty, Stephen R. (2005). Rail Centres: Sheffield. Booklaw Publications. p. 53. ISBN 1-901945-21-9.
6. "VIDEO: 11 fascinating facts about the Sheffield Hurricane of February 16 1962". The Sheffield Star.
7. "Is Sheffield destined to fail and trail?". The Star. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017.

External links

• "Vintage photograph showing the exterior of the station building circa. 1950". Archived from the original on 18 September 2010.

Preceding station	Historical railways			Following station
Millhouses and Ecclesall Line open, station closed		Midland Railway Midland Main Line		Sheffield Midland Line and station open