After some deliberation I finally have a name for my 1950s Yorkshire West Riding layout. Welcome to Heathley Kirkgate or as the locals would probably say ‘Eathli Kirgit’. The name is pure Yorkshire – an amalgamation of Heathcliffe and Keighley.

Heathley and the Tong Valley Lines: A Brief Overview

I wanted a fictitious but plausible location for Heathley somewhere between Leeds and Bradford and the valleys around Tong and Pudsey seemed to fit the bill. Present day Tong is a conservation area of pleasant woodland and fields but this was not the case in the 18^th and 19^th centuries when the area was extensively mined for coal and fireclay and was littered with small collieries and tramways. Although mining had largely died out by the mid-20^th century, even as late as the early 1970s the NCB considered open cast mining in the area. Furthermore, whilst reading Stephen Batty’s book on the history of the Leeds-Bradford railways I was delighted to discover that several ‘Short Line’ routes between Leeds and Bradford through the valleys were seriously considered in the 1840s to compete against George Hudson’s Aire Valley route. Unfortunately railway company rivalry and politics prevented any of these schemes from taking off. It was not until 1854 that the present day route was opened that runs via Stanningley and avoids the valleys.

My “what-if†scenario creates the fictitious town of Heathley in the Cockersdale and Tong Valleys and supposes that the original ‘Short Line’ through the valleys was championed by the LBHJR (in my reality the Leeds, Bradford and Heathley Junction Railway) and finally completed in 1852 and operated by the GNR. The village of Heathley, already developing into a town, spread out along the valley. What would be the present day Leeds-Bradford line was created in 1854 when a loop was built via Stanningley. In 1857 a branch was completed between Heathley and Adwalton, linking in with the new Ardsley to Bradford line and providing a direct route to London. It is on this branch that Heathley Kirkgate is situated, a suburban station on a secondary mainline.

A walk around the area and a study of maps and Google Earth revealed that the route would be challenging with some steep gradients but nothing out of the ordinary for the West Riding. If these routes did exist they would probably negate the need for the Pudsey Loop as it followed a similar path, albeit along the valley bottom. I have assumed this to be the case.

Next time a more in depth history.