Kirby Park
The site of Kirby Park station on the Wirral Way.
General information
Location	West Kirby , Wirral England
Grid reference	SJ217860
Platforms	1
Other information
Status	Disused
History
Pre-grouping	Birkenhead Railway
Post-grouping	Birkenhead Railway London Midland Region (British Railways)
Key dates
1 October 1894	Opened
5 July 1954	Closed to passengers
17 September 1956	Closed to school traffic
7 May 1962	Closed to freight

Kirby Park railway station was a station on the single track Hooton to West Kirby branch of the Birkenhead Railway , on the Wirral Peninsula , England .

History [ edit ]

The Birkenhead Railway, owned jointly by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London and North Western Railway (LNWR), had initially opened a branch line from Hooton to Parkgate in 1866. An extension to West Kirby was completed twenty years later ^[1] although Kirby Park station did not open until 1 October 1894. ^{[1] [2]} It was named after Kirby Park , the area surrounding the house Kirbymount , formerly the summer residence of John Hurleston Leche XV of Carden .

Originally considered an experimental station, ^[1] it was constructed primarily of timber 800 m (870 yd) to the south of the current West Kirby railway station and served largely as a school stop for the nearby Calday Grange Grammar School .

Closure [ edit ]

Kirby Park railway station closed before most of the stations on the line on 5 July 1954, however for school purposes it remained open until 1956. The track continued to be used for freight transportation and driver training for another six years, closing on 7 May 1962. ^{[1] [2]} The line was lifted two years later with the station building and platform completely demolished. ^[1] The only evidence that a station stood on this site is the entrance on Sandy Lane in West Kirby.

Wirral Country Park [ edit ]

The route became the Wirral Way footpath and part of Wirral Country Park in 1973, which was the first such designated site in Britain. ^{[1] [3] [4]}

References [ edit ]

Further reading [ edit ]

• Merseyside Railway History Group (1982). The Hooton to West Kirby Branch Line . Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. ISBN   9780904582048 . OCLC   60074290 .
• Mitchell, Vic; Smith, Keith (2014). Birkenhead to West Kirby . Middleton Press. figs. 74-75. ISBN   9781908174611 . OCLC   885451764 .

External links [ edit ]

Media related to Kirby Park railway station at Wikimedia Commons

53°21′57″N 3°10′36″W  /  53.3659°N 3.1766°W  / 53.3659; -3.1766