Now preserved for almost sixty years, the former Midland Railway branch from Keighley to Oxenhope to the west of Bradford may not be one of the country’s longest – indeed it only stretches for just under five miles – but it is one of the country’s most popular preserved lines.
With a history stretching back to the mid-nineteenth century, the Keighley & Worth Valley provided an essential link for the communities that it served for almost a century. The harsh economic realities of the 1950s made its future uncertain and its fate was, theoretically, sealed before the infamous Beeching Report of March 1963.
However, there were a number of local enthusiasts who, having previously witnessed the demise of the ex-Great Northern Railway Queensbury Triangle routes in the mid-1950s, were determined that the Oxenhope line would not suffer a similar fate.
With the line preserved, services were triumphantly restored in 1968 and the line has been providing pleasures for tourists and enthusiasts ever since.
About the Author:
Brought up in Bradford, PETER WALLER grew up as the city’s trolleybus network gradually declined. In 1986 he commenced a career in publishing working for a number of years as Ian Allan Ltd publishing books, where he oversaw the commissioning and publication of a wide range of books. The first book he wrote was British and Irish Tramway Systems since 1945, in 1992. Since then he has written a number of transport books, moving to Shropshire where he is a director and secretary of the Online Transport Archive, vice-chairman of the West Shropshire Talking Newspaper, a committee member of the National Railway Heritage Awards and a past president of Rotary Club of Shrewsbury. He became a Council member of the National Transport Trust in 2020.
Author - Peter Waller
Publisher - Pen & Sword Transport
Hardback
Pages: 120
Illustrations: 140 illustrations and maps
ISBN: 9781526702210
Published: October 2023
*We offer FREE postage on Pen & Sword books. Please note we only ship these books to UK addresses.
