A Dog's Life — Stop 7
Shirley at the Train Station
Shirley the sheepdog was looking over the wall watching the busy train station and reminiscing about before the station opened in 1849 when she was just a pup.
It was hard to remember Mossley without the train line running through it but it had taken years of hard work to cut through the huge rocks, especially the long tunnel at Scout Green. Now passengers and of course goods such as cotton could travel all the way from Liverpool to Leeds and beyond.
The station itself had been built to look very smart, almost like a church. This helped Mossley residents, who had never seen trains before, feel they were nothing to be scared of (despite the screeching, hissing noise and clouds of steam).
It seemed to have worked because the trains were crowded these days and especially so this week. So much so that the London and North Western Railway had to lay on extra trains to cope with the many people who wanted to travel to Mossley.
It was all because of a huge fire at Britannia Mill. Sightseers from near and far came to look at the smouldering ruins on their day off from work.
In 1992, Private Ernest Sykes, who had been awarded the Victoria Cross in World War I, had a Claughton Class Locomotive (number 45537) named after him.
The Victoria Cross is the highest, most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
John Mayall the mill owner also had an engine named in his honour.
John Radcliffe (1806-1861) and his family lived in a house where Mossley Station now stands. In 1847 the houses were demolished to make way for the railway.