This film is part of Free

A Busy Junction

Passing traffic - a Lancashire station features on film.

Amateur film 1963 11 mins Silent

From the collection of:

Logo for North West Film Archive

Overview

Lostock Junction, in Bolton, is indeed very busy in this 8mm reel from filmmaker George Higginson, showing the station in its later years. Opened in 1848, rail traffic increased with the opening of nearby cotton mills and the De Havilland propellers factory. The 1960s Beeching cuts, however, saw the withdrawal of goods facilities, and the station finally closed to passengers on 7th November 1966.

George Higginson (1895-1966) was a highly skilled amateur filmmaker whose work includes travelogues and award-winning scientific documentaries. Originally trained as a cotton engineer, he served in the army in World War One, before enrolling in his early thirties at Manchester School of Art; he later went on to teach drawing and painting at Bolton School for Boys.