Luddendenfoot Civic Centre

Story

Luddendenfoot railway station served the village of Luddendenfoot in West Yorkshire, England, from 1840 until 1962.HistoryThe Manchester and Leeds Railway, which was authorised in 1836 for a line from Manchester to, was opened in stages; the second section, between Normanton and, opened on 5 October 1840, and one of the original stations was that at Luddendenfoot.On 1 April 1841, Branwell Brontë was transferred from and appointed 'clerk in charge' at Luddendenfoot at a salary of £130 per annum. Under him was a porter named Watson; and when Brontë went drinking, he left Watson in charge. Later, an audit of the station accounts showed a deficit of eleven pounds, one shilling and sevenpence, which Watson had probably stolen; but Brontë was dismissed, and also had to make up the shortfall from his outstanding salary.In 1880 the bridge across the River Calder leading to the station was destroyed by a flood. The Luddendenfoot Local Board of Health commissioned the new Boy Bridge from Halifax architects Utley and Grey, with James Wild, a local stonemason and ironwork by Wood Brothers of Sowerby Bridge. James Wild also built the Station Bridge over the Rochdale Canal. The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway contributed £1,625 to the cost of rebuilding the bridge and it was completed in 1882.Two fatal accidents occurred close to the station before its closure - the first in 1925 and the second thirty years later in 1955.