Notes: Pentre Broughton Halt was situated on the Great Western Railway (GWR) Moss Valley branch which ran from a junction with the Wrexham & Minera Railway at Moss Junction to Moss and onwards to Brynmally Colliery. The line opened as a single-track railway on 11 May 1882. At two miles in length it had been constructed so that locomotive-hauled trains could reach collieries and other industrial premises at the north end of the Moss Valley. A railway from Wheatsheaf Junction, on the Chester and Shrewsbury line, to Minera had opened in 1847 and it passed through Moss and so was able to serve the industries there. The 1847 line was a great success but it was very steeply graded and had two rope-worked inclines which as the nineteenth century progressed impeded the smooth flow of traffic. The Moss Valley branch improved the situation greatly.
The line was built as a goods railway, but on 1 May 1905 the GWR introduced a ‘railmotor’ service between Wrexham General and Moss. Halts were opened at Gatewen, Pentre Broughton, Gwersyllt Hill and at Moss.
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Pentre Broughton Halt was located on the west side of the Moss Valley to the east of the settlement from which it took its name. It had a single wooden platform on the west side of the line on which stood a corrugated iron waiting shelter. The halt was unstaffed and it was very close to the Great Central Railway Moss and Pentre station which was just to the south-west.
The July 1922 Bradshaw showed ten weekday departures from Pentre Broughton Halt for Moss Halt and ten for Wrexham General. On Saturdays there were thirteen services to Moss and to Wrexham. There was no Sunday service.
Bus competition had started to make inroads into passenger traffic receipts |
by the early 1920s. By the early 1930s passenger services on the Wrexham and Moss line were hopelessly uneconomic, so the GWR withdrew the service completely with effect from 1 January 1931; Pentre Broughton Halt closed completely on that date. By the 1930s the mines of the Moss Valley were worked out and, as a result, the Moss Valley line closed in 1935 when Brynmally Colliery closed. The track remained in situ until 1952. Houses were later built on the site of the halt.
Ticket from Michael Stewart, Bradshaw from Nick Catford , route map drawn by Alan Young.
Sources:
- British Railway Companies, C. Awdry, 1990, Guild Publishing.
- Clinkers Register of Closed Passenger Stations and Goods Depots in England, Scotland and Wales - 1830 -1970 , C. R. Clinker & J. M. Firth, 1971
- Marcher Railways, by A. Bodlander, M. Hambly, H. Leadbetter, D. Southern & S. Weatherley, 2008, Bridge Books.
- Forgotten Railways - North and Mid Wales, Rex Christiansen, 1976, David & Charles.
- Railway Passenger Stations in Great Britain, M Quick, 2009, RCHS.
- Railway World - February 1987 - The Wrexham & Minera Joint Railway, Rex Christiansen, Ian Allan Publishing.
- Bradshaw Timetable July 1922.
To see other stations on the Moss Valley Line click on the station name: Gatewen Halt, Gwersyllt Hill Halt & Moss Halt
See also Wrexham and Minera Railway: Plas Power, The Lodge, Brymbo (GWR, Pentresaeson Halt, Coed Poeth, Vicarage Crossing Halt & Berwig Halt
See also: Moss & Pentre |
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