Ossett is the largest town in Yorkshire without a train station.
Above: Ossett Station on Station Road before it was demolished and replaced with houses. Photograph is courtesy of Roger Hepworth.
There were three stations in Ossett. They were:
Ossett - opened 1889, closed 1964
Flushdyke - opened 1862, closed 1941
Chickenley Heath - opened 1890, closed 1911
In the Victorian era, railways were a popular way to travel and often used to transport products from one place to another. Ossett station was very busy and had over 100 trains passing through per day.
Lots of children enjoyed day trips to the seaside from here. There are still lots of signs of the railway. From Station Road bridge that went over the railway tracks. The old entrance on The Green, and of course, the Greenway itself where the tracks were.
Above: Station Road Railway Bridge.
As time went on, more people were using buses and some had their own cars so less people used the railways, which resulted in over 50% of railway stations being closed.
Some still remain abandoned and unused.
Above: The bricked up entrance to Ossett Station from The Green.
There is currently a campaign to have a new railway station in Ossett . . . . . . . .
Where do you think we should have a railway station in Ossett?
Ossett Trams ran from 1904 to 1933.
The trams were held in two different “sheds”. These were like garages. Just much bigger, to hold the trams in at night when they weren’t running.
One shed was situated on Church Street (near Holy Trinity Church with the big spire) and the other one was on Sowood Lane. Neither are there now. Houses are now in their place.
The first tram arrived in Ossett from Agbrigg in 1904. It travelled via Station Road (over the Railway bridge) and terminated in the Market Place in the town centre.
In 1908, a second system was introduced to include travel to Dewsbury. The last tram from Ossett to Agbrigg was in 1932.
The last tram from Ossett to Dewsbury was in 1933.
Above: The two montages above are by Julian Gallagher who has kindly let us use his work to show how the Ossett trams would look now and then.
When you see the roads that are dug up from time to time, if you’re lucky you can see the tram lines still underneath.
Our transport links are very good. Much improved by the addition of the motorway, which started back in 1959.
It was completed in sections. Our section was completed in 1968. The full motorway completed in 1999.
The construction was not without problems. In 1967, two huge sections of the road slipped off their supports tumbling into a “V” and taking some working men with it. It was over 250 tons. 3 men were rescued by their work colleagues. Sadly 3 men died too.
Our Junction to Ossett is Junction 40. It puzzles me that it doesn’t say Ossett on the sign.
I wonder why?