An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St.Helens
Part 22 (of 68) - Transport in Sutton (St.Helens)
Researched & Written by S.R.Wainwright ©MMXIII Contact Me 
An illustration of the Rainhill Trials which took place between Sutton and Rainhill during October 1829
In 1829 the Rainhill Trials took place on a two mile level stretch between Rainhill and Sutton. A prize of £500 was on offer for the winning steam locomotive and the five competing engines ran the equivalent of 70 miles backwards and forwards. The Rainhill Trials were, of course, won by Robert Stephenson's Rocket and he and father George, received the contract for the new railway. A ceremonial opening of the new line and station took place at Lea Green in September 1830. Sutton's main station was originally referred to as Bottom (or Foot) of Sutton Incline before becoming known as St.Helens Junction.
Although England's first fully-fledged railway cut through the perimeter of Sutton township, it largely bypassed what was to become the borough of St.Helens. The Sankey Canal provided a means of transporting St.Helens coal to Liverpool markets and beyond, but the railways were a much faster and more cost-effective alternative. They also didn't become impassable during cold, icy winters. The new Liverpool and Manchester railway created a handy distribution network for Elton Head and Whiston collieries, however other St.Helens pits were excluded. Their owners wanted a speedy connection with their customers, so in February 1833 the St.Helens and Runcorn Gap railway was officially brought into service. The new line ended at Spike Island at Widnes and from there coal could be conveyed to Liverpool using the Mersey and the Cheshire salt fields via the River Weaver.
Although intended for freight, the St.Helens and Runcorn Gap railway was also popular with passengers who could use the line for connecting to trains throughout the north-west. It served passenger stations at Sutton Oak (first appearing in a timetable in 1852), Farnworth, Bold, Peasley Cross, Union Bank and Clock Face. Sutton Oak station was originally known as 'Sutton' station, gaining the 'Oak' prefix in 1864. The bridges in Sutton, especially near Reginald Road, reveal that up to ten tracks crossed them.
A postcard of the Sutton intersection bridge, the first place in the world where a railway crossed a railway
In the above postcard picture from a painting by S.G. Hughes, a locomotive of the'Novelty' type on the St.Helens and Runcorn Gap railway crosses the Liverpool and Manchester Railway over Sutton's two-span Intersection Bridge. This was the first bridge in the world where a railway crossed another railway. The locomotive is hauling coal wagons to the docks at Widnes and beneath it, heading towards Manchester, is a 'Rocket' type locomotive. The district where the bridge was located was described as 'Toad Leach' in a November 1829 newspaper advertisement announcing the plans for the St.Helens and Runcorn Gap railway. These days it's known as Sutton Leach and to the right of the picture is Leach Lane, then Penlake Lane.
The two sets of railway lines meant that some residents of St.Helens Junction in Church Street (renamed Woodcock Street in 1902) and Railway Terrace now found themselves living in a triangle with just one way in, which became known as 'Pudding Bag'.
An undated photograph of passengers alighting from a steam train at Sutton Oak station
Engine driver Ralph Thompson may well have been the first person to have been killed by a train in Sutton, dying on February 28th 1835 at the foot of Sutton incline. Gatesman John Murphy had failed to switch back the points after he'd allowed a St.Helens train to pass and so the locomotive of Thompson's Manchester-bound train was derailed. The engineer was thrown from his engine and killed on the spot when its wheels ran over him. Murphy, who had a house provided by the L & M Railway 50 yards from the spot, was charged with causing the manslaughter of Thompson through negligence. However, the 46-years-old was cleared at the Lancaster Lent Assizes when his excessive workload was explained.
In 1845 the St.Helens Canal & Railway Co. was created by the merger of the canal and the L & M Railway companies. At its AGM on 1st August 1848, it was revealed that a large-scale "alteration of the Sutton inclined plane" was nearing completion. However, the improvements didn't seem to include the station. In a critical article in the Manchester Courier of July 13th 1850, it was revealed that Suttoners had previously petitioned the railway company about the "incommodious" St.Helens junction station. Their 'memorial' had been ignored and the newspaper complained that no attempt had been made to increase the accommodation or "remove the dangerous place of landing for passengers". This is the first newspaper reference that I've found for 'St.Helens junction' station, which was described as being "miserable" in wet weather with no waiting room.
Until 1872 passengers from St.Helens to Liverpool had to transfer at St.Helens Junction station, with an average journey duration of 1 hour. The article in the Courier described how 16 passenger trains from St.Helens arrived each day and on Sundays 400 to 500 persons took short trips from the station. Newton races was probably the most important social occasion at that time and the Courier reported how at the last event, 16,000 persons had gone up the junction from St.Helens over two days between transferring trains. The power of the press seems to have worked, however, as on September 20th 1851 the Manchester Courier reported that "The St.Helens Railway Co. are about to erect a commodious new station at the junction with the main line at Sutton."
Sutton Oak Sheds pictured in 1939 - now the site of Morrison's supermarket car park in Baxters Lane
The sheds originated in the 1830s at Sutton Oak Junction but they soon became inadequate and about 1859 they relocated to Penlake Lane at St.Helens Junction. From 1872 until the 1960s, this site was used as sheeting works making tarpaulin sheets for railway wagons and street carts. Women made the sheets out of hessian on sewing machines. They were then sent to the dressing shop and a large machine dressed the sheets with a mixture of boiled linseed oil and black paint. This was known as black dressing, although cart sheets had a green dressing. The sheets were then placed in a large tank and stirred. Marking gangs marked each sheet with the letters LNW plus a number and then the sheets were hung up and dried prior to being despatched. Repairs to damaged sheets were also made at the works. It was a large establishment as the building also served as a general stores for all of the L & NW's railway stations with deliveries made by train once a month. The works were ahead of their time, as women enjoyed the same pay as men.
In 1880 a replacement engine shed was opened at Sutton Oak. This was originally a 10 roads (aka track) ‘northlight’ brick-built shed, later reduced to 9 roads, with a coal stage and water tank above. There were two water columns and a 42 feet turntable. A signal box at Broad Oak Junction controlled movements from and to the shed.
The locos at the Sutton Oak Shed proved a magnet for many a small boy
The advent of diesel locomotives saw the end of the sheds, although an initial plan to close it in May 1964 was temporarily rescinded. The last steam loco left the Sutton Oak shed on December 4th, 1967. However the train drivers and guards, who had transferred from the former Sutton Oak station in 1964, still booked on and off duty at the shed until 1970.
During the 1970s, Sutton Oak Shed’s turntable, track, water tank and pump were removed. However, its well-structured building, with concrete pillars and roof built in 1957, was retained. Whelan Discount Stores operated a supermarket out of the site and in 1979, Dave Whelan - who would later own JJB Sports and Wigan Athletic – sold his chain of stores to Morrisons. They closed their Baxters Lane store in 2000 and the engine shed was demolished in May 2002 and is now the car park of a new supermarket.
Clock Face station with porter and station dog which was opened c.1845 and closed to passengers in 1951
The Widnes platform was located to the north of the bridge and had a small waiting shelter and the St.Helens platform was south of the bridge by the main station building. In the above photograph of a porter at Clock Face station, it seems that passengers would also be greeted by a station dog! Until the opening of Clock Face Collery, the vicinity of the station was sparsely populated and the line was more heavily used by goods trains. However, during the first half of the twentieth century, a steady passenger service developed between St.Helens and Widnes, running to Ditton Junction, where connections to Liverpool, Crewe, Manchester and even London could be made.
The approach to Clock Face station under the old bridge, both are now demolished
Steam engine no.8 hauling passenger car no.6 photographed at Peasley Cross c.1895
A one mile extension from Peasley Cross to St.Helens Junction was constructed during the summer of 1900, opening on September 5th. However, due to disputes the terminus became Peckers Hill Road, some 200 yards short of the Junction station until 1925. At St.Helens Town Council's meeting of December 5th 1900, the Electric Supply and Tramways Committee reported that they'd received a petition - known as a memorial - from residents in the expanding district of Clock Face requesting an extension of the tramways from Robins Lane. The committee said they'd bear it in mind, although there was probably an insufficient population at that time to make tram services commercially viable.
There were a number of complaints about the high speed of the electric trams - as they were then called - with some said to be dangerously exceeding 10 mph! On 12th April 1903, a tram from St.Helens Junction collided at full speed with a steam tower-wagon which was undertaking maintenance work on overhead wires, which caused severe damage to both vehicles. Bridges could also be problematic, especially in Peasley Cross Road. Not only was the bridge there prone to delays through severe flooding, but it was fully capable of decapitating unsuspecting standing passengers on the top deck of open-top trams! So a large warning sign was erected on both sides of the Peasley Cross bridge.
According to a 'Whalley's World' article in the St. Helens Star, the single-deck 'boneshaker' pictured right was part of the old Sutton Manor fleet. This was used by the St.Helens & District Motor Service Co. Ltd which took over from County Carriers and was acquired by St.Helens Corporation in 1927. Edie Carter was a regular contributor to Alan Whalley's column and she recalled how there were very few bus stops during the 1920s and '30s. Edie lived in Mill Lane and had a lot of walking to do to catch a bus. Regular daily services to Sutton Manor and Clock Face, as we know them today, didn’t come into operation until after WWII when there were far more stops.
Tram 14 bogie car pictured at St.Helens Junction in 1933 made by the Dick, Kerr company
The above photo of a single deck electric tram at St.Helens Junction was taken in 1933. An unnamed driver of this tram later commented on the overcrowding on the route to the Junction:
During my younger days I was a tram driver and I remember we bought two second-hand trams from Wigan - two long ones, single deckers. I was on this tram and when I got to Peasley Cross Hospital, which wasn't very far from St. Helens, I had 114 passengers on. There was an Inspector on and I wouldn't let a lady get on at Peasley Cross Hospital, I thought I couldn't carry no more. So he said to me, "Let that lady get on." I said, "I will if you get off - or if you let me get out, she can get on. I've 114 on now." He doubted my word and stayed on until we got to St. Helens Junction Station and, although he grumbled at me, he apologised. He said, "You were right, you'd 114 passengers on." Think about that then, 114 passengers on one deck! 
The trolleybuses had first appeared in St.Helens in 1927 and their vehicles and infrastructure were slowed rolled out throughout St.Helens. Despite people's familiarity with them, the trolleybuses still caused a stir when the Junction route first began. People were especially impressed by their silent running and punctuality. In an article entitled 'The Pride Of St.Helens Junction', the St.Helens Newspaper of May 10th, 1935 described the effect that they were having on both passengers and passers-by:
Little chuckles of satisfaction; beaming glances on the fellow passengers, and supercilious smirks to wondering passers-by was the lot of a traveller since last week. Night workers crowded to the windows of the road-side houses, in their night shirts, pyjamas and “what-nots” to gaze in glee on the silent newcomers. Pneumatic tyres do not make as much noise as the steel rimmed lumbering giants. What are we talking about? Why, the new trackless buses on the St.Helens Junction (via Peasley Cross) route, of course! Not very far from mid-night one night last week, a huge monster, illuminated by ghostly interior lights, rumbled, roared, groaned and creaked its way haltingly from the Junction along Robins-lane, Marshalls Cross-road, Peasley Cross-lane, Church street, Shaw-street, and Corporation-street, and after a veritable circular tour rolled with a last defiant roar into its lair. Next morning, very early, before the sun was up, a bright new red monster slid sleekly and silently from the same lair. The new “trolley bus” service had commenced...Several times have we been told that many people living on and around the old car route have had to speculate money on alarm clocks since last week! No longer can time be judged to that nicety of a minute which counts so much in the morning in our rush to begin the daily grind, for it is necessary, now, to be on the spot waiting for the bus. These new fangled ideas.
An early indicator of how the transport infrastructure in the town was being repositioned, was the ephemeral railway station at Robins Lane Halt. It opened on 12th October 1936, situated on the line that connected the Widnes and Runcorn Gap railway with the Liverpool and Manchester line.
Robins Lane Halt was opened as part of a policy to address the drift of passenger traffic to motor and trolleybuses by creating new, convenient railway stations close to residential areas. However, the station was closed just two years later (26/9/1938) due to insufficient passengers.
The only remnants of its brief existence are part of the two station entrance signs which directed passengers to its north and southbound platforms. These can still be discerned underneath a Robins Lane bridge by Ellen Street (pictured in 2008).
The Sutton Leach circular and a service to Prescot via Sherdley Road were completely withdrawn and the Gorsey Lane and Bold Heath services were left with just one early journey. Plus Sutton Heath was only allowed buses on Fridays and Saturdays.
Before long there was some easing of the service reduction and some buses were run to Sutton Leach and Sutton Manor. With collieries and many factories in full production, it was realised that extra bus services were required to transport workers. Additional services included St.Helens to Warrington via Clock Face and Bold Heath plus St.Helens to Widnes via Bold Heath, as well as Sutton Manor. In December 1943, with Britain’s fortunes in the war improving, there were increased services to the Manor.
Post-war, the growth of new housing estates in the Sutton district led to pressure placed on St.Helens Corporation’s transport department for new and extended services. In September 1946 a new service to Sutton Leach was launched which was extended to Clock Face and Bold in the following February. This brought frequent daily services to the district for the first time. In 1950 the Bold and Gorsey Lane routes became linked to Clinkham Wood and the Sutton Heath service was extended to Sutton Manor.
From 1958 St.Anne’s RC Church boasted its own Sunday bus service. Worshippers were ferried to the church in St.Helens Cororation buses, which would wait in Monastery Lane during the service and then take the worshippers home. However, by this time bus numbers were starting to decline through an increased use of private transport and the growth of television. People were staying in more at night and not travelling as much to the cinema or theatre. The peak year for bus transport was in 1955-6 when 60 million passengers were carried in St.Helens.
The Sutton Manor bus driver changes the destination board at the Market Street terminus in St.Helens
The changing times were also causing problems in staffing, as drivers and conductors were taking up employment in sectors that offered better hours and more pay. One-man bus operation was seen as the solution and in April 1967 the 22 route between Lancots Lane and Eccleston became one of only two routes in St.Helens to begin using one-man vehicles.
Sutton Oak Junction signal box with a steam train from Parr approaching on its left
The train stations at Sutton Oak, Clock Face, and Lea Green all closed down during the 1950s. The photographs above and below show the exterior and interior of the Sutton Oak Signal Box, which was thought to be unique as it boasted three signalling systems. On the left of the interior photo are the levers that controlled the semaphore signals. It also employed the token system for regulating the single line to Widnes and it was also linked to Warrington Power Box’s modern lights system. The latter managed stretches of the Liverpool to Manchester route.
Inside the Sutton Oak Signal Box - Note semaphore signal levers, gas lamps and stove
Eric had a special interest as he'd spent many years of his working life as a signalman inside that box. Once he'd been awarded a £50 bonus for his vigilance in foiling vandalism on the railway line.
Left: Eric Coffey accepts the last token; Right: The last loco on the route - contributed by Sutton Historic Society
Left: One of the last Clock Face tickets - issued 16th June, 1951; Right: Plaque in Clock Face Road, since stolen
Lea Green station closed to all traffic on September 25th, 1958. However, a new station was finally opened at Lea Green in September 2000, a few hundred yards to the east of the original and adjacent to Sherdley Park and the Bull and Dog.
Interestingly this new Lea Green station had first been announced almost sixty-four years earlier to service an expanding residential population and compete with the motor buses which were becoming increasingly popular. However, the failure of Robins Lane Halt seems to have caused a rethink by the railway bosses.
As well as a new railway station at Lea Green there's also recently been new investment in the station at St.Helens Junction to improve facilities and service the resurgence in train travel. Public transport by bus and train is now firmly established and with concerns over the environment, both are likely to retain their popularity within Sutton and St.Helens for the forseeable future.
Also See Transport Articles On Other Sutton Beauty & Heritage Pages
Sutton Tragedy Part 1: The Ironic Tale of the Fortune Teller and the Ditton Train Crash;
Sutton Tragedy Part 2: Crossing The Line – Rail Deaths in Old Sutton;
Sutton Crime: Murder and Suicide on a Train and The Great Railway Robbery;
Sutton Trivia & True Facts!: When Queen Victoria Came Through Sutton
Sutton Beauty & Heritage strives for factual accuracy at all times. Please do also get in touch if you believe that there are any errors, with details of any corrections contained within the site's update history page, which also details the regular updates. Many individuals from all over the world have kindly contributed Sutton information and photographs. If you would like to participate in this project, I would be delighted to hear from you and this website always credits any assistance given. Do also consider contributing any recollections of old Sutton that you might have for the Sutton Memories pages, which are proving very popular. I respond quickly to emails and if you haven't received a response within 12 hours, do check your junk mail folder or send your message again. Thank you! SRW
