Entwistle railway station
Entwistle 
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| Location | |
| Place | Entwistle |
| Local authority | Blackburn with Darwen |
| Coordinates | 53°39′22″N 2°24′54″W / 53.656°N 2.415°WCoordinates: 53°39′22″N 2°24′54″W / 53.656°N 2.415°W |
| Grid reference | SD727177 |
| Operations | |
| Station code | ENT |
| Managed by | Northern |
| Number of platforms | 1 |
| DfT category | F2 |
| Live arrivals/departures, station information and onward connections from National Rail Enquiries |
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| Annual rail passenger usage* | |
| 2011/12 |
 15,458 |
| 2012/13 |
15,498 |
| 2013/14 |
 14,762 |
| 2014/15 |
15,036 |
| 2015/16 |
10,596 |
| History | |
| Original company | Bolton, Blackburn, Clitheroe and West Yorkshire Railway |
| Pre-grouping | Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway |
| Post-grouping | London Midland and Scottish Railway |
| 1 August 1848 | Opened |
| National Rail – UK railway stations | |
| * Annual estimated passenger usage based on sales of tickets in stated financial year(s) which end or originate at Entwistle from Office of Rail and Road statistics. Methodology may vary year on year. | |
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The rural Entwistle railway station is served by Northern services on the Manchester Victoria/Bolton 'Ribble Valley' Line towards Blackburn and Clitheroe in England. The station is 5 3⁄4 miles (9.3 km) north of Bolton.
It is the closest station to Edgworth, but lack of parking and a difficult approach along minor roads make it unpopular with commuters. Not all trains call here and, unlike nearby Bromley Cross the station lies outside the Transport for Greater Manchester boundary, meaning that passengers cannot take advantage of their special offers and ticketing. Owing to the remote location and low passenger numbers, Entwistle has been a request stop for several years. This means passengers wishing to board must signal to the driver (as they would for a bus) and those wishing to alight must inform the conductor.
The original station opened in August 1848, being relocated from Whittlestone Head station to the north. A more substantial stone building was built in 1859, as part of a larger contract, with similar stations being erected along the branch at The Oaks, Bromley Cross and Turton, by Manchester firm Joseph Greenup and Co. Demolition took place around the mid-1970s, several years after the station closed. The station also exhibited a large outside wall platform clock, as still seen at 'sister' station Bromley Cross today. The 1859 contract was for both a station building and staff 'cottage' as erected at other stations along the branch. The 1891 O.S. map survey reveals that only two immediately nearby cottages existed - what is today the well-known Strawbury Duck (then called Bridge House) and also a divided cottage alongside, Bridge Cottages. Entwistle also served the factories at Know Mill. Until recently the remains of an overhead cable railway, connecting the factory to the railway goods yard, were visible in an adjoining woods. The mills were demolished when the level of the Wayoh Reservoir was raised and the station was reduced in size following the Beeching report of 1963 and the singling of the Bromley Cross to Blackburn section of the line a decade later. Entwistle goods yard closed in November 1959. One easily missed surviving historical feature alongside the station access path and close to the entrance gate, is the carved 'LYR' boundary marker stone, one of several that remain in place in the section between Bromley Cross and Entwistle. Entwistle also has in place its traditional 'York' platform flag stones, but much of this is now covered over by modern anti-slip rubberised boarding sheets. In winter, with vegetation died back, the fenced off central platform area reveals around nine exactly four feet long by 10in across stone blocks, with a semi-circular groove neatly cut along their full lengths. These were left behind in the mid-1970s following demolition of the original station and may have been part of the upper station building walls where the drainage guttering sat over.
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