Wigan Album

Hindley station opened in 1848, in 1950 it became Hindley North. The lines to the left were known as the fast lines (Pemberton loop) to Liverpool. The line closed in 1969.

Thanks for all the very interesting info Colin on my photo's much appreciated .

I remember catching trains here as a young lad around 1969/1970, for day trips to Southport with my family.
The fast lines had closed at that stage, but the station still looked like the photo, with extensive brick buildings still in place on the platforms.
I remember a large waiting room on the middle island platform with a big wooden table in the middle of the room, leather upholstered benches around the walls and a fireplace (no fire, but then it was the middle of summer). Minor vandalism had set in by this time – some of the leather cushions had been slashed and there was minor graffiti on the wall (a bit of scribble with a pencil, but not the destruction and spray-can stuff you see these days).
Even in the early 1970s, lighting on the platforms at Hindley was still by gas lamps. I wonder if British Rail was the last customer in UK for old-style gas mantles by this time - for stations like this one and Wigan Wallgate?

Another thing I remember – my dad told me the left hand platform on the fast lines was hardly ever used by trains stopping at Hindley (you can see in the photo, no platfom canopy or waiting room was provided, just a simple wooden bench to sit in the fresh air!). This platform was at a lower height than normal, meaning whenever a train did stop there, the porter had to come along with a portable wooden step for whoever wanted to get on or off (according to my dad).

That's right English Electric, I can't remember trains stopping at the left platform to Liverpool, I seem to remember express passenger steam and DMU trains at very high speed blasting through the station and under the iron foot bridge.

Our family home was in Danes Avenue (Raynor Park).Right behind our house up "the slope" was the point about half way between Crowsnest bridge and Hindley North where, if you climbed up and sat on the fence made from old wooden sleepers, you were level with the tracks.I used to spend many hours here waiting for the expresses from Manchester to emerge from under the bridge at crowsnest and come hurtling past at about 70mph. All steam trains usually headed by 70000 class "namer" locos such as "Iron Duke" "Lord Rowallan" "Territorial Army" "Lord Roberts" and others whose names I can't recall. That was trainspotting!!!