Great Northern railway from Windhill to Thackley and Idle now

Wednesday saw me  tracing what remains of the 

old Great Northern railway from Windhill to

Thackley and Idle

The trackbed still remains and much of it is accessible

The Google satellite view above tell you where the

pictures were taken 

The bridge that carried the old footpath between 

Winhill Old rd and Brackendale Drive has now 

been demolished and cutting filled to the level

of the abutments,

As can be seen the riveted girders which carried the 

bridge now lay discarded.

The view from the northern abutment shows the 

depth of filling.

All the above three are at point one on the top

satellite view

Between points one and two the trackbed remains

well trodden as a bridleway, the hoof prints being

 the evidence

Here Windhill Old rd passes under the railway in

a Z bend. This is point two on the satellite view.

Then on the Ballantyne Rd off Winhill Old Rd

the bridge remains but is only a footpath 

connecting the two sides of Ballantyne

Rd

As can be seen nature is taking over

the past presence of mans railway

I am assuming the truncation of 

Ballantyne Rd is because no one

will now take responsibility for 

the structure of the bridge

This is at Point three on the satellite view

Passing on now to point four on the satellite view

The railway run under Crag Hill Rd

This is just to the east of Thackley station and some 

evidence can still be seen of the site though the

trackbed is very overgrown.

We now pass on the two further bridges at Thackley

corner where the A657 Leeds Rd passes over the 

old railway trackbed. Both of these are at point 

five on the satellite view

Onward's to Idle.

Many thanks to Google for the satellite view and

the map above. The pictures as ever are my own