108-716: Gorton Locomotive Works , known locally as Gorton Tank , was in West Gorton in Manchester , England and was completed in 1848 by the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway . The original workshops of the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway were in Newton near Hyde in Cheshire but were inconveniently situated, cramped and makeshift. In 1845 the railway asked their locomotive superintendent, Richard Peacock , to find
216-600: A "basic railway". The Marshlink line between Ashford International and Hastings , threatened with closure in the Beeching Report, is now seen as important due to the opening of the Channel Tunnel and High Speed 1 . Traffic on the single-track Golden Valley Line between Kemble and Swindon and the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester has increased significantly, and double track has now been reinstated on
324-419: A Gorton resident and a neighbour of Hindley. The third victim, Keith Bennett, whose body has never been found, was also from Gorton. The Industrial Revolution brought work and industry to Gorton in the form of locomotive factories, including that of Beyer, Peacock & Company . Today these sites continue to employ workers in a variety of fields, from local private businesses to national companies, including
432-492: A Labour government under Prime Minister Harold Wilson after 13 years of Conservative government. During the election campaign Labour had promised to halt rail closures if elected, but it quickly backtracked, and later oversaw some of the most controversial closures. Tom Fraser was appointed Minister of Transport, but was replaced by Barbara Castle in December 1965. Castle published a map in 1967, Network for Development , showing
540-518: A battle between the Saxons and Danes nearby. This has been dismissed by historians as "popular fancy". The name Gorton means "dirty farmstead", perhaps taking its name from the Gore Brook, or dirty brook, which still runs through the township today. The brook may have acquired that name because of the dirty appearance of its water, perhaps caused by discolouration due to peat or iron deposits. Gorton
648-675: A day and five passengers on average, earning only 25% of costs. Finally there was the service from Hull to York via Beverley (using part of the Yorkshire Coast Line , which was not closed, and the York to Beverley Line , which was). The line covered 80% of its operating costs, but he calculated that it could be closed because there was an alternative, albeit less direct, route. Out of 18,000 miles (29,000 km) of railway, Beeching recommended that 6,000 miles (9,700 km)—mostly rural and industrial lines—should be closed entirely, and that some of
756-511: A day, on lines controlled by multiple Victorian era signalboxes (again fully staffed, often throughout the day). Operating costs could have been reduced by reducing staff and removing redundant services on these lines while keeping the stations open. This has since been successfully achieved by British Rail and its successors on lesser-used lines that survived the cuts, such as the East Suffolk Line from Ipswich to Lowestoft, which survives as
864-472: A few lines where they had been removed. Some lines closed under the Beeching cuts have reopened as private heritage railways. Some examples are East Lancs Railway , Great Central Railway (heritage railway) , Mid Hants Railway , North Yorkshire Moors Railway , North Norfolk Railway and West Somerset Railway . Flanders and Swann , writers and performers of satirical songs, wrote a lament for lines closed by
972-624: A further 700 miles (1,100 km) a choice of four. In Scotland, only the Central Belt routes and the lines via Fife and Perth to Aberdeen were selected for development, and none were selected in Wales, apart from the Great Western Main Line as far as Swansea. Beeching's secondment from ICI ended early in June 1965 after Harold Wilson 's attempt to get him to produce a transport plan failed. It
1080-437: A lack of patronage, leaving large parts of the country with no public transport. The assumption at the time was that car owners would drive to the nearest railhead (which was usually the junction where the closed branch line would otherwise have taken them) and continue their journey onwards by train. In practice, having left home in their cars, people used them for the whole journey. Similarly for freight: without branch lines,
1188-457: A more suitable site for a locomotive and carriage and wagon works. The site selected was two and a half miles east of Manchester at the side of the railway line between the Manchester to Guide Bridge. Peacock was responsible for the planning and design of the works, which at the time of completion covered about 20 acres (81,000 m), and eventually growing to 30 acres (120,000 m). By the time
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#17328512920681296-489: A multimillion-pound redevelopment of the Gorton District Shopping Centre. The small market and retail area were demolished and work started in late 2007 to construct a new market hall and Tesco Extra hypermarket on the site. In July 2008, the new Manchester Gorton Market Hall was opened to the public. The construction of the new hypermarket and neighbouring petrol station continued, and in late October 2008,
1404-572: A number of issues, but the future size of the railway system was not one of them. For all the suspicion it aroused, the committee had little to say on this and the government was already convinced of the need to reduce the size of the rail network. In spite of questions being asked in Parliament , Sir Ivan's report was not published at the time. In December 1960 questions were asked in the Lords about this "secret" and "under-the-counter" study group, criticising
1512-554: A police motor vehicle garage, and a cash-and-carry warehouse now stand on the site. The folk comedy group Gorton Tank were based in Gorton and were popular in the Manchester area. Locomotive building began at Gorton under Craig in 1858 with the completion of 0-6-0 No. 6 Archimedes. Over the next sixty years the works constructed many of the MS&;LR and GCR locomotives, including Parker and Sacré 2-4-0 and 0-6-0 freight classes and several of
1620-430: A private company. An early success was the world's first successful type of steam condensing locomotives for underground railways, of which 148 were built. In the 20th century, the company designed and manufactured more than 1,000 powerful articulated locomotives called Garratts . By the time the company wound up in 1966, it had built nearly 8,000 steam and diesel locomotives. The former municipal borough of Manchester
1728-513: A result of the Railways Act grouping of 1923, most new locomotive design and construction moved to the larger facilities at Doncaster and Darlington Works . Between the 1930s and late 1950s, Gorton Works mainly concentrated on repair and modification of locomotives and manufacture of parts. Locomotives were from throughout the LNER system. British Railways scrapped many locomotives at the works during
1836-432: A route profitable: "Similarly, consideration of the cost figures will show that thinning out the trains, or thinning out the stations, would not make a service self-supporting even if it had no adverse effect on revenue". There is little in the Beeching report recommending general economies (in administration costs, working practices and so on). For example, a number of the stations that were closed were fully staffed 18 hours
1944-489: A statement to the House later that day confirming that the sale of shares was in hand and would be completed "very soon", noting that as part of the agreement he could be required to buy the shares from the purchaser at the original price after he ceased to hold office, if so desired by the purchaser. While it was reported that he sold the shares to his wife, she denied in a newspaper interview, that any transaction had taken place. It
2052-605: A subsidy to be paid by the Treasury for a three-year period. This was later repealed in the Railways Act 1974. Whether these subsidies affected the size of the network is questionable: the criteria for reprieving loss-making lines had not altered, merely the way their costs appeared in the railways accounts—previously their contribution to the railways' overall loss was hidden in the total deficit. The " bustitution " policy that replaced rail services with buses also failed. In many cases
2160-467: A virtual halt by the early 1970s. One of the last major closures was the 98-mile (158 km) Waverley Route between Carlisle , Hawick and Edinburgh in 1969; the reopening of a 35-mile section of this line was approved in 2006 and passenger services resumed in September 2015. Holiday and coastal resorts were severely affected by the closures. The report recommended closing almost all services along
2268-528: A year. The zoo was the third-largest in the UK, and the exhibition hall held concerts from a range of national and international artists, such as Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones . After 141 years, the zoo closed in 1977, with the rest of the site finally cleared for redevelopment in 1982. Myra Hindley , convicted of taking part in the Moors Murders in 1966, grew up in Gorton. She and Ian Brady lived there at
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#17328512920682376-499: Is Afzal Khan . Following Boundary changes to take effect following the July 4th 2024 General Election, the area will be covered under the Gorton and Denton constituency. Gorton Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1854 and is an amateur orchestra. The folk comedy group Gorton Tank were based in Gorton and were popular in the Manchester area. The painter Michael Gutteridge was born in Gorton. The Gorton Morris Men were responsible for reviving
2484-594: Is a matter of debate whether Beeching left by mutual arrangement with the government or if he was sacked. Frank Cousins , the Labour Minister of Technology , told the House of Commons in November 1965 that Beeching had been dismissed by Tom Fraser , then Minister of Transport. Beeching denied this, pointing out that he had returned early to ICI as he would not have had enough time to undertake an in-depth transport study before
2592-466: Is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester , England. It is to the southeast of Manchester city centre . The population at the 2011 census was 36,055. Neighbouring areas include Levenshulme and Openshaw . A major landmark is Gorton Monastery , a 19th-century High Victorian Gothic former Franciscan friary. According to local folklore, Gorton derives its name from Gore Town, due to
2700-419: Is between an excessive and increasingly un-economic system, with a corresponding tendency for the railways as a whole to fall into disrepute and decay, or the selective development and intensive utilisation of a more limited trunk route system". Of the 7,500 miles (12,100 km) of trunk route, 3,700 miles (6,000 km) involves a choice between two routes, 700 miles (1,100 km) a choice of three, and over
2808-693: Is now the Lowry in Salford Quays . But when the show rolled out of town, he remained in London. He married Josephine, an American horse trainer who had just given birth to their first child, Bessie and together they settled in Darwen , before moving to Gorton. His name was changed to George Edward Williams, after registering with the British immigration authorities to enable him to find work. Williams ended up as an elephant keeper at
2916-698: The Beeching Axe , were a major series of route closures and service changes made as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railway system in Great Britain in the 1960s. They are named for Dr. Richard Beeching , then-chair of the British Railways Board and the author of two reports – The Reshaping of British Railways (1963) and The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes (1965) – that outlined
3024-459: The Belle Vue Zoo . He died on 28 July 1929 from pneumonia aged fifty-two. He was buried in Gorton's cemetery. The world-famous Belle Vue Zoological Gardens , comprising a zoo, gardens, amusement park, exhibition complex and speedway stadium, was opened in 1836 in Gorton and became one of the leading attractions in the UK. The site spanned 165 acres of land and attracted over two million visitors
3132-570: The British Railways Board , which took over on 1 January 1963, with Dr Beeching as its first chairman. The Act put in place measures that simplified the process of closing railways by removing the need for the pros and cons of each case to be heard in detail. It was described as the "most momentous piece of legislation in the field of railway law to have been enacted since the Railway and Canal Traffic Act 1854 ". The general election in October 1964 returned
3240-479: The British Transport Commission (BTC) was formed in 1949 with a brief to close the least-used branch lines. This resulted in the loss (or conversion to freight-only operation) of some 3,318 miles (5,340 km) of railway between 1948 and 1962. The most significant closure was that of the former Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway in 1959. In opposition to these cuts, the period also witnessed
3348-657: The Charnwood Forest Railway , closed to passengers in 1931, and the Harborne Line in Birmingham , closed to passengers in 1934. Some lines had never been profitable and were not subject to loss of traffic in that period. The railways were busy during the Second World War , but at the end of the war they were in a poor state of repair and in 1948 nationalised as British Railways . The Branch Lines Committee of
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3456-732: The Docklands Light Railway in London was driven along a short stretch of track to demonstrate the light rail / tram configuration then being planned for Manchester. Soon after the demonstration, the Fallowfield line was dismantled; it has since been converted by Sustrans into a shared use path – the Fallowfield Loop – which runs from Fairfield to St Werburgh's Road tram stop in Chorlton-cum-Hardy . A company that became renowned for its locomotives, exported world-wide,
3564-545: The Hope Valley line and Glossop line stop at Gorton. Services are operated by Northern , with trains to Manchester Piccadilly , Glossop , Hadfield and Rose Hill Marple . Until 1970, passenger services on the Great Central Railway passed through the station. Gorton station is mentioned in the 1964 song Slow Train by Flanders & Swann , where it was referred to as Openshaw . Another railway station in
3672-622: The Manchester Gorton parliamentary constituency , comprising Gorton North, Gorton South, Fallowfield, Longsight, Levenshulme, Rusholme and Whalley Range wards. Since boundary reviews in 2018 the Gorton area is covered within a single electoral ward – Gorton and Abbey Hey . Father of the House and Britain's longest serving backbench MP, Sir Gerald Kaufman , represented the Gorton area (Ardwick followed by Manchester Gorton) for 47 years until his death in February 2017. Manchester Gorton's current MP
3780-576: The National Cycle Network or used for road schemes. Others have since been built over, have reverted to farmland, or remain derelict with no plans for any reuse or redevelopment. Some, such as the bulk of the Midland Metro network around Birmingham and Wolverhampton , have since been incorporated into light rail lines. After growing rapidly in the 19th century during the Railway Mania ,
3888-660: The West Coast Main Line to Carlisle and Glasgow ; traffic to the north-east of England would be concentrated through the East Coast Main Line as far as Newcastle ; and traffic to Wales and the West Country would go on the Great Western Main Line to Swansea and Plymouth . Underpinning Beeching's proposals was his belief that there was too much duplication in the railway network: "The real choice
3996-478: The rail subsidies necessary to keep the network running. The second report identified a small number of major routes for significant investment. Such was the scale of these cuts that the programme came to be colloquially referred to as the Beeching Axe, though the 1963 report also recommended some less well-publicised changes; including a switch to the now-standard practice of containerisation for rail freight, and
4104-480: The 1950s but the economic situation steadily deteriorated, with labour costs rising faster than income and fares and freight charges repeatedly frozen by the government to try to control inflation . By 1955, the railways' share of the transport market had dropped from 16% to 5%. The 1955 Modernisation Plan promised expenditure of over £1,240 million; steam locomotives would be replaced with diesel and electric locomotives , traffic levels would increase, and
4212-626: The Beeching cuts entitled " Slow Train " (1963). Michael Williams' book On the slow train takes its name from the Flanders and Swann song. It celebrates 12 of the most beautiful and historic journeys in Britain, some of which were saved from the Beeching cuts. It perpetuated the myth that the Beeching cuts were concerned solely with sleepy rural branch lines, but they actually also concerned well-used "industrial" and commuter lines. The BBC TV comedy series Oh, Doctor Beeching! , broadcast from 1995 to 1997,
4320-573: The Board of Trade, argued that the country's railways did not have a future without rationalisation and amalgamation. By 1914, the railways had some significant problems, such as a lack of standard rolling stock and too many duplicated routes. After the war, the railways faced increasing competition from a growing road transport network , which had increased to 8 million tons of freight annually by 1921. Around 1,300 miles (2,100 km) of passenger railways closed between 1923 and 1939. These closures included
4428-579: The British Transport Commission in March 1961. He would receive the same yearly salary that he was earning at ICI, the controversial sum of £24,000 (£675,000 in 2023 terms), £10,000 more than Sir Brian Robertson , the previous chairman of the BTC, £14,000 more than Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, and two-and-a-half times higher than the salary of any head of a nationalised industry at the time. At that time
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4536-519: The British railway system reached its height in the years immediately before the First World War , with a network of 23,440 miles (37,720 km). The network had opened up major travel opportunities for the entire country that had never been available before. However, lines were sometimes uneconomic, and several Members of Parliament had direct involvement with railways, creating a conflict of interest. In 1909, Winston Churchill , then President of
4644-535: The Golden Valley Line, partly to facilitate a diversionary route during electrification and other works on the Severn tunnel line. The Conservatives increased their Commons majority in the general election of 8 October 1959 , their first with Harold Macmillan as Prime Minister. Ernest Marples , previously Postmaster General , was made Transport Minister two weeks later in a cabinet reshuffle; Macmillan noted that
4752-509: The Gorton area, Hyde Road , was opened in 1882 on the Fallowfield Loop railway line until the route closed to passengers in 1958. The station had a brief revival in 1987, when it played a role in the early development of the Manchester Metrolink system. A temporary station called Debdale Park was constructed on the station site to host a public exhibition of Project Light Rail, in which a DLR P86 stock light rail vehicle on loan from
4860-816: The Mount Olivet Apostolic Church (originally the Anglican church of Our Lady of Mercy and St Thomas of Canterbury) on Mount Road, which was built by Walter Tapper in 1927. Gorton Heritage Trail is a public trail with 20 sites of interest. The trail is partly semi-rural, largely located within the Gore Brook Valley Conservation Area, and highlights various local landmarks, including ecological and topographical sites, and grade-listed monuments and buildings. The trail starts in Sunny Brow Park, and leads northwards to Debdale Park , following
4968-531: The Northern working-class boy who had won a scholarship to a grammar school was one of only two "self-made men" in his cabinet. Marples had a background with a successful road construction company. When opening the M1 motorway , he said: "This motorway starts a new era in road travel. It is in keeping with the bold scientific age in which we live. It is a powerful weapon to add to our transport system." His association with
5076-539: The Oxford–Cambridge Varsity Line closed despite its strategic location serving Milton Keynes , Britain's largest "new town". Kinross-shire, and Fife especially, suffered closures not included in the Report, including the main line from Edinburgh to Perth. King's Lynn was to have remained at the centre of routes towards Norwich , Hunstanton and Wisbech , all of which closed. With a few exceptions, after
5184-609: The ROD 2-8-0s were built at Gorton in 1918 and 1919, with the remainder of 521 engines being built by private locomotive manufacturers, including 369 from the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. By the end of Great Central Railway ownership in December 1922, 921 steam locomotives had been built at Gorton Works. This figure had reached 1006 by 1951, when the last steam locomotive, a LNER Thompson Class B1 4-6-0 no. 61349
5292-577: The Robinson 4-6-0 and 4-4-0 express passenger and mixed traffic classes. The 500th locomotive was GCR Class 11A (LNER Class D6) 4-4-0 No.858. From 1911, the works constructed 130 of Robinson's GCR Class 8K (later O4 ) 2-8-0 heavy freight locomotives. During the First World War the design was adopted by the War Department's Railway Operating Division (ROD) for use in continental Europe. Six of
5400-493: The US Rail Bank scheme, which holds former railway land for possible future use, was not seen to be practical. Many redundant structures from closed lines remain, such as bridges over other lines and drainage culverts. They often require maintenance as part of the rail infrastructure while providing no benefit. Critics of Beeching argue that the lack of recommendations on the handling of closed railway property demonstrates that
5508-469: The area is beginning to attract more trendy, urban buyers. Belle Vue is a locality within Gorton, as are West Gorton, which was included in the City of Manchester in 1890, whereas the remainder of Gorton wasn't until 1909, thanks largely to the work of councillor Joseph Henry Williamson, then Chairman of Gorton Urban District Council , and Abbey Hey , mostly a residential district, but also well known locally as
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#17328512920685616-459: The axe man, but it was surgery, not mad chopping". On 7 June 2019, former Minister for Transport Andrew Adonis delivered a speech on "Reversing Beeching". Since the Beeching cuts, road traffic levels have grown significantly. As well, since privatisation in the mid-1990s, there have been record levels of passengers on the railways owing to a preference to living in smaller towns and rural areas, and in turn commuting longer distances (although
5724-622: The base of a valley and Gore Brook that runs through Gorton, flowing west to the river Mersey. Much of this area contains the Gore Brook Valley Conservation Area . Ryder Brow is served by Ryder Brow railway station . Gorton also has several allotments and parks which are supported through the Gorton Horticultural Society . Gorton is home to Gorton Monastery , a Franciscan , 19th century High Victorian Gothic friary. This has been renovated and secularised: it
5832-514: The beginning of a protest movement led by the Railway Development Association, whose most famous member was the poet John Betjeman . They went on to be a significant force resisting the Beeching proposals. Economic recovery and the end of petrol rationing led to rapid growth in car ownership and use. Vehicle mileage grew at a sustained annual rate of 10% between 1948 and 1964. In contrast, railway traffic remained steady during
5940-473: The cause of this is disputed ). A few of the railway closures have been reversed. However, despite the considerable increase in railway journeys since the mid-1990s, rail transport's share of the total passenger transport market remains below that of the early 1960s, with road overwhelmingly the dominant mode: rail's market share was 13% in 1961, 6% in 1991 and 2001, and 10% in 2014. Some closed stations have reopened , and passenger services have been restored on
6048-429: The coasts of north Devon, Cornwall and East Anglia aside from Norwich to Great Yarmouth. All services on the Isle of Wight were recommended for closure, as were all branch lines in the Lake District . One of the most significant closures was the Great Central Main Line from London Marylebone to Leicester and Sheffield. Not all the recommended closures were implemented. Reprieved lines include: The Beeching Report
6156-431: The company during his term of office, but it did lead to a sense of unease, not least within the railway sector. In April 1960, Sir Ivan Stedeford established an advisory group known as the Stedeford Committee at the request of Harold Macmillan to report on the state of the British Transport Commission and to make recommendations. Sir Ewart Smith , a retired former Chief Engineer at Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI),
6264-443: The construction of new carriage and wagon shops on the site, enabling the original shops to be converted into an enlarged erecting shop the following year. Following Sacré's retirement in 1889, Parker took over as Locomotive Superintendent until his own retirement in 1893. He was responsible for the construction of a new machine shop and stores in 1889, and the enlargement of the motive power depot to accommodate 120 locomotives. Parker
6372-428: The continued withholding of the report and its recommendations. It was later suggested that Stedeford had recommended that the government should set up another body "to consider the size and pattern of the railway system required to meet current and foreseeable needs, in the light of developments and trends in other forms of transport ... and other relevant considerations". Marples then appointed Beeching as Chairman of
6480-418: The countryside round about. Nell Parlour, a local place associated with the supernatural, was a clough known for a 'village damsel' who had been seduced and 'became insane'. Higson also wrote a boggart poem in local dialect entitled 'Th' Boggart O' Gorton Chapelyord'. [REDACTED] Media related to Gorton at Wikimedia Commons Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts , also colloquially referred to as
6588-590: The early 1970s proposals to close other lines were met with vociferous public opposition and were shelved. Beeching's reports made no recommendations about the handling of land after closures. British Rail operated a policy of disposing of land that was surplus to requirements. Many bridges, cuttings and embankments have been removed and the land sold for development. Closed station buildings on remaining lines have often been demolished or sold for housing or other purposes. Increasing pressure on land use meant that protection of closed trackbeds, as in other countries, such as
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#17328512920686696-522: The economic costs of having two break-bulk points combined to make long-distance road transport a more viable alternative. Many of the closed lines had run at only a small deficit. Some lines such as the Sunderland -to-West Hartlepool line cost only £291 per mile to operate. Closures of such small-scale loss-making lines made little difference to the overall deficit. Possible changes to light railway -type operations were attacked by Beeching, who rejected all proposals for cost savings that would not make
6804-405: The end of the 1960s it became increasingly clear that rail closures were not bringing the rail system out of deficit and were unlikely ever to do so. Transport minister Barbara Castle decided that some rail services, which could not pay their way but had a valuable social role, should be subsidised. Legislation allowing this was introduced in the Transport Act 1968 . Section 39 made provision for
6912-406: The football club later in the decade. The first recorded football game was played in November 1880. A Blackfoot Sioux chief named Charging Thunder came to Salford aged 26 as part of Buffalo Bill 's Wild West Show in 1903. Like many Lakota tribesmen, Charging Thunder was an exceptional horseman and performed thrilling stunts in Buffalo Bill 's show in front of huge crowds, on the site of what
7020-613: The formal end of his secondment. The first report was accepted by the Conservative government of the day, which argued that many services could be provided more effectively by buses. Most recommendations were subsequently taken forward by the Labour government elected in 1964, but many of the proposed closures sparked protests from communities that would lose their trains, a number of which (especially rural communities) had no other public transport. Line closures had been running at about 150–300 miles per year between 1950 and 1961. They peaked at 1,000 miles (1,600 km) in 1964 and came to
7128-435: The government was seeking outside talent to sort out the huge problems of the railway network, and he was confident that he could make the railways pay for themselves, but his salary, at 35 times that of many railway workers, has been described as a "political disaster". The Transport Act 1962 dissolved the British Transport Commission (BTC), which had overseen the railways, canals and road freight transport and established
7236-439: The high-profile construction company Marples Ridgway became a matter of concern to both the public and politicians. As is customary, he resigned as a director of the company in 1951 on becoming a junior minister, but he only disposed of his shares in the company in 1960 after the company won a contract to build the Hammersmith Flyover , when questions were asked both in the media and also in the Commons on 28 January 1960; he made
7344-448: The least-used 50% of stations contributed only 2% of passenger revenue, and that one third of route miles carried just 1% of passengers. By way of example, he noted that the line from Thetford to Swaffham carried five trains each weekday in each direction, carrying an average of nine passengers with only 10% of the costs of operating the line covered by fares; another example was the Gleneagles-Crieff-Comrie line which had ten trains
7452-468: The location of Wright Robinson College . The area south of the former Roman road, Hyde Road , and between Belle Vue and Reddish is a historic area in which various ancient tools and weapons have been unearthed from various historic battles that took place there. Many local placenames allude to this history, including Winning Hill, also known as Ryder Brow, a locality within Gorton that contains many topographical features, including Bottom o’ th’ Brow at
7560-444: The manufacturing headquarters of Iceland . A number of retail and recreation sites are also a source of local employment for many in the area, such as the TV and film production studio, Space Studios , which employs up to 300 people. Less than 3 miles from the centre of Manchester, Gorton is also made up of many tertiary sector workers who commute into the city. The popular television series Shameless , which aired on Channel 4 ,
7668-483: The modernisation plan must be adapted to this new shape" and with the premise that the railways should be run as a profitable business. Beeching first studied traffic flows on all lines to identify "the good, the bad, and the indifferent". His analysis showed that the least-used 1,762 stations had annual passenger receipts of less than £2,500 each (£73,000 as of 2024 ), that over half of the 4,300 stations open to passengers in 1960 had receipts of less than £10,000, that
7776-449: The necessity of improving the efficiency of the railways and the plan for achieving this through restructuring. The first report identified 2,363 stations and 5,000 miles (8,000 km) of railway line for closure, amounting to 55% of stations, 30% of route miles, and the loss of 67,700 British Rail jobs, with an objective of stemming the large losses being incurred during a period of increasing competition from road transport and reducing
7884-414: The new Tesco Extra store opened its doors for trading. Further retail outlets were developed near this site along Hyde Road, including Subway , Coral and Age UK . Regeneration works are continuing to make Gorton "an even better place to live and work". This includes the demolition of all former tower blocks and construction of new homes and parks. House prices in the area are rising as a result of this as
7992-511: The number of railway wagons had fallen 29% from 1,200,000 to 848,000. The first Beeching report, titled The Reshaping of British Railways , was published on 27 March 1963. The report starts by quoting the brief provided by the Prime Minister , Harold Macmillan , from 1960: "First, the industry must be of a size and pattern suited to modern conditions and prospects. In particular, the railway system must be modelled to meet current needs, and
8100-481: The old erecting shop (the original carriage and wagon shops) were converted into machine and fitting shops; the construction of a new carriage and wagon works at Dukinfield in 1910 enabled additional locomotive work to be carried out in the former carriage and wagon shops. Following the merger of the Great Central Railway and other railways in eastern England and Scotland to form the London and North Eastern Railway as
8208-685: The rail network to a mere 1,630 miles (2,620 km), leaving only 22 miles (35 km) of railway in Wales (a section of the South Wales Main Line from the Severn Tunnel to Cardiff Central ) and none in Somerset, Devon or Cornwall. The Midland Main Line was planned to close, leaving Leicester and Derby without a rail link, while the East Coast Main Line, part of the key London/Edinburgh link,
8316-466: The railway line. He was replaced by William Grindley Craig , who served until 1859, followed by Charles Sacré until 1886. Between 1871 and 1880 the works was unable to keep pace with new construction and repairs; Gorton therefore manufactured new parts for locomotives that were constructed or renewed at the Sheffield running shed. In 1880 Sacré's Carriage and Wagon Superintendent, Thomas Parker , oversaw
8424-568: The railway system "stabilised" at around 11,000 route miles (17,700 km). Section 39 of the Transport Act 1968 made provision for grants to be paid in relation to loss-making lines and services, but many of the services and railway lines that would have qualified had already been closed. A number of branch lines and local services were saved by this legislation. After 1970, when the Conservatives were returned to power , serious thought
8532-483: The railways had not been restored to profitability and Beeching's approach appeared to many to have failed. It has been suggested that by closing almost a third of the network Beeching achieved a saving of just £30 million, whilst overall losses were running in excess of £100 million per year. However, the precise savings from closures are impossible to calculate. The Ministry of Transport subsequently estimated that rail operating costs had been cut by over £100 million in
8640-420: The railways' ability to transport goods "door to door" was dramatically reduced. As in the passenger model, it was assumed that lorries would pick up goods and transport them to the nearest railhead, where they would be taken across the country by train, unloaded onto another lorry and taken to their destination. The development of the motorway network, the advent of containerisation , improvements in lorries and
8748-499: The remaining lines should be kept open only for freight. A total of 2,363 stations were to close, including 435 already under threat, both on lines that were to close and on lines that were to remain open. He recommended that freight services should mainly be for bulk commodities such as minerals and coal, and that the freight system make use of new containerised handling systems rather than less efficient and slower wagon-load traffic. The latter recommendation would prove prescient with
8856-440: The replacement bus services were slower and less convenient than the trains they were meant to replace, and so were unpopular. Replacement bus services were often run between the (now disused) station sites (some of which were some distance from the population centres they served), thus losing any potential advantage over the closed rail service. Most replacement bus services lasted less than two years before they were removed due to
8964-481: The replacement of some services with integrated bus services linked to the remaining railheads. Protests resulted in the saving of some stations and lines, but the majority were closed as planned. Beeching's name remains associated with the mass closure of railways and the loss of many local services in the period that followed. A few of these routes have since reopened. Some short sections have been preserved as heritage railways , while others have been incorporated into
9072-440: The report was short-sighted. On the other hand, retaining a railway on these routes, which would obviously have increased maintenance costs, might not have earned enough to justify that greater cost. As demand for rail has grown since the 1990s, the failure to preserve the routes of closed lines, such as the one between Bedford and Cambridge, which was closed despite Beeching recommending its retention, has been criticised. By 1968,
9180-478: The reverse course of Gore Brook. There are a number of grade-listed buildings in Gorton, most notably Gorton Monastery . Other listed buildings and monuments include: Gorton was home to the world-famous Belle Vue Zoological Gardens from 1836 until its closure in the 1980s. At its peak, Belle Vue attracted more than two million visitors a year. The area is served by several railway stations including Gorton , Ashburys , Belle Vue and Ryder Brow . Trains on
9288-599: The rise of intermodal freight transport in the following decades. On 16 February 1965, Beeching introduced the second stage of his reorganisation of the railways. In his report, The Development of the Major Railway Trunk Routes , he set out his conclusion that of the 7,500 miles (12,100 km) of trunk railway only 3,000 miles (4,800 km) "should be selected for future development" and invested in. This policy would result in long-distance traffic being routed along nine lines. Traffic to Coventry , Birmingham , Manchester , Liverpool and Scotland would be routed through
9396-468: The roundhouse on its Western side, with the carriage and wagon shops and a paint shop on the other side of the loco shops. A reservoir was constructed by the nearby Ashton Canal . Richard Peacock left the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway in 1854 and with Charles Beyer founded the Beyer Peacock locomotive company at Gorton Foundry , directly opposite Gorton Works on the southern side of
9504-464: The run-down of steam in the 1950s and early 1960s Beeching era. The workforce remained large: even in the 1960s the number of men employed at Gorton Works was large enough to sustain nine public houses in nearby Ogden Lane. The railway works were closed 31 May 1963 following a reorganisation of railway workshops. Work was transferred to Doncaster . The motive power depot was closed in 1965. A wholesale fruit and vegetable market (New Smithfield Market),
9612-492: The rushcart ceremony in Gorton. Manchester City F.C. were founded as St. Mark's (West Gorton) in 1880. Abbey Hey F.C. club is in Gorton. "Bouncing Billy Barker" was a local man who specialised in jumping feats. The current Britbowl champions (as of 2023), are the Manchester Titans , which are based in Gorton. John Higson (1825–1871), a Gorton antiquarian, wrote about mid-nineteenth-century supernatural beliefs in what
9720-467: The system was predicted to be back in profit by 1962. Instead losses mounted, from £68 million in 1960 to £87 million in 1961, and £104 million in 1962 (£2.8 billion in 2023 terms). The BTC could no longer pay the interest on its loans. By 1961, losses were running at £300,000 a day, despite the fact that since nationalisation in 1948, 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of line had been closed, railway staff numbers had fallen 26% from 648,000 to 474,000, and
9828-399: The time of the first three Moors murders , before moving to Hattersley in 1964 when Hindley's family home was included in a local demolition programme. Brady and Hindley committed two further murders after moving from Gorton, before they were finally arrested in October 1965. Their first victim, Pauline Reade (who died in July 1963 aged 16, but whose body was not found for 24 years), was
9936-402: The wake of the Beeching Report but that much of this had been swallowed up by increased wages. Some of the branches closed acted as feeders to the main lines, and that feeder traffic was lost when the branches closed; the financial significance of this is debatable, for over 90% of the railways' 1960 traffic was carried on lines which remained open ten years later. Whatever the figures, towards
10044-474: The works were completed in 1848 the railway had become the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway . The original motive power depot at Gorton, in the form of a roundhouse, was unique in that it had two roads instead of the customary one with a pillar in the centre supporting the glazed roof. It was later replaced by a larger facility but was converted to a smithy . The locomotive workshops were next to
10152-448: Was asked by Ernest Marples to become a member of an advisory group; Smith declined but recommended Richard Beeching in his place, a suggestion that Marples accepted. Beeching, who held a PhD in physics, had been appointed to the main board of ICI at the age of 43. The board consisted of senior figures in British businesses, and none of the board had previous knowledge or experience of the railway industry. Stedeford and Beeching clashed on
10260-579: Was completed. Following the nationalisation of British Railways (BR) in 1948, Gorton was used for the construction of 64 electric locomotives of Class 76 and Class 77 , between 1950 and 1954, which were required for the newly electrified Woodhead Line from Manchester London Road to Sheffield Victoria . Overhauls of these locomotives were carried out at Gorton. After closure in 1963, this work transferred to Crewe Works . 53°28′13″N 2°10′20″W / 53.4704°N 2.1723°W / 53.4704; -2.1723 West Gorton Gorton
10368-406: Was created in 1838 and elevated to a city in 1853. Part of Gorton township was included in the city in 1890. The remaining part of the township became an Urban District of the administrative county of Lancashire in 1894. A small part of the urban district was transferred to the city of Manchester in 1901 and the remaining area was fully incorporated into Manchester in 1909. Gorton forms part of
10476-451: Was established at Gorton on the southern side of the railway line, in 1854. The proprietors, Charles Beyer , Richard Peacock and Henry Robertson , incorporated in 1902 as Beyer, Peacock & Company . Richard Peacock had previously been the chief engineer of the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway 's locomotive works nearby at Openshaw (north of the railway line), and had seen an opportunity for locomotive manufacture by
10584-431: Was formed with the aim of binding the local community and to combat a form of gang warfare called scuttling that existed in the 1870s. The rector's daughter, Anna Connell, is widely credited as the founder, although churchwarden William Beastow is believed to be the person who played the main part in creating sporting activities for the parish. In 1875, St Mark's Cricket Club are known to have played and this evolved into
10692-480: Was formerly a township and chapelry in the ancient parish of Manchester in the Salford hundred of Lancashire . In 1866 Gorton became a separate civil parish , from 1894 to 1909 Gorton was an urban district , on 1 October 1910 the parish was abolished and merged with South Manchester . In 1901 the parish had a population of 26,564. Manchester City F.C. was founded as St Mark's (West Gorton) in 1880. The club
10800-469: Was given to a further programme of closures, but this proved politically impossible. In 1982, under the government of Margaret Thatcher , Sir David Serpell , a civil servant who had worked with Beeching, compiled the Serpell Report which said that a profitable railway could be achieved only by closing much of what remained. The report's infamous "Option A" proposed greatly increasing fares and reducing
10908-423: Was intended to be cut north of Newcastle. The report was published on 20 January 1983 and received an immediate backlash from the media. It was quietly shelved in the run up to the 1983 election . Ian Hislop comments that history has been somewhat unkind to "Britain's most hated civil servant", by forgetting that Beeching proposed a much better bus service that ministers never delivered, and that in some ways he
11016-474: Was intended to be the first stage in the rail network's contraction. As a result, some lines it had not recommended for closure were subsequently shut down, such as the Woodhead line between Manchester and Sheffield in 1981, after the decline of the freight traffic (mostly coal) on which it had relied. Many surviving lines were rationalised, including reduction to single track and consolidation of signals. Most of
11124-599: Was mainly filmed in West Gorton. The parade of shops used for filming in the initial series was built on the site of St Mark's Church, Clowes Street, the birthplace of Manchester City F.C. The area has since been demolished and redeveloped with various new social and private housing, new Medical Centre, retail and commercial spaces, as well as the "Space Project" , a large-scale television and film production studio with six sound and prop stages used to film various BBC and ITV productions. In 2006, Manchester City Council started
11232-629: Was previously derelict after the friars moved out. The parish left by the Friars came under the care of the Diocese of Salford . St Francis of Assisi RC Church on Textile Street, Gorton, and Sacred Heart Church, Levenshulme Road, Gorton, now form part of the R.C. Parish of Sacred Heart and St. Francis. Other churches in Gorton which were designed by notable architects include the Brookfield Unitarian Church on Hyde Road , built by Richard Peacock and
11340-495: Was reported that he had transferred his shares into an Overseas Trust. In July 1964, Marples Ridgway and Partners Limited were awarded a £4.1 million contract for the "Hendon Urban Motorway" extension of the M1, in the same year that the company was taken over by the Bath and Portland Group. There was no evidence of any wrongdoing on anyone's part in this or any of the other contracts awarded to
11448-506: Was succeeded by Harry Pollitt , who served until 1900. During this time the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway changed its name to the Great Central Railway following the opening of its London extension to Marylebone station . Pollitt was succeeded by John G. Robinson as Locomotive and Marine Superintendent in 1900 and was appointed Chief Mechanical Engineer in 1902. Under Robinson, new erecting shops were built, and
11556-452: Was then still a rural community. He detailed a series of local boggarts including: Nell Parlour Boggart ('rough and hairy, with eyes as big as saucers'); Gorton Field Boggart; Green Stile Boggart; and Ho' Lane Boggart (which appeared in the form of 'a dog, hare, rabbit, or other small animal'). There was also a Boggart House (a haunted house). Fairy rings and fairy pipes (tiny early modern pipes) were frequently found, according to Higson, in
11664-443: Was used to do their "dirty work for them". Hislop describes him as "a technocrat [who] wasn't open to argument to romantic notions of rural England or the warp and weft of the train in our national identity. He didn't buy any of that. He went for a straightforward profit and loss approach and some claim we are still reeling from that today". Beeching was unrepentant about his role in the closures: "I suppose I'll always be looked upon as
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