Tickets Please - Hemsworth Old Station Platform Traditional Cache
Tickets Please - Hemsworth Old Station Platform
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The old Hemsworth Railway platform still exists today alongside a public bridleway located at the end of Hemsworth bypass.
It was closed on 6th November 1967 and now is covered in moss and trees.
This cache is a small clip-box that contains a logbook and pen plus room for small TB's and collectables. It is hidden in a green cammo bag.
History
The Hull & Barnsley Railway (H&BR) was promoted by the merchants and ship owners of Hull supported by the City Corporation who were dissatisfied with the rail services provided by the NER. The H&BR never reached Barnsley, the nearest it got was Cudworth and Stairfoot although boundary changes in 1921 placed these locations in Barnsley. Passenger services terminated at Cudworth but from 1905 three trains daily ran through to Sheffield; it was absorbed by the NER in 1922 and the LNER at the grouping.
Route - when open
Wrangbrook Junction was at the western end of the HBR’s main line where three lines diverged and in the early 1900s saw 130 freight trains pass through each day. The southern leg was the South Yorkshire Junction line to Denaby; the middle route was to Wath and this (main) line continued on to Cudworth.
From Wrangbrook (GR493134) the line headed west to Upton & North Elmsall, passed under the Doncaster - Wakefield road (A638) and crossed over both the Swinton & Knottingley Joint line (S&K) and the West Riding & Grimsby Joint line (WR&G); connections were laid to both these lines but that to the S&K was never used. The next station was Hemsworth & South Kirkby and a mile further the end of the long eight mile climb from near Walden Stubbs came on entering Brierley tunnel which took it under the Pontefract - Barnsley road. Emerging from the tunnel it passed Brierley Junction (where the Dearne Valley line curved away south), went under the L&Y line to Crofton and turned south to reach Cudworth. Here the H&B met the Midland and the 2¼ miles between Royston & Notton to the north & Cudworth station to the south encompassed a series of junctions, yards, exchange sidings, loco sheds and colliery branches; this was made more confusing by both companies each having two junctions with the same name. After passing Cudworth North Junction (H&B) the line headed south with the H&B goods yard and loco shed on the right and at Cudworth South Junction (H&B) the extension line to Stairfoot diverged west to cross the MR main line. At Cudworth station the H&B had their own platform connected to the main station by a long footbridge. This is a continuation of the H&B line from Barmby which appears in the York & Selby Area of the North Yorkshire section whilst the final 2¼ miles to Stairfoot can be found in the Barnsley Area of the South Yorkshire section.
Route - today
Wakefield MDC line 18
From Wrangbrook Junction the trackbed is used as a footpath and at the end of Tom Wood Ash Lane it becomes a cycleway (with a pedestrian underpass taking under the busy A638) to a point just east of the Sheffield - York (S&K) line and continues walkable over that line as far as the WR&G line. Between Kirkby Road (B6422) and the eastern portal of Brierley tunnel it has been used for the construction of Hemsworth bypass (A628) with a cycle track alongside. Most of the line west of the tunnel is waterlogged but the top of the cutting is walkable. A footpath reportedly follows line from the western portal to Gander Bridge, Sandybridge Lane in Shafton (GR386117) and for much of the next 1½ miles to the site Cudworth South Junction (H&B). The Hemsworth Curve has completely disappeared.
NOTES and WARNINGS
Bridge House was the railway keepers house and is still in existence today. The cache is NOT located here and is PRIVATE property. It is advised that you wear suitable footwear as the path can become quite muddy and slippery.
Parking is available in a picnic area just over the road from the public bridleway.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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