The NWCMM (North West Cachers Monthly Meet) brings geocachers together in different parts of the North West reviewing area. We welcome anyone to take a month and host an event in their area and equally welcome anyone to come along. The NWCMM's are not run by any particular group, they change each month and encourage you to get to know other cachers. If you've never been to an event before, please come along and meet people from the nearby area, and from further afield.
For October the event will be inside a former railway station and therefore it is only right to make it a combined REALLY SideTracked event. Attending the event will give you the opportunity add the Cheadle North station name to your REALLY SideTracked 'found list' as we wind the clock right back to 1866. There is an existing SideTracked cache here that is based on the BR name of the station when it closed on the 30th November 1964, 'Cheadle', but in fact it had only held that name for 14 years. This station was originally named 'Cheadle North' for the 84 years before that so here you will have to imagine yourself here before 1950... no special outfits required (although feel free if you wish!)
The event will officially take place 6:30pm - 9:00pm, or till LTL on Tuesday 16th October, 2018. The event will follow the standard format of simply being a pub social - a chance to drink, eat and generally be merry (or grumpy if you prefer!). No raffles, no new caches during the event. I have reserved an area so if you arrive early ask for the walking group. Please log a will attend and let me know if you intend to eat as the pub have asked me to feed back this information a few days before. As always you can just turn up on the night of course, but if lot's of people don't log in advance we may end up with too small an area or delays with food so even if you're not sure a will attend would help.
2018 has seen the publication of a number of new caches in the parks surrounding the event, including Scholes Park, the Carrs and Abney Hall. The pub has been chosen to give you easy access to these caches should you be lucky enough to have time to fit in a little pre-event hunting.
The History of the Venue
Cheadle North Railway Station opened in the golden age of steam on 1st February 1866. It was opened by a company called Cheshire Lines Committee.
The first trains ran between Godley and Altrincham and later on between Liverpool and Stockport. Goods trains used this line to carry coal from Yorkshire to the port of Liverpool. At it’s height in the 1950’s this track actually became one of the busiest double track lines for carrying goods in the country, with more than 200 trains passing through each day!
The station platform was one of the shortest in the country and sometimes the train driver had to move his train along, stopping more than once to allow the passengers to get off and on!
On 1st January 1948 the station became part of British Rail bought about by nationalisation of the railways. With the Beeching cuts, the station sadly closed to passengers on 30th November 1964 but the busy freight use continued until into the early 1980’s. The single track is still used today, mainly for carrying stone from Derbyshire to Liverpool. There are also occasional chartered luxury passenger trains passing through. The station building became derelict until 1988 when Banks’ Brewery purchased it and converted the building into a pub called The Station.
Today, the pub having been renamed The Cheshire Line Tavern, is thriving and serves a selection of cask conditioned ales along with traditional pub food and are kindly hosting the event as well as provding this history of the station from their website.