Clayton West and Darton Light Railway (1906)

The Clayton West & Darton Light Railway was a proposed extension of the Clayton West Branch Line in 1906 under the terms of the Light Railways Act 1896.[1]

The line would have been 3 miles and 8 furlongs in length, and would end at a junction with the L&YR Barnsley Branch, near to the existing station at Darton.

The Barnsley Chronicle (24/Feb/1906) reported that the scheme was similar to the one proposed by the same company some 40 years previously, which the exception that the new scheme intended to skirt around High Hoyland Hill rather than tunnel through it. The original scheme had risked objections from the Beaumonts of Whitley Hall, due to it largely passing across the Bretton Estate, but the newspaper noted that the Beaumonts had not lived locally for 25 years and had struggled to lease Bretton Hall.

Although the line was approved by the Light Railway Commissioners and the Board of Trade, progress on raising the necessary capital[2] dragged on. Despite strong support from the Barnsley Chamber of Commerce, the scheme eventually lapsed.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Wikipedia: Light Railways Act 1896.
  2. Initially around £45,000 but later raised to £60,000.
  3. "Barnsley Chamber of Commerce" in Barnsley Chronicle (25/Jun/1910).