Station Masters

Woodlesford station in 1959 by John Thorp.

Rather like Church of England clergy, railway station masters came and went. Some stayed for a long time, brought up their families in the village, and became pillars of the community. Others were more transient and stayed for just a few months. Here is a timeline of the station masters who worked at Woodlesford from its opening in 1840 until it was downgraded to an unmanned halt in 1970. Click on the links for more on the individuals and their families.

1840
184? – 1856 John Hugh Mowatt
1856 – 1863 Henry Casson
1863 – 1866 Job Starbuck
1866 – 1867 James McDonald
18?? – 1871 Henry Wilson
1871 – 1874 Thomas William Turner
1874 – 1896 Edward Marshall Cook
1896 – 1911 Edwin James Deverell
1911 – 1924 Christopher Lowis
1924 – 1930 Reginald Arkinstall
1930 – 1938 Robert Harold Roberts
1939 – 1947 John Williams Pierce
1947 – 1951 Spencer Nind
1953 – 1970 Tom Swaby

Dates compiled from research by Glynn Waite of the Midland Railway Society.

This view was taken from the Pottery Lane bridge before 1910. Midland Railway wagons are stabled in the long siding next to the Up line.