The line was owned by the London and North Western Railway. Due to a switch to road usage after the Second World War the line became under used. Passenger services ceased in the 1950s with full closure in stages between 1960 and 1990.
link
The Spen Ringway
In In 2007 a 3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi) section of the line was converted into a 'rails to trails' cycle and walking route between two primary schools. This route is close to and runs parallel with another such route, The Spen Valley Greenway.
In 2010 Yorkshire Water had to construct a new water pipeline to improve the water quality of both the River Calder and the River Spen. Part of this pipeline was installed along the route of the Spen Valley Greenway and whilst this works was going on Yorkshire Water paid to extend the Ringway into Heckmondwike to provide an alternative route.
The extension passes through a deep cutting with a number of bridges overhead passing close together, an impressive sight. This railway engineering
website has details of the cutting and the work to convert it to be part of the 'rails to trails' route.
"The line’s southerly approach to Heckmondwike Spen Station took it through a deep cutting before the town’s High Street was conquered, courtesy of cut and cover. To its north, trains entered another cutting as a westerly curve made its presence felt. This one though was spectacular, slicing a deep scar through a residential district. Stitching it together for the benefit of Cemetery Road, Upper George Street, Victoria Street, King Street and Jeremy Lane was a series of imposing bridges - each one unique in character - boasting engineering brick arches and masonry spandrels. Beyond them, another short tunnel carried Bridge Street on the skew...
...As part of a £90 million investment scheme, Yorkshire Water is currently digging it up to lay a sewer main beneath the old trackbed. Work will continue until spring 2010, resulting in sections of the Greenway being closed to the public. This cloud though has a silver lining in the form of a 500-yard diversionary route - paid for by Yorkshire Water - which has been laid along the old LNWR route. This links the Spen Valley Ringway, an isolated section of footpath, with Heckmondwike High Street via the cutting and former station site, now a housing development.
Completion of the work took four weeks, all but a few days of which were taken up by the removal of rubbish, dumped into the cutting over the four years since it was last deep cleaned. That process yielded 35 wagon loads of waste, amounting to more than 300 tonnes - basically, locals have used the place as a landfill.
Tasked with this unenviable clear-up was a team from Sustrans, comprising four men and a subcontracted machine driver. With a 6 metre vertical drop at the bottom, they were forced to use rope access to strip away the vegetation and detritus from the steep-sided banks. A world of squalor confronted them - used needles, wasps nests, rats. Piles of soiled nappies would move in front of their eyes and then disintegrate on contact. Seventy car tyres had to be driven away.
They also faced the perennial construction problem posed by bats - a protected species - which have established hibernation, maternity and transitional roosts through the cutting, particularly in the wing walls.
The main event involved shaping up the ballast with a camber and creating a drainage causeway down the centre of the formation. A 3-metre Terram geotextile membrane was then fitted to prevent weeds and vegetation from establishing themselves. On top of this, a 150mm Type 1 recycled sub-base provided the foundation for a 75mm tarmac layer put down by a Barber Green. Topsoil haunches finished off the job.
So they might lack the scale of Box Tunnel or Ribblehead Viaduct but Heckmondwike’s cutting and the six structures which span it are no poorer for that. They too can enjoy the ‘unique’ tag - it’s not a relative measure. And thanks to the combined muscle of Yorkshire Water and Sustrans, the rest of us can also now enjoy them. A member of the construction team reckons that 'it will look amazing in a year’s time'. For those with an engineering eye, it’s looked amazing for a hundred years."
SUSTRANS map
SUSTRANS "the sustainable transport charity - works on
practical projects to encourage people to walk, cycle and
use public transport in order to reduce motor traffic and its
adverse effects. 5,000 miles of our flagship project, the
National Cycle Network, were officially opened in June
2000, we will increase this to 10,000 miles by 2005". This
web document
has a map of both the Spen Ringway and the Spen Valley Greenway.