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Location notes
Parbold is a small village and station 7 miles west of Wigan on the line to Southport and is also on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.
Railway type and traffic
Currently locos are banned from this line, with the exception of engineers trains, so trains are usually classes 142/150/156. The interest here comes largely from the Semaphore signalling.
Environment
This is a small semi-rural village with many walkers visiting from the Canal towpath.
Road directions
Take the A5209 west from junction 27 of the M6 and after dropping down the very steep Parbold Hill and crossing the railway and Canal turn right into the village.
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Parbold map co-ordinates
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Parbold map co-ordinates
Parking
There is a small car park situated by the canal also on street parking.
Public transport
Parbold is served roughly every half an hour by trains from Southport to Manchester Airport and Oldham. There is also a bus service linking Ormskirk and Wigan.
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Amenities
There are plenty of small shops in the Village including a Fish and Chip shop and several pubs. There is a Brewers Fare pub situated on the top of Parbold Hill.
Sun Compass
Sun Compass using Suncalc by brought to you by Vladimir Agafonkin:
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Parbold
Streetmap links
Parbold general view map
Parbold close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Parbold
It might be necessary to adjust the time to suit your visit, this link should open with the current day.
Parbold
Googly map
Parbold general view map
Parbold close up map
Windows Local Live Link - image quality may vary
Parbold
Who likes this location on facebook
Railway Gen Group
Photographic notes
In the morning the light would be best for trains from Southport including the semaphore at the west end of the station. The ideal light for pictures facing east at the station of the two semaphores would be hazy sunshine as the light is never quite right.
A short, very pleasant, walk along the canal brings you to Chapel Lane crossing with its own semaphores. Chapel Lane is the second over bridge along the canal towards Wigan after leaving the village. Here in a morning you can get shots of trains heading towards Wigan (though without signals) and in the afternoon shots of the trains passing over the crossing with signals in view.
A short, very pleasant, walk along the canal brings you to Chapel Lane crossing with its own semaphores. Chapel Lane is the second over bridge along the canal towards Wigan after leaving the village. Here in a morning you can get shots of trains heading towards Wigan (though without signals) and in the afternoon shots of the trains passing over the crossing with signals in view.
General views - All photographs © Mark Bearton unless otherwise stated
Fig 1 - Looking north west
Morning shot from station towards Southport.
Fig 2 - Looking south east
Shot of train entering station from Wigan.
Fig 3 - Looking north west
Morning shot at Chapel Lane Crossing.
Fig 4 - Looking south east
Afternoon shot at Chapel Lane Crossing.
Disclaimer
All information contained within this is site is © Trainspots. The images used on this site remain the property of the original photographer, as credited at the top of the page, and are used with their kind permission.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
The information on these pages is supplied for the benefit of railway enthusiasts who carry out a harmless hobby, and through the medium of photography and video, actually promote the railway industry. Railway enthusiasts can also act as eyes and ears against railway vandalism, and as such should surely be encouraged to do so by the supply of adequate information such as is found on this website.
This site has been created to assist railway photographers in their travels around the country. It is based on the personal knowledge and experience. No liability can be held against the web site or its contributions for incorrect information. Trainspots will endeavour to check all information and corrections will be accepted and posted accordingly.
Advice as to the locations general environment is given as a guide on each page. This information is a GUIDE only. ALWAYS be careful with your equipment, Trainspots can not be held responsible for your personal security. Avoid leaving your property on display for all to see, be aware of your surroundings at all times. There are, sadly, people who will not think twice about trying to steal your equipment.
Trainspots DOES NOT condone trespass and none of the information on this site should be taken as a right to trespass on either railway or private land. To the best of our knowledge all locations are publicly accessible areas, where they are not contact information will be given to the appropriate authority for permission to be obtained.
The content of this site is created and intended for all age ranges but the content of sites linked from this site are not subject to the same intentions. Trainspots will attempt to check links for validity but as time passes and the site grows this will not always be possible. Broken, or indeed updates to, links should be submitted to the editor for inclusion in the updates. All links external to the Trainspots site are opened in a new browser window. Trainspots has been running now for over 10 years and there are imitation sites and guides to railfotspots. But we are a free site and we continue on the path we started out on over a decade ago to provide a useful guide to UK Railway Photographic Locations.
