How far removed is the planned Horsforth Woodside station from the original station site that was closed in 1864, some 150 years ago.
I've wondered about this myself. The short answer is that I don't actually
know, however based on old Ordnance Survey maps and my knowledge of the area (I used to live on Low Lane near the Woodside pub) I can make an educated guess.
The A6120 Ring Road appears to have been built sometime around 1939 - 1946 judging by OS maps of the period (it's not on the former, but does appear on the latter), so obviously the bridge wasn't there when the station was open in the early years of the line, and nor was there a road here, so this can be ruled out as the site.
There is a disused bridge over the line to the north of the Ring Road bridge, alongside the quarry where the proposed new station is to be built, which is a possible site. However, I think the most likely site for the original station was a little further to the south, where Butcher Hill crosses over the line. Butcher Hill is nearer to where the populated area was at that time. The bottom end of Low Lane, at its junction with Butcher Hill, appears to have the oldest houses in the area and there is a small factory there alongside the Old Mill Beck. Somewhere in the vacinity of this bridge seems the most likely site of the old station.
In regards to the new station though, personally I don't think it's going to happen. The proposal has been kicking around for decades; it wasn't a new idea when I lived there in the late 80s at a time when new, cheaply-built stations were springing up all over the WYPTE area.
There just isn't a suitable site. As I understand it, the proposed station would be built where the quarry is, with the latter being made into a car park. However, access to this site would be problematic from Low Lane to the west. It would be as quick for Woodside residents to walk to the present Horsforth station as use the new one, and the two stations would be very close together by rail. There is a road off the Ring Road up towards the quarry, which could be adapted as an access road. However, the Ring Road is a very busy road, only single carriageway at this point, and extra traffic trying to turn into/out of the station access road would create alot of congestion problems.
The station could be sited by the Ring Road bridge, which would be a more convenient location for Woodside residents, but disability access would be difficult since the line is on a high embankment. Although there is room for car parks, the same congestion problems with the Ring Road would present themselves. In addition, the land where the car park would go is next to the river and prone to flooding - which is why it has never been built on.
This just leaves the site further south alongside Butcher Hill. This site gives equal ease of access from residential areas both west and east of the line, and disabled access shouldn't be an issue here. However, Butcher Hill is a narrow road and would need widening, as would the bridge. Although there is a site alongside for a car park, I think it is currently the adjacent school's playing fields.
There are, no doubt, other reasons why this project keeps finding itself kicked into the long grass. I just don't see this changing any time soon.
