A DILAPIDATED military railway line has been transformed into a woodland walkway and a heritage board unveiled to mark its history.
Handforth exchange railway sidings and their controlling box were built during the second world war.
Armoured vehicles used to be transported by rail to Hall Road dock and then driven along Brereton Road to Handforth tank repair depot.
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Now, the location of the so-called ‘tank track’ and the army branch line have been preserved on a commemorative information board.
Cllr Susan Moore, chairman of Handforth Town Council, campaigned for S106 money from the Jones Homes Sanctuary development to be used for this community project.
Funding has now paid for a weather resistant surface to create a woodland path between Hall Road and Lower Meadow Road.
Mike Bishop, president of the Friends of Handforth Station (FoHS), and volunteers have provided photographs and text for two historic display boards.
The first one was unveiled on Thursday.
The sidings and signal box were located between Handforth Station and the bridge carrying Stanley Road over the railway, creating two branch lines.
One branch line ran eastwards to service the former RAF maintenance depot, RAF 61 MU.
The second, an army branch line, ran south to terminate in a set of four sidings at Hall Road.
One of these four sidings comprised a runaround loop.
The four sidings at Hall Road were associated with a concrete loading and unloading dock the remains of which can still been seen in the Hall Road footpath.
Tanks were brought by rail to the Hall Road dock for driving down Brereton Road and onward to the Handforth tank repair depot.
The tank repair depot was beside the river Dean on what is now Welland Road housing estate.
The tank repair depot closed in late 1957 and the army branch line tracks were lifted in the 1970s/1980s.
Since then the branch line route became known locally as the ‘tank track’ but gradually deteriorated into a muddy footpath through the woods.
Thanks to the efforts of Cllr Moore, the tank track was resurfaced by ANSA late last year and now provides a pleasant woodland path between Hall Road and Lower Meadow Road.
Cllr Moore and Mike Bishop said: “The lectern forms a very useful addition to Handforth’s developing history trail.”
Cheshire East Council supported the project.
Further information about the history of the tank track is available on the FoHS website at handforthstation.org.uk
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